They openly admit they harass people without going through any judicial process. They do it not because they are trying to catch felons. Harassing people simply makes them constantly aware that the authorities are observing them, and that is the last thing you would want to do if you were really trying to catch a criminal. They do it because no-one stops them and they have organisations like the BBC who act as a mouthpiece for them (the next time you hear a report quoting someone from Chatham House take a look at that person's biog and wonder to yourself is this really a spy?).
Anyway this is what happened today. I was trying to log into Duolingo to do what they describe as my 600th lesson (really I have done many more but I left in a fit of pique over blue stars, don't ask what they are).
My Chromebook automatically fills in my name and password. It's been doing this for a long time, so long I don't even remember what the password is. But not today. Today the spooks had a pretty good idea that I would be posting about the fact that I have notched up 600.
Stopping me completing the 600th lesson would cause me stress.
That's the game. Piss me off and make me aware that the man behind the curtain is the all powerful Oz.
But real life is not like that. I tried a few times to get into Duolingo on the Chromebook and gave up. I simply moved across to my Mac and used that instead. Yes I was inconvenienced but I felt a little wave of pleasure because these odious and juvenile people had been defeated.
Jonathan Brind