The government’s all-seeing eye…

If you have been paying attention, our most trusted government institutions, including the nation’s premier intelligence and law enforcement agencies, have been politically compromised and used in illegal ways against American citizens. Even our courts, including the United States Supreme Court, have been politically compromised – failing to rule on blatantly unconstitutional matters or seek redress for blatant contempt of the court as we saw with the fraud on the secret FISC (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court) court.

Our privacy and constitutional protections are being severely eroded by the adaptation of the communist Chinese public-private model.

The most dangerous weapon that is being used against the U.S. Constitution is the unilateral (take it or leave it) Terms of Service agreements wielded by private corporations, coerced by government contracts, grants, taxation, restrictions, and the potential of civil and criminal prosecutions, into oppressing "We the People."

By simply using any modern electronic device with licensed software, you may be voluntarily ceding your constitutional rights, namely your 4th Amendment right to be secure in your person, house, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures; your 5th Amendment protection against self-incrimination;  and your 14th Amendment due process rights.

Thus, the government can obtain information by request or subpoena that the government cannot legally collect or possess in a database.

A glaring example of this slippery slope…

Consider the McLean, Virginia-based private corporation known as “ID.me," self-identified as an online identity network that allows people to prove their legal identity online. Let us start with the fact that many states and the federal government require the use of the private ID.me if you want to access government programs and receive government money.

More than 27 states have hired ID.me for unemployment verification, including Pennsylvania, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming. In addition, several federal agencies use their services, including the Department of Veterans Affairs and Social Security Administration.

They want it all…

Types of Personal Information Collected

Identifiers

• Name
• Alias
• Postal address
• Unique personal identifier
• Online identifier (in the form of a universally unique identifier)
• Internet Protocol Address
• Email address
• Social Security Number
• Driver’s license number
• Passport or passport card number
• State identification card
• Date of birth
• Phone number

Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e))

• Name
• Postal address
• Unique personal identifier (in the form of a universally unique identifier)
• Online identifier
• Internet Protocol Address
• Email address
• Social Security Number
• Driver’s license number
• Passport or passport card number
• State identification card
• Date of birth
• Phone number

Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law

• Gender
• Military/veteran status
• Inferred citizenship (based on passport information you provide us)

Inferences drawn from other personal information

• Inferred citizenship (based on passport information you provide us)

Biometric information

• Photos on forms of identification (e.g. driver’s license, employee badge, student identification card, military identification card)
• “Selfie” photographs
• Video “selfies” for liveness detection
• Voice recordings

Geolocation data

• Internet Protocol Address
• Geolocation data

Professional or employment-related information

• Documents and/or information you choose to provide us that prove you are an employee gainfully employed by an organization

Non-public education information (per the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g, 34 C.F.R. Part 99))

• Educational transcripts and school identification cards that you choose to provide us

Internet or other similar network activity

• Internet traffic’s country of origin and related information

In addition, you may be asked to provide certain further information or documentation that we will use to verify your eligibility to receive discounts and benefits from organizations and registration authorities such as government agencies, telecommunications networks, credit card bureaus, financial institutions, or authoritative agents with access to your group affiliation credentials, military records (which may also contain Personally Identifiable Information)(collectively, “Registration Authorities”), your spouse’s or immediate family member’s social security number, military affiliation(s), dates of active and reserve duty service, and information related to your accounts with financial institutions (“Sensitive Information”).

“When verification is required, you authorize your wireless operator (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, Verizon, or any other branded wireless operator) to disclose to ID.me and its third-party service providers your mobile number, name, address, email, network status, customer type, customer role, billing type, mobile device identifiers (IMSI and IMEI) and other subscriber status and device details, if available, solely to verify your identity and prevent fraud for the duration of the business relationship.”  <Source>

We take security seriously and take numerous precautions to protect the security of Personally Identifiable Information. You can access your Personally Identifiable Information and Sensitive Information on our Website through a password and your email address. This password is encrypted. We recommend that you do not share your password with anyone. In addition, your Personally Identifiable Information and Sensitive Information reside on a secure server to which only select personnel and contractors have access.

Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet or any wireless network can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we employ commercially reasonable security measures to protect data and seek to partner with service providers that do the same, we cannot guarantee the security of any information transmitted to or from the Website and are not responsible for the actions of any third parties that may receive any such information.

Available to the government or anyone willing to obtain a subpoena in a civil lawsuit…

For each of the above categories, we may disclose your personal information to third parties as described in this Notice and our Privacy Policy, including:

When we believe that doing so:

• is required by law 
• is required to comply with a civil, criminal, or regulatory inquiry, investigation, subpoena, or summons by federal, state, or local authorities
• is necessary to cooperate with law enforcement agencies concerning conduct or activity that we reasonably and in good faith believe may violate federal, state, or local law
• may be necessary to protect any person’s property, rights, or safety
• is necessary to investigate a potential violation of law
• will help to enforce any terms of use or other legal agreement
• is necessary in the event of a corporate transaction, such as a divestiture, merger, consolidation, bankruptcy, or asset sale.

No redress for most individuals…

Knowing that individual lawsuits for negligence, data breaches, or performance failures are extremely costly, the company insulates itself from accountability with its forced  “arbitration clause” to prevent class action claims.

“NOTICE OF ARBITRATION AGREEMENT AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER: THE TERMS OF SERVICE INCLUDES A BINDING ARBITRATION CLAUSE AND A CLASS ACTION WAIVER, SET FORTH BELOW, WHICH AFFECT YOUR RIGHTS ABOUT RESOLVING ANY DISPUTE WITH ID.ME.” <Source>

Bottom line…

In the final analysis, the government demands you surrender your personal and private information to a private corporation. It is possible to infer that the government may be breaking the law by deputizing a private contractor to execute government functions as an agent of the government; however, with the increasing corruption of our courts, who knows if they will ever be accountable.

Will the feckless and impotent GOP be able to reverse this dangerous trend? Who knows?

I know that the government has lost billions in waste, fraud, and abuse, and they don’t seem to care. After all, it’s not their money.

It’s time to fire government employees or send people to jail when and where appropriate.

We are so screwed.

-- steve