Last month I blogged on how US banks, Internet-service providers and other companies were joining the telcos in providing confidential information about their customers to security agencies. I also raised the question of whether we are becoming a surveillance society.

Now there are signs that show we are definitely heading that way.

Like the reports that the Bush administration has been secretly tapping into a global database of confidential financial transactions for nearly five years. The story was broken in the New York Times.

President Bush has attacked the New York Times for doing its job and congressman Peter King has accused the newspaper of treason.

In other words, the administration maintains that the public does not have the right to know about the way government agencies are using business to attack the rights of citizens.

Or check out the defence AT&T is using now that it is facing attacks from civil liberties groups and law suits, according to this Red Herring report:

"While your account information may be personal to you, these records constitute business records that are owned by AT&T."

As far as business strategies go, it's a case of dumb and dumber. The responses on Computerworld's IT Blogwatch sum it up nicely.