Is Anyone ELSE Out There Listening?

My daughter is a linguistics major (BA graduate) from Cal.  Last night we were discussing artificial intelligence and she stated she doubted she could work in the IT industry because she questioned the ethics of corporate America.
I asked: “Why?”
She said a co-worker approached her at her desk and asked her about a product she (the co-worker) was interested in buying.  My daughter said as an aside that this was nothing she had ever thought about, considered for her own purchase or searched on or about on the web.  However, the next time she picked up her iPhone (within one hour of the conversation), she began receiving Ad placements for the product they had been discussing.
I replied she must have left her Siri turned on.  She said, yes, but she had never actually said the name / product type herself.  Only the co-worker had done that.  She added, she was less concerned if it (Siri) had done the listening for her specific voice, but she didn’t approve of it listening in on others (not her voice), too.
I then reminded her that ALL security is an illusion and your confidence in the security is based on the amount of money you are willing to spend on maintaining the illusion.  (Which led to a completely different discussion…)  Of course, Siri / Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft are “listening” in and monitoring all of our searches and selling that information on to other corporations, who in turn convert our “hot leads” into sales offers – and they, of course, store our data and forward it on to other “affiliates”.  And so the cycle continues…  After all, it’s just good business.  Right?  And, if anyone else is listening in along with them, too?  Well, that’s just good government keeping us “safe”.  Right?
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On This Day In:
2018	Defining Characteristic
2017	Just Asking
2016	Still A Burden
	15 And Counting
2015	All A Game
2014	Two Thoughts
2013	RIP – Dear Abby
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2012	To The Soul…
2011	Reverted!!

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Why #45 Is Uncivil And Sinking

In civilized life, law floats in a sea of ethics.
—  Chief Justice Earl Warren
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On This Day In:
2017	Go Where?
2016	Returning To The Same Box
2015	The Hunter’s Music
2014	Dedication
2013	Unhappy Alternatives
2012	Implications
2011	Never Let Us Down

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Ethics Lesson

The Hacker Ethic
Access to computers —  and anything which might teach you something about the way the world works — should be unlimited and total.  Always yield to the Hands-On Imperative!
All information should be free.
Mistrust Authority —  Promote Decentralization.
Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race, or position.
You can create art and beauty on a computer.
Computers can change your life for the better.
—  Steven Levy
From his book:  “Hackers: Heroes Of The Computer Revolution“
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On This Day In:
2017	May I Have Some More, Please?
2016	A Little Lost
2015	This High Place
2014	Elected Madness
2013	Well Written
2012	Related Parts
2011	The King Is Oscar
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Thank You, Senator McCain (So Far Anyway)

The man of character, sensitive to the meaning of what he is doing, will know how to discover the ethical paths in the maze of possible behavior.
—   Earl Warren
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On This Day In:
2016	What About Friends?
2015	It Tastes Good To Me
2014	Others’ Footsteps
	The Not-So-Modern Samurai
2013	Doin’
2012	A Lover
2011	What Have We Found Here
	Words

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Never Forget

Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.
―  Martin Luther King, Jr.
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On This Day In:
2016	It’s All Greek To Me (Well, Latin Actually)
2015	Truism
2014	Thank You
2013	Really
2012	Ordinary Five Minutes Longer
2011	The Wealth Of Sons (And Daughters)

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The Morality Of Spying

Clapper says he has never doubted the morality of his profession.  The job of the intelligence community is, in his view, honorably straightforward: to provide policy­makers with objective analysis derived from intelligence gathered through legally authorized methods.
…
Unpredictable instability has been a constant for this administration and will be, he says, for the next one too.
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After a pause, Clapper answered unapologetically: “We can do our job with a clear conscience, but we have to be careful.  The history of the intelligence community is replete with violations of the trust of the American people.”  That doesn’t mean that the job is immoral — it just means the job has to be done correctly.  “I have always accepted intelligence was an honorable profession.  We are all mindful of the need to comply with our moral values and the law.”
—  James Clapper
From the article: “Watching The Watcher“
Article written by: Garrett M. Graff
Article appearing in: Wired Magazine, dtd: December 2016
Link to article:  http://www.wired.com/2016/11/james-clapper-us-intelligence/
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On This Day In:
2016	He Doesn’t Remind Me Of Me
	The First Rule
2015	Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow
	The Man Without Fear
2014	I Blame Robocop
2013	Future Trustees
2012	Praise Not The Day…
2011	Educated Living

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Ethical Energy

The truth is, hardly any of us have ethical energy enough for more than one really inflexible point of honor.
—  George Bernard Shaw
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On This Day In:
2014	Are You Likely To Defend It?
2013	Might As Well
2012	The Long And Short Of It
2011	Bravery

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Complacent Reality

People honestly calculate and, with good intentions, recalculate what reality is until they find a place where they are comfortable with their moral myths, where they can sit complacent.
— Lt. Col. Peter Fromm, U.S. Army, Retired;  Lt. Col. Douglas Pryer, U.S. Army;  and Lt. Col. Kevin Cutright, U.S. Army
From their article:  “The Myths We Soldiers Tell Ourselves (and the Harm These Myths Do)“
Found at: http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/MilitaryReview/ Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20131031_art010.pdf
[Originally found via one of the blogs I follow: http://carryingthegun.wordpress.com/
The specific post is: http://carryingthegun.wordpress.com/2013/10/05/ the-ethics-of-the-marine-corps-urination-case/
—  KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2012	Two-minute Sex
	Just Staring, Why?
2011	A World Of Difference

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Ethics And Standards

You have to develop an ethic so that on every down you play as well as you can play.  From week to week, it is your personal, internalized standard of play that makes the difference.
—  Bill Walsh
Former 49er Head Coach
As quoted in “The Genius“, by David Harris
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