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In Tribeca, NSA Billboard Watches YOU
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 3, 2013
Modified Oct 3, 2013
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By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 3, 2013
Modified Oct 3, 2013
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A new billboard advertisement on West Broadway just south of Canal has a cryptic message for you: "Your data should belong to the NSA." Well, the NSA is taking possession of your data, regardless of whether you believe it should or should not. So what's the point of the billboard, besides ironically reminding everyone that privacy is dead? We don't know, but at least it's better than that beer billboard that used the actual moon for a publicity stunt.
A spokesperson for Clear Channel, which owns the billboard space, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Dusty Rebel, which appears to be the first publication to spot it, points out that a similar billboard mystified Silicon Alley last month. Nobody knows who put the damn thing up there, either. The LA Times speculated thus:
It's possible that despite creepy, Big Brother-ish overtones, that it's the NSA itself just trying to get some good marketing. Others have wondered, could it be the work of Michael Arrington, erstwhile blogger-turned-venture-capitalist-turned conscience of Silicon Valley? Arrington has been on a one-man crusade to shame valley companies that have been assisting NSA efforts.
Whoever is monitoring my emails for the NSA, would you mind dropping me a line to clear up the mystery?
Tagged
big brother
billboards
nsa
surveillance
tribeca
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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