White House Collecting User Data

My guess: nothing to worry about. They're probably just doing what Facebook and Google have done for years; data mining to find better ways to do things.

Be more transparent? The Government is cataloging information that is being put on IT'S OWN PAGE! You put a comment on the White House's Facebook page and you need a press release telling you that they can see it? Grow up.

It seems to me that this isn't any different than what anyone else could do if they wanted. However, it could be a problem if the posts were made on a page not meant to be viewable by just anyone. If the White House is storing the information, that could make the information public property, which would violate the privacy of the posters.

No surprise.

It is truly astonishing to me the level of hypocrisy that people exhibit. When the previous administration put forth the Patriot Act, people were all up in arms even though all this really did was allow law enforcement agencies at the local, state, and federal level to share databases. When the warrantless wiretapping program was made public, people again threw tantrums over "domestic eavesdropping" even though the only calls that were monitored are calls that originated in the United States and going to countries known terrorist organizations.

Now, we have an administration that encourages people to report people who speak ill of the national healthcare initiatives, make lists of those attending tea-party protests, and now are archiving all communications on their social networking sites. And, while I would agree the last one isn't as big a deal, I know that if any or all of these things had happened under the previous administration, people would be bitching a blue streak.

So my question is this: where's the outrage? People should be offended by violations of privacy by the government regardless of who is in office! Yet the same people who were bemoaning the lost of our rights and liberties only a year ago, have become conspicuously silent, or even turned apologist because now it's their guy in office.

Personally, I think our whole political system has been subverted by people who seek public office for the sole purpose of feathering their own nests. Honestly, we should throw every single one of them out of office!

What's wrong with that? I mean, it'd be a little weird if I made a word document with all of the comments on my facebook page/youtube channel, but I don't see anything wrong with it. Although I may be misunderstanding the issue here.

Let's use a little knowledge here:
http://www.archives.gov/presidenti [...] 8-act.html
Basically formed in 1978 after Nixon erasing info (tapes). It's purpose to have all info around the president (and vice pres) saved (called archieved or "archieving"). Many web sites ALREADY DO THIS NOW. I wouldn't exactly call it "collecting" as it's more of saving/archieving as these 2 things not the same.

what a coin toss i beleave that 911 has prevoked by the Presedent Bush's. i beleave they abused agood ideal in homeland secrity i aslo bealeave this presedent more so than any other needs these securities and much more

jellico: why throw republican rhetoric into the mix and then attack the whole system? it really shows what you truly have an issue with.

So I know that this whole article is concerned with facebook, youtube, twitter, etc., but come on this is just the tip of the iceberg. If you honestly believe that the government is in fact being transparent with the people it "represents", then you need to get out more often. I don't believe that the government has been transparent in a very long while. Money and power do not work well with transparency...

Here is the problem with the situation this article suggests...
People find out that the government is keeping record of everything being said or debated on these sites. So now the people that disagree with government and its polices will stop writing what they actually think for fear of unknown consequences (I say it like that because who knows what the hell anyone would want with all of those comments, blogs, whatever).

So then you get one side of argument on these sites: the side that is for the government. This is just another attempt at doing away with any kind of government opposition (just like dismissing tea parties and town hall meetings as "senseless mobs working for the right wing"). Facebook and youtube pages may not seem like a big deal, but it's all part of a grander scheme.

Now, if Mr_Man is right about this, and the government just wants to take note of people's thoughts, then ya that's a good thing. I mean the government is supposed to be representing the people that vote. But do they really need some radical republican or democrat comments to let them know what people want? I think there are plenty of polls, surveys, votes, town hall meetings, phone calls to representatives, etc. that tell the government what's on people's minds.

My view: this is just another attempt to warn people not to oppose the government on their own sites, because they are making a sly threat to somehow hold that information against you.

you forget to mention teh fact that teha ctual patriot act is written so vaugley that the goverment could bend alw to monitor calls inside the us as well they coudl also bust in yoru hoseu with no warrent if you are suspectd of terroismn ,m same as some of teh drug laws that were put forth in the 70's so basscialy nwo all they ahve to say is youar e supsected of beigna terrorist , or drugf trafficing or both to jsut bang down your doorand or tap yoru phone

oh adn jellico , i'm neitehr rebulican or democrat , i think both parties are pulign back door strings on every oen , reps ahve theyr hands in big industry like steeles , oil , autos, and so such while dems have their hands in the argiculture and entertainment industries, both parties are gettign big back form their respective industries . i'm more a liberal than i am conservative , but above all i'm mroe a moderate myself , and i find both aprties to be corrupt and dirty to the core, i hated it when bush got this lame ass bill made in teh frist palce adn slapped a pretty anme on it to blind idiots to what it was , and i ahte it now that obama is in favor of extending it i think busha dn obama are both evil and corrupt men

If you presented an objective summary of the facts instead of your subjective interpretations and opinions which you clearly got from Fox News then at least I could give you credit for trying to say something smart, but this way you just come off really basic and immature.

Well I mean if you post something on a what could be considered a public web page and someone records a bit you shouldn't be shocked... if you are you probably shouldn't be using the internet.

The question still stands though: *why* collect this information?


At the most benign, it's a total waste of taxpayer reources, and at the worst, another attempt to psycho analyze people for behavioral trends and/or to discourage balanced discourse on the net.

Regardless of your views on this particular case, we can all agree that this is part and parcel to a growing trend with our government. Thus, everyone should also be able to agree that the new administration is being hypocritcal.

It is not just about Facebook, YouTube etc. President Obama recently extended all the other provisions of the Patriot Act, the NSA spying schemes are still in effect, and teh DoD ones have not even been mentioned (most people are still unaware that the Army's domestic intelilgence program even exists).


I am an independent, and I am fed up with the partisan banter. Everyone who questioned the abuses to liberty for teh last 8 years was labeled an un-american, terrorist-loving liberal nut, and now everyone questioning within the last 6 months is labeled an un-american, bigoted/racist right-wing nut. The thing that has stayed the same is that there are millions of us in the middle that have been questioning the whole time, and will continue to question and challenge, regardless of any childish left-right paradigm propaganda/distractions/dog and pony shows.

Did anyone really think that comments sent to the White House would not be scrutinized and saved? Even if only to check for death threats, these messages are obviously going to be scrutinized. And why wouldn't they save them? Would people care if they found out the White House doesn't shred the millions of pieces of snail mail that are sent there every year?

To the people complaining about how corrupt and broken our government is: Your anger is misdirected. Blame your fellow citizens. They are the ones who keep reelecting clowns. Unless you have vote rigging or fraud to legitimately complain about, then you are only contributing to the problem by underestimating your own power to peacefully promote change.

Lol, really, this is newsworthy? Facebook keep's records of ALL comments ffs people. Is Kevin Parrish and right winger or something? Oh noes the white house is storing comments POSTED ON THEIR OWN SITES AND ACCOUNTS!!! What's the big deal? It is their accounts that you posted on in a public forum.

The picture is befitting.

Well said!

It seems to me that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy on a public web site. It doesn't seem much different from a conversation in a public place. Anyone is liable to overhear the conversation. Remember the old World War II slogan "Loose lips sink ships."

Doesnt our government have better things to do then hang out on social networks all day long?

omnimodis78 no offense but you are part of the problem.

Folks, notification is the issue, not the collecting of data.