Snooping on the Snooper

december 18, 2002  10:02 am
Snooping on the Snooper
SF Weekly columnist Matt Smith had a simple idea back on November 27. Angered by former Iran-Contra conspirator Admiral John Poindexter's proposed electronic data-base on all Americans--a frightening effort to compile the financial, medical, employment, school, credit and government records of all citizens -- he proposed in his column that people do a little snooping on Poindexter himself. Smith helpfully provided the phone number -- and two weeks later, his suggestion is snowballing into a bona fide crusade for civil libertarians. In his latest column, Smith provides a fascinating progress report, and learns that, in the Information Age, when it comes to messing with someone who wants to mess with you, calling their home phone number is truly just the tip of the iceberg.