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What makes my mind boggle is that idea that people would rely on a single blog post to assume the conclusion that the FBI is dragnetting Google searches for lead generation for suspicionless searches.

No, wait, that doesn't boggle my mind at all.

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Who said it was suspicionless? That's just the author's assertion. They could have been targeted for some other reason (the frequent overseas travel for example) and then the searches came up when they were already being targeted.

Does that make it better?

Yes that does make it better. If the FBI are calling around to people, purely based on google searches that's terrible. If they are calling around to people based on a whole pile of other things that might be suspicious that's much better.

Tptacek, it's called clustering and outlier detection. Look it up before you make a complete fool of yourself.

dyinglobster, it's called the Bayesian Base Rate Fallacy, and you just fell for it.

It's called common sense.

NSA Collects 'Word for Word' Every Domestic Communication, Says Former Analyst

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/government_programs/july-dec1...

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