NSA Thinks of Pacemakers As A Matter of National Security

The NSA would like nothing more than to know every little detail about individual citizens. But it appears as of hacking computers is not enough, as they now want to monitor the Internet of Things. This would include pacemakers and other medical devices as well.

Pacemakers Have Nothing To Do With National Security

There is only so much the NSA can claim to collect on behalf of national security in the United States. Information gathered from medical devices, and pacemakers should never be on that list, albeit the intelligence agency feels otherwise. Albeit deputy director Richard Ledgett told the media this is only “theoretical” for the time being, it will spur a whole new privacy debate in the coming months.

It seems ludicrous to think a pacemaker would hold any valuable information to protect national security. Moreover, if the NSA can monitor these devices which determine between life and death, internet criminals and hackers will find a way in as well. This would put a whole new spin on “hitmen hired over the internet”, as a hacker could shut off a pacemaker remotely [in the worst case scenario].

At the same time, it is not such a strange train of thought. The NSA wants to keep a close eye on the Internet of Things, as all of these internet-connected devices will create a vast treasure trove of consumer information. Then again, the is a concern as to what type of information the NSA would like to extract, and more importantly, how they would use it.

It is not the first time the NSA is facing a lot of scrutiny over their plans either. The intelligence agency has hinted at tapping into the Internet of Things earlier this year, albeit no information was provided as to how they would go about doing so. Using these internet-connected devices for mass surveillance and location tracking should never be on the agenda to begin with.

Granted, the US National Intelligence Director James Clapper is only talking about these possibilities in hypothetical form. But at the same time, even remotely considering these things goes to show how clueless these people are. While they want access to all of this information, they would also open up a can of worms with their backdoors and inadequate software solutions.

Source: The Verge

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