America ranks as the fifth worst police state. The Electronic Police State rankings for 2010 have 17 criteria that were used to define an electronic police state:
- Daily documents: How much is required day-to-day for residents to present state-issued identity documents or registration.
- Border issues: What is demanded for a border entry.
- Financial tracking: The state’s ability to search and record financial transactions.
- Gag orders: The penalties for revealing to someone else the state is searching their records.
- Anti-crypto laws: Bans on cryptography.
- Constitutional protections: Either a lack of protections or someone overriding them.
- Data storage: The state’s ability to record and keep what it uncovers.
- Data search: The processes to search through data.
- ISP data retention: The demand for ISPs to save customers’ records.
- Telephone data retention: States’ requirements for communications companies to record and save records.
- Cell phone records: The saving and using of cell phone users’ records.
- Medical records: Demands from states that medical records retain information.
- Enforcement: The state’s ability to use force (SWAT teams) to seize someone.
- Habeus Corpus: Either an absence of such rights or someone overriding them.
- Police-Intel barrier: The absence of a barrier between police and intelligence organizations.
- Covert hacking: State operatives meddling in data on private computers covertly.
- Loose warrants: Warrants that are being issued without careful review of police claims by a truly independent judge. [1]
Endnotes
[1] The Electronic Police State. Cryptohippie. www.freeworldfilmworks.com/ abbro- policestate2010.pdf.