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Loose lips sink trips

Sometimes, when I tell people about just how prevalent the surveillance society has become they dismiss me as simply being paranoid.

Tales of Echelon spying on supposedly private communications, computers in the USA chugging away examining emails, phone calls, IMs and just about everything else for any hint of nasty keywords such as "bomb" sound like science fiction.

However, I think this report from the BBC might just cause the skeptics to take a deep breath of acceptance.

Yes, our tweets and other communications are being monitored and the effects of a throw-away comment can be significant.

There is a paranoia problem -- but the problem is the USA's.

It seems that in the wake of 9/11 and subsequent attacks against its citizens and military, the USA has absolutely zero tolerance for any kind of threat -- be it real or uttered in jest.

Right now, anyone contemplating travel to the USA at some time in the future, should be worried -- very worried.

Have YOU perhaps fired off an anti-US comment, critique or other comment intended as a joke but which could have had your name placed on a black-list?

Maybe that throw-away criticism or threat against the US administration, president or whatever will see your holiday or business trip to the states turned into a very fast 180 at LAX and an unexpected return-flight the same day.

Now if the US were using this technology to identify and act on genuine threats to their people and their security then I'd have no problems with all this eavesdropping. However, since they've become perhaps the most paranoid nation on the face of the planet they seem far too willing to jump to the wrong conclusion and unreasonably bar innocent parties.

Let's not forget that the travelers in that BBC story were lucky. They could just as easily have been arrested and placed in prison without right of legal redress -- labeled as "insurgents" and shipped out to Cuba where they'd be beyond the reach of the legal system.

A lot of press coverage is given these days to the folly of publishing stuff on the Net that you may later live to regret.

Many folks have found that their disclosures on Facebook have come back to haunt them when applying for jobs -- employers doing a quick search and uncovering some regrettable pictures and comments uploaded years ago and long-forgotten.

Perhaps that warning ought to be extended to saying *anything* bad about the USA -- if you have the slightest chance of wanting to travel to that country at some time in the future.

Here's a quiz for today's readers -- do you think *I* would be allowed entry to the USA today as easily as I did back in 2003 -- be fore the DIY cruise-missile thing really took off?

And have you said anything in private or public communications delivered via the Net that might compromise your ability to entry the USA?

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