Sunday, September 03, 2006

Snitch of the Week: 8/27 - 9/2 (FAFSA)


(Laura McGann, snitch and carpenter.)

I used to think I was paranoid, but the more I read the more I realize that I'm not paranoid enough.

Our most recent step to the eventual microchipping of every American infant at birth was the revelation that the FBI sent names over to the Federal Department of Education, the DoE then checked the names against their databases and sent the information back in a program named Project Strikeback.

Read FAFSA is Spying on You (A.P.)

And this was all brought to light by Laura McGann, at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, as part of a reporting project that focused on national security and civil liberties.

No one will say whether any investigations were conducted but they claim the program is over and that they only checked on people who were already being investigated. In related news, I also have some lunar real estate to sell you.

Based on all the weird ass "additional questioning" I got from Homeland (In)Security a few years ago after coming back from a college trip I would bet all the poor college fuckers, like myself, that applied for FAFSA have the Alphabet Boys looking through your shit.

From the article,
  • For most undergraduates, FAFSA requires detailed descriptions of their parents' personal and financial information, their Social Security numbers, tax returns, savings, investments and business assets.

    FAFSA's online privacy statement says information may be shared with other agencies for "routine uses," including disclosure to law enforcement.

    Many students are unaware of this.

Whoopsie.
Laura McGann, for your skills with the power tools and intrusive investigating, you are the Snitch of the Week.

4 comments:

  1. here's what laura mc gann really looks like:
    http://www.getdown.org/ben/gallery/2004-Fall/laura_bench

    ReplyDelete
  2. When I realized my student loan account no. was my social security number I knew it was on then.

    ReplyDelete
  3. - Good looking anonymous.
    Did you go to school with her or something? That was fast.

    - It seems like everyone in the gov knows my damn SS#.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The pictured Laura McGann is not the same person who wrote the story.

    ReplyDelete