Air Bud, known to his friends as Buddy the All-American basketball-playing dog, shared his thoughts on cybersecurity policy in an exclusive and unprecedented interview with the Daily Dot on Tuesday.
The following is a real Twitter direct-message exchange between a Daily Dot reporter and the verified Air Bud Twitter account.
THE DAILY DOT: air bud, i have a serious question…as a dog, do you think warrantless government surveillance is barking up the wrong tree?
AIR BUD: I think Norm Snively should definitely be tracked… he’s not nice.
Bud was referring to Norm Snively, the antagonist in the classic 1997 Disney film Air Bud. In the movie, Snively, an evil clown, repeatedly tries to capture Air Bud, the basketball-playing dog. We don’t want to spoil the ending for you, but rest assured that justice (and dunks) are served.
Bud’s response suggests that he supports targeted surveillance programs, although it is unclear to what extent he would support reform of current American surveillance operations, many of which have come under fire for reaching too far and disregarding civil liberties.
The athletic, golden-coated canine—who went on to dominate the games of football, soccer, volleyball, and baseball after becoming a breakout basketball star due to a loophole in a local youth league handbook—is also a proponent of adding “backdoors” to encryption so that law enforcement and intelligence officials can bypass that encryption during their investigations, much as Bud himself slipped through defense on the court.
@WilliamTurton I support doggy-doors in cry-paw-graphy
— Air Bud 🏀🐕 (@AIRBUD) January 12, 2016
Bud did not respond to a tweeted question about the surveillance disclosures of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Apparently, this topic was too hot for the famously skilled dog to handle.
@AIRBUD Do you think Edward Snowden is a hero, traitor, or someone who might just have bacon in his pocket?
— Aaron Sankin (@ASankin) January 12, 2016
Air Bud also declined to wade into the online culture wars, ducking a question about the objectification of his kind.
@AIRBUD Did you know @iratedogs is rating dogs? As a dog, do you find the human gaze problematic? Please respond in animated gif form
— Aaron Sankin (@ASankin) January 12, 2016
Afraid to take a stand for his species? Bad dog.
Update 5:29pm CT, Jan. 12: Air Bud has at last issued official—if somewhat evasive—replies to the two queries above.
I think Edward Snowden is… WAIT! BACON?!?! I LOVE BACON!!!! BACON! BACON! I'm sorry, what was the question? ;-0) https://t.co/3Cz8PBH6Vg
— Air Bud 🏀🐕 (@AIRBUD) January 12, 2016
@ASankin @iratedogs Since dogs crave human attention more than almost anything (except bacon) I find that… pic.twitter.com/iCEE3Qi8gf
— Air Bud 🏀🐕 (@AIRBUD) January 12, 2016
Additional reporting and research by Eric Geller, Kevin Collier, Andrew Couts, Aaron Sankin, Dell Cameron, Patrick Howell O’Neill, and Josh Rubin
Photo via @AIRBUD/Twitter