[chefdennis]

He said he wasn't ....and we all know we can trust him....

Obama seeks to track visits to .gov websites

Planned lifting of ban on 'cookies' called '1984'-style spying effort

Posted: August 17, 2009
1:10 am Eastern

© 2009 WorldNetDaily
Obama seeks to track visits to .gov websites

WASHINGTON – The Barack Obama administration has announced plans to lift a government ban on tracking visitors to government websites, and potentially, collect their personal data through the use of "cookies" – an effort some suspect may already be in place on White House sites.

A ban on such tracking by the federal government on Internet users

has been in place since 2000, however, the White House Office of Management and Budget now wants to lift the ban citing a "compelling need."

In fact, according to the Electronic Privacy and Information Center, federal agencies have already negotiated agreements and contracts with social networking sites like Google, YouTube, SlideShare, Facebook, AddThis, Blist, Flickr and VIMEO to collect information on visitors for federal web sites. All of these private companies are known to have agreements with federal agencies, but the public has never seen them.

In public comments submitted to the Office of Management and Budget, EPIC notes it has obtained documents that show federal agencies have negotiated these contracts with the private sector in violation of "existing statutory privacy rights." Those agencies include: Department of Defense, Department of the Treasury, and the National Security Agency.

There are suspicions the White House is already involved.

When White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was recently asked by Fox News reporter Major Garrett why Americans who had not signed up to receive any e-mails from the White House, were now receiving e-mails from White House adviser David Axelrod promoting President Obama's health care plan, Gibbs refused to answer the question.

"The Obama administration's favorite book seems to be '1984' by George Orwell," said Brad O’Leary, publisher of The O'Leary Report monthly newsletter and author of "Shut Up, America: The End of Free Speech." "Only they don't see '1984' as a warning, but rather a blueprint for spying on every American who visits a government website – something that has been banned for nearly a decade."

According to Obama "technology czar" Vivek Kundra, the "compelling need" driving this major policy reversal is the administration's desire to create "more open" government and to "enhance citizen participation in government."

O'Leary finds serious fault with Kundra's rationale.

"According to the new technology czar, there is a 'compelling need' to do this," said O'Leary. "The only compelling need I can think of is for a failing Obama administration to compile an enemy list of gun owners, pro-lifers, tea-party participants, those opposed to illegal immigration, and anyone opposed to the Obama-Pelosi agenda of government control over Americans' lives."

Spy cookies can do more than merely recall the user names and passwords of visitors who return to their favorite web sites. They can also track, retrieve and report selected movements someone makes on the Internet. Through the use of cookies, the federal government could have the power to create an individual profile of anyone who visits a government website – right down to a person's recent online purchases, or even race, gender and income level.

"No matter what the Obama administration says, a 'cookie' is a spy device," said O’Leary. "No matter how inoffensive the administration says their spy devices will be, once you open the door to the federal government spying on every American who visits a government website, it can't be closed – it can only be expanded."

According to O'Leary, if the Obama administration is successful in lifting this ban on federal privacy invasion, the lives of many Americans could become open books for bureaucrats.

"What if a harmless trip to the State Department's travel website or the White House's health care site, the Census Bureau's web site results in the Obama administration's discovery that you are someone who recently visited Cabela's, Smith and Wesson, or a tea party or pro-life web site?" asked O'Leary. "Is this all mundane information that political animals in government don't care about? Of course not. You might sooner expect a visit from Obama's IRS or Homeland Security than a pat on the back for 'participating' in government."

O'Leary says that it is time for Congress to step in and pass legislation to protect the privacy rights of Americans who could fall victim to White House spy cookies.

"Because of the lack of transparency from the Obama White House, we are filing FOIA requests to determine exactly how these agencies are using spy cookies," said O'Leary.

[greg334]

Chef,
Get yourself a copy of We by Zamyatin and a Brave New World by Huxley and read them then compare what is described in those books to what is going on.

Oh and another good one is The Sleeper Awakes by Wells.

[letzrockexpress]

Originally Posted by greg334

Chef,
Get yourself a copy of We by Zamyatin and a Brave New World by Huxley and read them then compare what is described in those books to what is going on.

Oh and another good one is The Sleeper Awakes by Wells.

As a wise man once wrote: Paranoia will destroy ya..

[PatriotNow]

Originally Posted by letzrockexpress

As a wise man once wrote: Paranoia will destroy ya..

The wise ones are paranoid now

[chefdennis]

yeap it is parinoid to think that a leftist socialist, marxist is keeping an enemies list.....so how did this 3rd party get those e-mail addresses??

August 17, 2009

White House blames '3rd parties' for spam email from Axelrod
Rick Moran
American Thinker Blog: White House blames '3rd parties' for spam email from Axelrod

AT contributor Ethel Fenig blogged about the unsolicited email from Obama advisor David Axelrod pushing health care reform 3 days ago. The spam email surprised a lot of people who by all rights, shouldn't have been on any email list to get anything from the White House.

So how did so many receive the unsolicited spam? According to Fox News , 3rd party groups are being blamed by the White House:


The White House for the first time Sunday seemed to acknowledge that people across the country received unsolicited e-mails from the administration last week about health care reform, suggesting the problem is with third-party groups that placed the recipients' names on the distribution list.

In a written statement released exclusively to FOX News, White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said the White House hopes those who received the e-mails without signing up for them were not "inconvenienced" by the messages.

"The White House e-mail list is made up of e-mail addresses obtained solely through the White House Web site. The White House doesn't purchase, upload or merge from any other list, again, all e-mails come from the White House Web site as we have no interest in e-mailing anyone who does not want to receive an e-mail," the statement said. "If an individual received the e-mail because someone else or a group signed them up or forwarded the e-mail, we hope they were not too inconvenienced."

The White House previously would not answer questions on how the e-mails landed unsolicited in so many inboxes. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Thursday said he couldn't give an answer until he saw who received the e-mails because he doesn't have "omnipotent clarity."


Methinks they doth protest too much. What 3rd party group would be in favor of health care reform and have so many opponents in their email list? And why was the Axelrod email sent via the generic White House account and not Axelrod's own account which would be subject to the records act that would require the White House to keep the distribution list?

It is tempting to connect the dots between the call to send in people's email addresses who said "fishy" things about Obama's health care proposal and this spam email from Axelrod. I wouldn't put it past them but there's no evidence - so far - that such was the case.

Still, it is discomfiting for opponents of the president to have their email address on a White House list. Given Obama's lack of respect for privacy, it is not really surprising.