Is Everyone Spying on Everyone?

C’mon, please tell me this is all a joke. What a week about privacy. The way things are going Privacy will soon be a forgotten word.

First, BloombergGate where Bloomberg reporters secretly looked at the logon activities of major bankers, especially Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. Then it is revealed that the IRS has been focusing on conservative groups and their tax exempt status. Now the Justice Department has been reported to have looked into telephone records of at least 24 journalists at the Associated Press for years. And I haven’t even mentioned Benghazi.

I mean what in the world is going on around here? Is there no moral compass? Doesn’t anyone apply some common sense? The news reports today say that the IRS activity was known and condoned by the most senior level appointees. And the Justice Department’s nefarious activities have been going on for years and known by many top tier managers within the agency including the temporary head of the agency.

As for BloombergGate, you just have to scratch your head. How could senior level managers from such a squeaky-clean organization allow this snooping? Not only was it allowed, reporters were taught how to use Bloomberg terminals to extract all this cool information to use against bankers. Was it illegal? The answer seems to be no. Was it right? The answer is absolutely no. Daniel L. Doctoroff, Chief Executive at Bloomberg said tuesday that “since the news came out he and his management team have personally called over 300 clients.” Who cares? How about an independent inquiry to investigate how this happened? All we have right now is the Bloomberg version of events and activities. How long has this really been going on? How many bankers’ records have been viewed? What stories came out as a result? Why was this allowed in the first place? Who approved the activities and who sanctioned them? There are so many questions and so few answers.

You just can’t make this stuff up.