Daniel Wright, a blogger, has released the FBI files that details how they tracked down Aaron Swartz, and collected information about him, right from websites like LinkedIn.
Aaron Swartz was a visionary. He killed himself in a battle with the Law and Order for trying to fight user privacy online. The 26 year old, previously released the document that he received from FBI on-request. Those files detailed some information about the way FBI tracked Swartz, but then, it was not detailed.
Earlier this week, Daniel Wright, someone who is daring and passionate like us, released the file that details everything FBI used to track down Aaron Swartz and collect important information about him from various online medium. We quickly went through the document, and what we understand is that almost every single activity you perform online is tracked, without your own knowledge.
For example, the document details one way in which Swartz was tracked:
“Washington Field Office requests that the North RA attempt to locate Aaron Swartz, his vehicles, drivers license information and picture, and others. Since Swartz is the potential subject of an ongoing investigation, it is requested that Swartz not be approached by agents.”
The above statement is from the document itself, and clearly shows the way anyone could be tracked and followed, without their consent. In this case, Swartz’ achievements were also collected, and all the information that you can ever think of, were tracked by FBI.
Upon Aaron’s death, the internet went crazy. The biggest hacker group, Anonymous showcased its anger by breaking into some of the Government websites, and threatened to initiate warheads. He was also listed as an innovator in the Internet’s Wall of Fame.
According to me, Swartz was a visionary, who killed himself in a battle. There’s an upcoming documentary featuring his achievements and the story coming up in computers near you. You can watch the trailer of the documentary here.
Hit the source link below to read the entire document that was posted by Daniel Wright.
Photo by dsearls 