• Azarova [they/them]@hexbear.net
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    1 year ago

    But they dare to claim that the DDR was a totalitarian police state.

    Meanwhile, we are now under infinitely more invasive and omnipresent surveilance than anything the Stasi ever did.

    • urshanabi [he/they]@lemmygrad.ml
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      1 year ago

      I agree, and as well I think it’s relevant to consider what was historically considered invasive and omnipresent at that point in history is not necessarily the same as now.

      I guess I’m thinking, like, are current governments similarly using the full extent of surveillance? And is it something knowable? As well, how’s the investment and expansion of that surveillance been done then and now?

      • relay@lemmygrad.ml
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        1 year ago

        We know what technology has made possible. Phones can be turned on at the government’s request. DNS servers can log everyone’s activities. ISP’s can monitor what IP addresses one can go to. Phone conversations can also be monitored by police with sting rays. Medical records can be transferred by bad actors because of holes in the HIPAA rules that don’t protect privacy.

        The beehive exists: https://nsa.gov1.info/utah-data-center/ where they store all kinds of data, including encrypted can be monitored. Also now quantum computing has been unlocked by both the US and China so many forms of encryption can be cracked.