@ Since9. The above is a quote from you. It implies that If a person does not ignore it they are being un American.
Only if you read a lot of things into it that aren't really there.
These statements don't seem tin foil hat'ish to you?
Nope. I've been on various message forums for 26 years. Must of that time was spent arguing against various conspiracy theories, faked UFOs, etc.
If you have some proof that this system is designed to keep track of individuals I'll gladly open mouth and insert foot.
"Proof" is a very slippery term. What I have is evidence:
1. Every time a person accesses
http://www.whitehouse.gov or
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions, their IP address is recorded.
2. Let's take a look at one such petition:
Clearly, this idea makes very good sense. 30 days isn't enough to raise 5,000 signatures. Yet only 3 days remain to raise more than 96% of the necessary signatures.
3. The system requires people to create an account. When your account is created, your IP address is recorded again. In case you're not aware, these are recording using the full trace, and can pinpoint your location to within a block or so.
4. Oh, and to create an account, you have to verify your e-mail address.
5. And agree to their
terms of participation:
6. They call this site "We the People" and it's anything but. It's a very highly stratified (and therefore biased) sample. Yet from the outset, Obama says "if it doesn't meet the requisite number of signatures, we won't look at it." So much for being able to redress the government for your grievances as an individual. Now you have to find 4,999 friends? Phooey.
7. The statement: "We the People expands the options for contacting the White House and does not displace current official methods of communication, such as mailing or emailing the White House." is FALSE. It's an outright lie, as clearly seen in the light of Obama's earlier quote as well as the nature of the system as described in earlier news articles. Flat out, if it were available, this petition system would either not be necessary, or would not require a "minimum number of signatures." Yet:
8. "AS OF OCTOBER 3, 2011: To cross the first threshold and be searchable within WhiteHouse.gov, a petition must reach 150 signatures within 30 days. To cross the second threshold and require a response, a petition must reach 25,000 signatures within 30 days." This is a huge change.
9. Your e-mail address must be valid, and the WH can remove your signature or entire petition any time it feels (quite arbitrarily) that it's not or that you're skirting the intent -
whether you are or not. There's no accountability, to check and balance on this. If they don't like your petition or feel like it's getting too many signatures,
they simply hit the delete key and they do not have to answer to anyone. It's a trap in that it diverts people from writing their Congressmen, which is what they
SHOULD do instead of writing a President who, if he disagrees with a position, will simply ignore it.
10. The coup-de-gras with respect to your claims that you don't have to give out your personal information:
Seriously, Beau? I cut my eye teeth out of college back in the late '80s as a systems analyst (database development and design). I know full well once you register, each and every subsequent action, whether you log in or not, can be tracked, logged, categorized, grouped, analyzed, and used any way they feel like it. Do you know why? Because you volunteered the information, and you did so under a terms of use which includes no statement whatsoever protecting your rights. On most corporate websites, they agree not to use individual data.
Do you honestly believe the
Privacy Policy on Whitehouse.gov falls under the same scrutiny as that of, say, Symantec? It really doesn't matter what they say they will do or not do. What matters is what they actually do.
Finally, there's this:
"If you choose to provide us with personal information ... This information will likely be retained by the White House until the end of the current Administration, at which time it will be transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in accordance with the Presidential Records Act (PRA). NARA may eventually release this material to the public, but is required, in accordance with the PRA and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), to withhold any information that would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy if released."
No, you're not going to find it posted on 1st and Main. There's absolutely nothing, however, to prevent them from using it internally in any manner they wish.
Another: "Some of the information provided to set up a user account (your name and zip code) and user-generated content created with the account may be treated as public information."
Oh, so I guess you might see some of your info posted on 1st and Main.
Still not convinced, Beau? If not, from what position would you argue in response to the above? If it's not in agreement with the above, it can only be from a position of either ignorance, or subterfuge.
I sincerely hope you simply change your mind and recognize Obama's "We the People" for what it is: An attempt by an admitted master of misdirection (he is a lawyer, after all) to get people who're most likely to write their Congressmen, as they should, to write him instead, and into a system which he controls with near impunity, and can manipulate the biases results any way he sees fit.
That's American? Come on, Beau...