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Warrantless surveillance law proves it’s time to take privacy into our own hands

NavyChief

NavyChief

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Sep 26, 2013
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Warrantless surveillance law proves its time to take privacy into our own hands
TechCrunch David Gorodyansky 16 hours ago
The warrantless surveillance law, otherwise known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, gained mass attention back in 2013 when Edward Snowden leaked information that the NSA was using it to spy on Americans text messages, phone calls, emails and internet activity all legally, and without warrants.

That bill has been passed by the U.S. Senate for another six years and has now been signed into law by President Trump -- a further extension of what should be an Orwellian clich but remains quite real.


Naturally, this has caused quite the uproar over not so much the intent of Section 702, but rather how this law could (or will) be interpreted. The act allows the NSA to monitor the communications of foreigners located outside of the U.S. to gather foreign intelligence which is the laws intended purpose.

These practices have already hurt our image abroad when it was discovered that the NSA spied on Angela Merkel and the former president of Brazil. However, the domestic use of the law rightfully has caused many to fear further overreaching of the NSA into the lives of American citizens.

And much of said data has reportedly been made available to different U.S. intelligence services.

Because of these votes, broad NSA surveillance of the Internet will likely continue, and the government will still have access to Americans emails, chat logs, and browsing history without a warrant, said David Ruiz, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Because of these votes, this surveillance will continue to operate in a dark corner, routinely violating the Fourth Amendment and other core constitutional protections.

Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Michael Lee (R-UT), Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) agree, presenting a bipartisan letter to colleagues stating that this bill allows an end-run on the Constitution by permitting information collected without a warrant to be used against Americans in domestic criminal investigations.

This insidious law that allows such an overarching, predatory invasion of our personal lives has been given new life as quickly and quietly as possible. Privacy advocates are loudly publicizing their disgust -- but the media has little time to discuss what amounts to a borderline limitless invasion of our privacy.

Lawmakers have a responsibility to make sure Americans understand what the impact will be of the laws they pass, Wyden wrote in The Cipher Brief. Having support for the laws you pass is what makes a government legitimate.

Section 702s intended purpose is to protect American soldiers, keep U.S. decision-makers informed about the intentions of adversary nations and help federal agents detect and prevent terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. However, the evaluation of 160,000 emails and instant messenger conversations collected under Section 702 between 2009 and 2012 (leaked by Snowden in 2013) showed that 90 percent of them were from online accounts that were not foreign surveillance targets, according to The Washington Post.

And nearly half of those belonged to U.S. citizens or residents. Thats tens of thousands of emails from regular people, collected without our approval, say-so or, indeed, knowledge
 
B

Beefbrains

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Jan 6, 2016
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It’s ridiculous and it cries out for lots of abuse - which we see happening already.
 
testboner

testboner

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The US is a hyper-extreme surveillance (NO privacy) police state.
 
CFM

CFM

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You have to see the other side of this.....................right?

Is America going to provide a safe space for terrorists to communicate and plan their bombings?

Okay maybe you don't.
 
woodswise

woodswise

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Apr 29, 2012
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You have to see the other side of this.....................right?

Is America going to provide a safe space for terrorists to communicate and plan their bombings?

Okay maybe you don't.
I think you miss the author's point. That the law is overbroad, allowing surveillance of peaceful US citizens without any restrictions, then using information legally gleaned during that surveillance to go after them.

The government may be using the law to hunt terrorists, but at the same time, it is using it against non-terrorist citizens. Think about it: can we truly be free if government can inspect our private lives. What happens if the government decides to use that surveillance to prosecute the current government's political adversaries? What happens if the executive branch decides to use the surveillance to undermine a special prosecutor, an attorney general, or other parts of government? The law is so overbroad that our only hope of not becoming a police state is that good people in government use self restraint and have good ethics guiding them. And that, as we have seen is a thin line indeed, and may be the only thing separating us from becoming a police state.
 
testboner

testboner

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"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Benjamin Franklin

The US (and Israeli, and Saudi, and some others) govt; arms, trains, and funds "terrorists" for proxy use. The "terrorist" narrative of the mainstream propaganda media has painted a mental image of dark bearded sinister attackers lurking in every shadow, and the need for govt protection, or else we'd all be slain. It's BULLSHIT... more fear induced controlling bullshit.
You cannot begin to imagine in how many ways the world is the opposite of what you have been taught to believe.
 
Determined

Determined

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Apr 5, 2012
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Getting that death grip around our necks.
 
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