My memory goes back to the NSA combined with AT&T spying in San Francisco from the 2000s, of course. That was the first time I remember knowing, for sure, that the spy agencies were spying on millions of Americans whenever they possibly could… And some of us cared about it, but the vast majority of the population either didn’t listen or didn’t care.
If they didn’t care then, then of course they didn’t care about Snowden, or Assange, or [insert whistleblower’s name here]. And that’s not to blame the individual people. Of course they have a responsibility to learn. But they also need institutions, such as universities and libraries and media companies, to get their asses in gear helping people understand the tech enough to know exactly when it’s fucking them over.
My memory goes back to the NSA combined with AT&T spying in San Francisco from the 2000s, of course. That was the first time I remember knowing, for sure, that the spy agencies were spying on millions of Americans whenever they possibly could… And some of us cared about it, but the vast majority of the population either didn’t listen or didn’t care.
If they didn’t care then, then of course they didn’t care about Snowden, or Assange, or [insert whistleblower’s name here]. And that’s not to blame the individual people. Of course they have a responsibility to learn. But they also need institutions, such as universities and libraries and media companies, to get their asses in gear helping people understand the tech enough to know exactly when it’s fucking them over.