This is about what the
This is about what the ACLU is calling the The Surveillance-Industrial Complex. If that reminds you of "military-industrial complex," maybe it shouldn't. Joining the military-industrial complex is totally voluntary for all concerned. But as Wired notes
The report listed three ways in which government agencies obtain data from the private sector: by purchasing the data, by obtaining a court order or simply by asking for it. Corporations freely share information with government agencies because they don't want to appear to be unpatriotic, they hope to obtain future lucrative Homeland Security contracts with the government or they fear increased government scrutiny of their business practices if they don't share.
joining the Surveillance-Industrial Complex is often somewhat less than voluntary…
But corporations aren't the only ones giving private data to the government. In 2002, the Professional Association of Diving Instructors voluntarily gave the FBI the names and addresses of about 2 million people who had studied scuba diving in previous years. And a 2002 survey found that nearly 200 colleges and universities gave the FBI information about students. Most of these institutions provided the information voluntarily without having received a subpoena.
although some do seem to leap at the chance.
The ACLU has a report up on the situation as well as that report mentioned in the above quote from Wired.
Tip o' da hat to King of Zembla.
