Wednesday, April 29, 2026

AI Is Making It Very Easy for the Government to Spy on You.

AI's increasing ability to sift through data and track Americans' locations has some lawmakers reconsidering parts of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Posted by LampLighter at 05:32 PM | 13 COMMENTS | permalink

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As AI models get even more powerful, a conversation has been growing about ways the U.S. government might seize greater control over the AI industry. @matteowong.bsky.social and @lilashroff.bsky.social investigate what AI nationalization really would look like:

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-- The Atlantic (@theatlantic.com) Apr 27, 2026 at 10:00 PM

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More from the article ...

... The long-running fight to rein in the government's power to search Americans' phone calls, emails and text messages without a warrant has gained new urgency on Capitol Hill over concerns that AI will supercharge state surveillance.

Privacy advocates warn that if the law enabling warrantless monitoring of Americans is not meaningfully reformed, many citizens could be subject to increasingly invasive AI-powered analysis of communications swept up by foreign intelligence programs as well as commercially available location and behavioral data.

"Imagine instead of doing a query with one person that you turned AI loose on these databases," Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said Thursday at a press conference announcing a new bill to close data-collection loopholes. "There's virtually nothing the government can't know about you." ...


#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-04-26 02:17 PM

Related ...

Meta to start capturing employee mouse movements, keystrokes for AI training data
www.reuters.com

... Meta (META.O), opens new tab is installing new tracking software on U.S.-based employees' computers to capture mouse movements, clicks and keystrokes for use in training its artificial intelligence models, part of a broad initiative to build AI agents that can perform work tasks autonomously, the company told staffers in internal memos seen by Reuters.

The tool, called Model Capability Initiative (MCI), will run on work-related apps and websites and will also take occasional snapshots of the content on employees' screens, according to one of the memos, posted by a staff AI research scientist on Tuesday in a channel for the company's model-building Meta SuperIntelligence Labs team.

The purpose, according to the memo, was to improve the company's AI models in areas where they struggle to replicate how humans interact with computers, like choosing from dropdown menus and using keyboard shortcuts. ...


#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-04-26 02:19 PM

Thanks to Internet cookies, corporate America already knows virtually everything you do.

#3 | Posted by Sycophant at 2026-04-26 02:41 PM

Pencil and paper. Brick and mortar libraries.

No cell phones.

Lo Tech.

That's the Ticket to avoiding Surveillance.

It's gonna take some discipline tho'.

#4 | Posted by Effeteposer at 2026-04-28 02:34 PM

Government? Since the majorette of companies building AIs are run by liberal dems, more likely they are the ones that will be spying against us conservatives.

AI Oversight
Here are top high-tech AI companies with ties to liberal Democrats, according to 2026 reports:
Anthropic: Often described as having a founding agenda focused on AI safety and a pro-regulation stance that aligns more with Democratic policy goals than its competitors. Co-founder Jack Clark is associated with this focus on responsible AI.
OpenAI: While CEO Sam Altman has taken a pragmatic approach to working with all administrations, the company has hired several Democratic operatives, including former Newsom aides and advisors. However, OpenAI leadership has also engaged in significant lobbying and, in 2025-2026, made major donations to bipartisan or Trump-aligned efforts, showing a shift toward high-dollar influence.
LinkedIn (Microsoft subsidiary): Co-founder Reid Hoffman is one of the most prominent Democratic donors in Silicon Valley, actively supporting candidates like Vice President Kamala Harris.
Google (Alphabet Inc.): Employees and stakeholders of Alphabet have historically been among the largest donors to Democratic campaigns.
Salesforce: CEO Marc Benioff is recognized as a billionaire who has historically voted and donated to liberal causes.
Khosla Ventures: Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla is a prominent supporter of Democratic initiatives

#5 | Posted by MSgt at 2026-04-28 09:45 PM

"Since the majorette of companies building AIs are run by liberal dems"

LOL

#6 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-04-28 10:00 PM

"run by liberal dems"
Is not the same as
"Employees and stakeholders of"

As for Google, one of the Google guys just left California because of their billionaire tax. Not exactly a Liberal Dem.

Are you just cutting and pasting this stuff without, like, thinking about it?

#7 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-04-28 10:14 PM

Under Orange Adolf's watch.

#8 | Posted by a_monson at 2026-04-29 01:24 AM

Under Orange Adolf's watch.

#9 | Posted by a_monson at 2026-04-29 01:25 AM

MSgt:

Tailoring AI questions to achieve desired results is a weak use of technology.

But all those people must be thanking you for it.

#10 | Posted by Dbt2 at 2026-04-29 08:30 PM

LOL... ohhhh puhleeze... everyone with a phone is spying on you these days...
Used to be... less than 100 years ago... entire generations of families lived in one house...
Privacy is a made-up construct... that's why people like gossip shows...and what the news has turned into these days.

#11 | Posted by RightisTrite at 2026-04-30 09:01 AM

@#5 ... Government? Since the majorette of companies building AIs are run by liberal dems, more likely they are the ones that will be spying against us conservatives. ...

That's an interesting implicit admission that "liberal dems" drive the technology advances.

Speaking of the political aspect ...

Hundreds of Google workers urge CEO to refuse classified AI work with Pentagon
www.cbsnews.com

Google Moves Forward With Pentagon AI Deal Despite Employee Pushback
www.cnet.com

Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin Has A MAGA Influencer Girlfriend -- And Has Become A Republican To Fight Proposed Billionaire Tax
uinterview.com


#12 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-04-30 08:45 PM

Every app you use has potential to intrude on your privacy. Or to give your data away without your control. Now AI makes easier to compile and analyze data on billions of internet users.

Bye bye 4th Amendment USA! That amendment is probably already irrelevant - sadly.

#13 | Posted by Augustine at 2026-05-01 06:47 AM

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