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Tag: surveillance

  • The New Cold War is Fought in Code: A “Digital Iron Curtain” is the Next Phase of US-China Policy

    The era of arguing about tariffs on steel and soybeans is over. The real battleground for global dominance is digital.

    The United States must move beyond traditional economic statecraft and implement a comprehensive “Digital Iron Curtain” strategy to counter China’s technological ambitions and safeguard its own national security, even if it means fundamentally altering the concept of a global, open internet.

    Explain what the core components of AI dominance are: advanced semiconductors, massive datasets, and cloud computing infrastructure.

    Discuss current U.S. export controls on chips (Nvidia, AMD) and the Commerce Department’s efforts.

    These controls have a loophole—Chinese firms can rent U.S. cloud infrastructure. Propose new regulations (like the one just announced) requiring cloud providers to act as gatekeepers, effectively denying adversaries access to America’s core computational power.

    Discuss the TikTok threat not just as propaganda, but as a massive data-harvesting operation.

    All data generated by U.S. citizens and businesses (from healthcare records to social media activity) should be treated as a strategic national asset.

    Propose legislation that prevents U.S. data from being stored or processed by companies with ties to adversarial nations, citing the risk of it being used to train their AI models.

    Connect the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., reliance on China for PPE, pharmaceuticals) to the technology sector.

    The U.S. cannot afford a similar vulnerability in its tech supply chain (e.g., circuit boards, drone components, network hardware).

    Analyze the role of tax credits and government spending (like the CHIPS Act) as a starting point, but argue for a more aggressive industrial policy to rebuild domestic manufacturing in critical tech sectors.

    Acknowledge the counterarguments: A bifurcated internet could stifle innovation, hurt U.S. tech companies, and run counter to First Amendment principles of openness.

    Rebuttal: The alternative is ceding the technological high ground to a strategic adversary, which poses a far greater long-term risk to economic prosperity and national sovereignty.

    Call to Action: Urge lawmakers to move with urgency to debate and enact a coherent, bipartisan strategy that treats digital infrastructure and data with the same seriousness as physical borders and military hardware.

    David Gross

    Follow me at https://x.com/dgapps and https://davidgrossapps.com

  • Don’t Ground ‘Quiet Skies’: A Proposal for Smarter, Safer Aviation Security

    Don’t Ground ‘Quiet Skies’: A Proposal for Smarter, Safer Aviation Security

    The recent announcement that the TSA is ending its “Quiet Skies” program has been framed as a victory against wasteful spending and political misuse. While any program that costs taxpayers millions and is used to target political opponents deserves scrutiny, scrapping Quiet Skies entirely is a dangerously simplistic solution. I have a nuanced critique: the core concept of the program is not only sound but essential. The problem wasn’t the mission; it was the flawed execution and political weaponization. Instead of ending the program, we should be reforming it into a smarter, more effective tool that truly secures our nation.

    First, the idea of using dedicated analysts and undercover air marshals is a good one. However, their mission should be dovetailed with other tangible needs in our struggling aviation sector. Imagine if their observational data could be used for quality control or to assist our overburdened Air Traffic Control system. This would add immense value beyond pure counter-terrorism and justify the program’s existence on multiple fronts.

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  • Immediately repeal the federal Real ID Act, replace with StatePass or Nothing

    Immediately repeal the federal Real ID Act. Its core danger lies not just in bureaucratic failure, but in its fundamental threat to personal liberty and privacy. Real ID creates the infrastructure for a national tracking system, linking state databases and enabling unprecedented government surveillance of citizens’ movements—precisely the kind of invasive system that evokes deep-seated fears among many Americans, including concerns resembling a “mark of the beast” scenario where government monitors and controls individuals through mandatory identification. This potential for pervasive tracking violates the spirit of the 4th Amendment and must be dismantled.

    Replace Real ID with StatePass, a new system of state-controlled secure IDs for domestic travel originating within their borders. Leveraging lessons from Real ID’s troubled history, states will implement StatePass quickly and efficiently. The absolute priority of StatePass is preventing federal surveillance; standards must prohibit centralized databases or features allowing easy federal tracking, focusing instead on secure credentials verifiable locally, not federal data collection. This state-centric approach, where states design, issue, and manage their own StatePass IDs and verification, directly counters the “mark of the beast” concerns tied to federal overreach.

    State accountability will be ensured through robust mechanisms. The State Security Assurance Fund (SSAF) is a mandatory pool of state contributions, essentially security deposits, used to levy substantial financial penalties against any state whose faulty StatePass system causes a major security breach originating there. The Interstate Travel Security Commission (ITSC), composed of representatives from participating states, manages the SSAF, investigates security failures to determine penalties, and facilitates voluntary collaboration on StatePass best practices.

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