MTV: Dick Cheney Might Want To Be Your MySpace Buddy

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1534008/20060609/index.jhtml?headlines=true

Dick Cheney Might Want To Be Your MySpace Buddy


That joke you made on your MySpace page about taking flying lessons but only wanting to learn how to land? The pictures of you posing with a fake rocket launcher? Sure, they seem funny now, but if the National Security Administration has its way, all of that information could go down on your permanent record, or into a security profile that could land you on a terror watch list.

According to a report on NewScientist.com, the Web site for the long-running British technology magazine, the National Security Administration is funding research into the "mass harvesting" of information people post about themselves on social-networking sites like Friendster and MySpace.

"I am continually shocked and appalled at the details people voluntarily post online about themselves," said Jon Callas, chief security officer at the international encryption software company PGP.

New Scientist reported that the NSA, known for eavesdropping and code-breaking — and, more recently, for cataloging domestic phone records and monitoring overseas phone calls as part of its controversial warrantless wiretapping program (see "NSA Out To Track 'Every Call Ever Made'; Bush Calls Move 'Lawful' ") — is trying to figure out a way to use advances in Internet technology to combine data from social-networking Web sites with details such as banking, retail and property records. According to the site, that treasure trove of personal information would allow the NSA to build "extensive, all-embracing personal profiles of individuals."