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Comment by adventured | Hacker News Reader

Not very worried about Google arresting me at some point in the future with their jackboot thugs for something I did or said in the past (when X wasn't illegal).

This applies to Facebook, Twitter, AT&T, Verizon, Samsung, Snapchat, and so on. When these guys start trying to acquire their own domestic armies, then I'll get really concerned.

There seems to be a common gloss-over regarding the fact that it's the United States Military that is doing the domestic spying. They were tapping Obama's phones when he was a Senator; most likely they own everybody at this point. This isn't some fluffcake brigade; it's the US freakin' military. Slip, and you're knee deep in a military dictatorship very quickly.

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You should be concerned now, because the government can compel those companies to hand over their dossier on you, including your cell's tower or GPS records, your extremist views (surely something you've written is extremely different from someone in power, now or in the future), your advocacy of treason (you must have expressed displeasure about a President or member of Congress at some time), your support of terrorists (ever say anything negative about a declared or undeclared war?), and anything else you've ever said as a dirty, stinkin' agitator.

You've also been in a conversation with me, and that makes you a person of interest in some very plausible future scenario. ... "So, we notice that you spent a lot of time on this Hacker News site. Tell us about that."

I think everyone here would agree about that, but you are ignoring that avoiding an intrusive commercial product, or obfuscating your private information from a commercial product is easier than avoiding state-actor pervasive surveillance. It would be a step in the right direction to reduce the state-actor threat.

Not ignoring, just talking about one among many related problems. I agree completely it would be good to reduce the state-actor threat.

As a practical matter, I worry about corporations screwing me over more than I worry about "jackboot thugs." The government has very little incentive to mess with me. I'm much more worried about employers using my browsing habits to deny me jobs, companies using my spending habits to deny me a mortgage, etc. Not as bad as having "jackboot thugs" break down your door, but a heck of a lot more likely and potentially life-ruining by itself.

The problem is that the more these assaults on freedom are allowed to persist, the more likely it is to come to your door step. Maybe now you're more likely to experience hardship at the hands of a corporation, but if we continue down this road that absolutely will change.

Samsung already has a weapons manufacturing arm. Your dystopian nightmare of a future may not be so far off!

If they dont like your business model or want to compete with you they can damage or destroy your ability to make a living

Black water already exists so your nightmare scenario is about one contract away.

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