Facebook has added an account delete option but it wasn't well publicized until around a day ago on Slashdot. Unlike the "de-activation" many users have been forced into when trying to close their account, the delete function actually deletes your account and all your personal information. If you're excited to hear the news, here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=delete_account
This comes to us by way of deadalanth, a user on the site, who sent us the following story:
The N.S.A. is back in the news regarding a new data center being constructed at Camp Williams, Utah. The facility is reported to be sited on a 200 acre tract with 120 acres of buildings. The center will consume 65 Mw of power when operational. Another is reported to be underway in San Antonio, Texas as well. There is alot of speculation regarding the mission of these new installations.
On May 20th 2009 Hugh D'Andrade of the EFF gave a presentation regarding N.S.A. wiretapping in San Francisco at a AT&T switching center located on Folsom street. The EFF has filed a class action lawsuit regarding the Folsom Street installation. The EFFs key witness in this case is a retired AT&T technician named Mark Klein. Mr. Klein has been branded as a "Whistleblower" for exposing room 641A in the Folsom street facility in 2006. He has written a book about his experiences while working at AT&T called "Wiring up the Big Brother Machine ... and Fighting It." News like this has kept the publics imagination for now.
This is not the first time that the N.S.A. has been reported to have eavesdropping equipment built into the very foundations of U.S. communication networks. In David Kahns book "The Codebreakers" he writes about N.S.A. cable taps in San Francisco. Mr. Kahn also alleges that U.S. commercial electronic hardware and software designs have been altered for surveillance purposes per N.S.A. request. I assume the N.S.A. has sufficient infrastructure in place to complete its fundamental mission of eavesdropping. This is the same old song and dance that we have known about since WW2.
I believe these new data centers have a different function: Netcentric Warfare or rather command and control of national assets in a integrated environment. The U.S. military is integrating closely with the N.S.A. to securely deploy highly technical weapons, countermeasures to cyber-warfare, and to improve joint NetOps. Traditional military organization is nearly useless. The face of war has changed. Several services and agencies are currently bifurcating to attack forces or administrative duties. The later never coming home from trouble spots.
New technology has set the bar too high to realistically control it with volunteer military personnel. The new military command and control will function within a highly secure Global Information Grid or GIG network staffed with highly trained and vetted N.S.A. response teams wielding enormous power on a level never before seen. Using the N.S.A. to maintain net hierarchy staffed with civilian and military career technicians makes common sense and puts real experience behind the wheel. Cyber warfare is a very real problem that encompasses not only the military but the civilian infrastructure of the country as well. The United States must protect both and effectively project force to maintain its status as a superpower.
The N.S.A. will always be snooping, that is the N.S.A.s' basic job and they have alot of SIGINT practice. Their experience with IT has made them the perfect agency to vastly improve military capabilities through secured automation. This organization is so byzantine that it does not exist overtly as it has no charter. They know how to keep a secret, have root, and are taking the tree to a whole new level. This new construction is extremely technical, it has way more scope than I think a lot of us realize. The U.S. seeks to maintain itself as the defacto world system administrator. This is another step to further capitalist globalization.
This Saturday, Feb. 28, the Olympia Hackbloc (olyhackbloc.org) will be leading a workshop on security culture, computer security, intelligence, and privacy.
Topics to be covered:
All participants will receive digital copies of the presentation materials. To help cover costs, participants are asked to bring $5 with them or donate whatever they feel is fair. Nobody will be turned away because they don't have money. If you have a computer, you are highly encouraged to bring it. Flash drives and external hard drives would also be useful. A large portion of this workshop will be hands-on computer work. If you have extra computers, extension cords, power strips, blank CDs, flash drives, or external hard drives please bring them as well. This workshop is targeted towards activists, journalists, and members of the general public.
** Event information **
Security Culture, Computer Security, and Privacy: A Crash Course for Activists, Journalists, and the General Public Saturday Feb. 28 at The Evergreen State College 11 AM SHARP till Approx. 3 PM Meet in main floor lobby of the library building, and look for the Hackbloc signs. Bring your computer We are interested in filming portions of the workshop. If you have a video camera you can donate, please contact workshops@olyhackbloc.org asap. Media and press wishing to cover this event should contact press@olyhackbloc.org prior. For more information about Hackbloc, please see the Oly Hackbloc website at http://www.olyhackbloc.org.
-- Sponsored by Evergreen/Olympia Students for Democratic Society, which meets every Wednesday at 6:00 in the Solarium of the CAB building at Evergreen --
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