The government, lead by once-convicted (later overturned) Admiral Poindexter, has established a “Total Information Awareness” counter-terrorism project. While the goal of protecting our citizens through vigilance is laudable, the reach and potential abuses of the agency are frightening. The Cato Institute warns us here that ” [UPDATE: broken link http://www.cato.org/dailys/12-03-02.html] we shouldn’t always trust the assurances of the Pentagon”. Activists are illustrating the chilling amount of information available already, turning the power of the Internet on [UPDATE: link moved] Admiral Poindexter himself. Similar stories in the [UPDATE: dead link http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20021212-45129548.htm] Washington Times and [UPDATE: dead link http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/11/20/terror.tracking/index.html] CNN.
MSNBC has a scary report on [UPDATE: dead link http://msnbc.com/news/846795.asp] fake escrow services preying on online auction participants.