News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Instead of obtaining a warrant, the NSA would like to keep buying your data. Parent comment

Re:Instead of obtaining a warrant, the NSA would like to kee... by lesuorac on Saturday July 29, 2023 @10:01AM (#36920399)
Why not? Historically, corporations have had armed private forces that they've used to kill people.

Although you may have miss the tamer recent version where Ebay sent "a bloody pig mask, a funeral wreath, and a book entitled “Grief Diaries: Surviving Loss of a Spouse", practiced installing a GPS tracker and then travelled 3000 miles to install one, "The Defendants also posted the Steiner’s address on Craigslist and other websites, inviting strangers to the Steiners’ home for sex parties, and advertising yard sales".

The story has a happy ending though as "Defendant Wenig departed eBay with a $57 million severance package.".

> https://www.techdirt.com/2021/07/29/exec-that-tried-to-send-...

> https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.236...

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Instead of obtaining a warrant, the NSA would like to kee... by gottorf on Saturday July 29, 2023 @10:25AM (#36920627)
That eBay story is wild, and does make you wonder how deep the rot must be in that company. Also, why on Earth does eBay need a "global intelligence center" and a "global security team"? Do they have a completely separate line of business that I'm not aware of?

At least one person went to prison, so there's that.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Instead of obtaining a warrant, the NSA would like to kee... by rolph on Saturday July 29, 2023 @11:22AM (#36921130)
there is truth in fiction:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syndicate_(series)

https://www.ea.com/games/syndicate

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Instead of obtaining a warrant, the NSA would like to kee... by SAI_Peregrinus on Saturday July 29, 2023 @08:59PM (#36926565)
Any sufficiently powerful corporation is indistinguishable from a government. There aren't many corporations who currently exercise their money to get such power, but it's happened before and can certainly happen again.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Instead of obtaining a warrant, the NSA would like to kee... by retrocryptid on Sunday July 30, 2023 @02:21PM (#36934311)
I suspect you have worked neither in government or industry. Things look different outside academia.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Instead of obtaining a warrant, the NSA would like to kee... by retrocryptid on Sunday July 30, 2023 @02:20PM (#36934299)
As it turns out, a bloody pig mask isn't a drone and planting a GPS tracker isn't the equivalent of killing or maiming everyone at a wedding and the people that did this were subject to criminal penalties.

This is in contrast to militaries who are assumed to operate as legitimate extensions of foreign policy.

[ Parent | on HN ]