Of course, such plans are framed as a simple desire to be able to respond to questions or problems. And that may be sometimes true. But we should always be skeptical of major bodies looking to expand an ability to spy on average citizens:
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) has invited companies specializing in sentiment analysis the chance to bid on a contract, which will allow the regional bank to monitor what people are saying about the Fed online. The solutions designed by hopeful vendors will need to track reactions and opinions expressed by the public in real time.
More here from the always interesting “Tyler Durden“:
…The Fed has just entered the counterespionage era and will be monitoring everything written about it anywhere in the world. After all, why ask others to snitch for you and anger everyone as Obama found out the hard way, when you can pay others to create the supreme FIATtack WatchTM using money you yourself can print in unlimited amounts. And once the Internet is completely “transparent”, the Fed will next focus on telephone conversations, and finally will simply bug each and every otherwise “private” location in the world. Because very soon saying that “printing money is treason” will be treason, and such terrorist thoughts must be pre-crimed before they even occur.