Is Big Brother watching?


I recently (5 minutes ago) started pondering which entity knows more about me: Google or the US government. Certainly, the information that Google gathers from me are mostly related to my personal opinions, social network and lately also my current exact position. But the US government knows everything about my background, Visa status and the like and maybe, just maybe, they have me ranked in a system according to the probability of me being a terrorist. I kind of think they do.

It is interesting that just by writing this, I feel a little nervous. But it is because there is sometimes good reason to be. One of the first things I was told when I came to the US was that I could jeopardize my entire stay if I did some paperwork wrong. Yes, paperwork. I was told this by my Visa sponsors (IIE) who were supposed to be helping me, not make me frustrated and scared (I should note here that it was a mistake of the U of O because they gave me paperwork to fill out that I was supposed to fill out through IIE). Fortunately, I haven’t gotten deported yet but I wonder what happens to all those people who are not as careful about filling out their paperwork as I am.

And now back to the Google and government thing. Google does not care about this blog post. It just indexes it and uses the information to help build their digital network image of my activities so they can better target me with adds. But what about the government. What if, two weeks from now, I’m standing at the embassy in Copenhagen, being asked about  my “terrorist activities” because some fool at the NSA suddenly thinks I’m a threat to the nation. That would, to put it mildly, suck pretty bad. The question now remains whether this will ever happen or has ever happened to anyone. I am sure it has. To put things in perspective:

Do you seek to enter the United States to engage in export control violations, subversive or terrorist activities, or any other unlawful purpose? Are you a member or representative of a terrorist organization as currently designated by the U.S. Secretary of State? Have you ever participated in persecutions directed by the Nazi government of Germany; or have you ever participated in genocide?

This is a question on the Visa application form. Yes, I am not kidding you. The Visa application form. (By the way, I believe Denmark is not considered a terrorist organization yet so I answered no to the question.) When you have to answer silly questions like this on an application for a US Visa who knows what kind of other means they have to determine if I am a Danish terrorist or not. And I cannot just Google it to find the answer.

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6 responses to “Is Big Brother watching?”

  1. Google does not comment wheter you’re a terrorist or not.

    http://www.google.com/search?q=is+david+lebech+a+terrorist%3F&rls=com.microsoft:no:IE-Address&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GGLJ

    Anyway, I think they ask you directly “Are you a terrorist” because then it will be easier for then to sentence you in the court of law. You know, since the burglars can sue the house owners, I can imagine that a sentenced terrorist could sue the USA for something, but not when he has lied about beeing a terrorist.

  2. I remember very well when doing my visa forms laughing out loud (yes a big LOL) when I read that question, who wouldn’t be tempted to answer “yes of course” because I’m a very honest drug dealer/terrorist/nazi…

  3. Hey David!

    Yes I’ve been asked about this very question several times in Italy. Italian students trying to get their paperwork in order for going to study in the US see this question on the visa application and pretty much think, ‘wtf?’ I can’t think that anyone in the US government thinks anyone in the terrorist world (which indeed does not yet include Denmark) would ever answer yes; but we always go to absurd ends when it comes to legal matters like this.

  4. “Yes, indeed, we all go to absurd ends when it comes to legal matters like this.”

    And sometimes even for a U.S. citizen the realm of law seems like a mine field. The irony in my life has been that I never had any trouble with the law when I use to break it and never got busted. Now that I am an older, law-abiding citizen it turns out I have had far more dealings with legal matters. Perhaps you younger folks can take comfort in that….or not.