Don't get me wrong -- I'm not defending the notion of data mining; I think it's hugely problematic and a violation of privacy.

But the issue came up in the context of whether Flyertalk has DHS "minders". I think the fact that Flyertalk may be subject to (hypothetical) data mining by government contractors (or others) doesn't rise to the level of "minders", because actually doing something with the data being mined here strikes me as ridiculously difficult.

And, self-importance aside, how many people on Flyertalk arise to the level of someone on Hoover's "enemies" list?