Why Amazon’s Collaboration with the CIA Is So Ominous — and Vulnerable | Global Research

Why Amazon’s Collaboration with the CIA Is So Ominous — and Vulnerable | Global Research

As
the world’s biggest online retailer, Amazon wants a benevolent image to
encourage trust from customers. Obtaining vast quantities of their
personal information has been central to the firm’s business model. But
Amazon is diversifying — and a few months ago the company signed a $600
million contract with the Central Intelligence Agency to provide “cloud
computing” services.

 Amazon
now has the means, motive and opportunity to provide huge amounts of
customer information to its new business partner. An official statement
from Amazon headquarters last fall declared:

“We look forward to a successful relationship with the CIA.”

 The Central Intelligence Agency has plenty of money to throw around. Thanks to documents provided
by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, we know that the CIA’s annual
budget is $14.7 billion; the NSA’s is $10.8 billion.

The founder and CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, is bullish on
the company’s prospects for building on its initial contract with the
CIA. As you might expect from a gung-ho capitalist with about $25
billion in personal wealth, Bezos figures he’s just getting started.

Bezos
publicly savors the fact that Amazon has proven its digital prowess —
aggregating, safeguarding and analyzing many billions of factoids about
human beings — to the satisfaction of the CIA.