More legislation regarding privacy.

[superboyac]

Administration, lawmakers defend NSA program to collect phone records

It's funny how I'm pretty sure the "administration, lawmakers" that are making these decisions are personally probably uber-paranoid about privacy and wouldn't let a shred of their own personal privacy be affected.

[superboyac]

Her comments echoed those of a senior Obama administration official, who said Thursday morning that the order “does not allow the government to listen in on anyone’s telephone calls” but relates only to “metadata, such as a telephone number or the length of a call.”

The official said such information “has been a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats to the United States, as it allows counterterrorism personnel to discover whether known or suspected terrorists have been in contact with other persons who may be engaged in terrorist activities, particularly people located inside the United States.”

Such as??  How about you tell us exactly what data is being collected?  Can't be too hard or technical to list in a simple paragraph.  I somehow doubt that the "harmless" metadata they insinuate is very helpful in preventing a terrorist attack. 

What if it said this:
"Her comments echoed those of a senior Obama administration official, who said Thursday morning that the order “does not allow the government to listen in on anyone’s telephone calls” but relates only to “metadata, such as a telephone number, or the gps coordinates of the caller, or transcription of the call”

That would be a more useful paragraph to write.  But why should journalists be anything but vague?

[Stoic Joker]

Because if they were honest with people it would make for a very short conversation.

Reporter: Hi, can we let the Thought Police have free access to your subconscious mind?

Citizen: F... No!

Now that's no way to keep a ball rolling when you're trying to "protect" people from the boogie man. Concessions need to be made to keep people "safe". Compliance is necessary for the safety and security of all ... You have nothing to hide...do you..?

[Stoic Joker]

Power like that is just too easy to abuse...which is precisely why the whole "Get a Warrant" concept got cooked up in the first place. Sure on some, isolated occasions, certain options might have potential usefulness. But this is why we also have the option of not crucifying someone if they happen to step over said line ... and that is fine. Moving the line OTOH is not. If officer X is willing to bet their career on an illegal wire tap/search/etc. that subject X is indeed a terrorist...Okay... But they better be triple thick double chocolate fudge with sprinkles and a cherry on top sure that they're right or they will be getting strung up in the town square.

[Tinman57]

It's an outrage: The Guardian has obtained long sought-after evidence of the extent of ongoing spying on Americans under the PATRIOT Act -- and it's as bad as we'd worried.

The National Security Agency is currently collecting the telephone records of millions of US customers of Verizon, one of America's largest telecoms providers, under a top secret court order issued in April.

The order, a copy of which has been obtained by the Guardian, requires Verizon on an "ongoing, daily basis" to give the NSA information on all telephone calls in its systems, both within the US and between the US and other countries.

Demand that the Congress investigate -- and put an end to -- this spying right away!

The government is continuing -- and expanding -- egregious spying and other infringement on our civil liberties that began under the Bush administration.  And enough is enough!

Please sign on to our petition to the House Oversight Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee to demand an immediate investigation of this spying.

Tell Congress to investigate -- and end -- the spying right now!

http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/patriot_verizon_copy


NSA 'top secret' spying order affects millions of Americans: FAQ

The U.S. government is vacuuming up millions of Verizon customer records on a daily basis, according to a leaked "top secret" court order. Here's everything you need to know.

http://www.zdnet.com/nsa-top-secret-spying-order-affects-millions-of-americans-faq-7000016489

[barney]

... they will be getting strung up in the town square.

Not anymore  .  'Twould seem that protection has been lost to us - again! - if government has its way  .  To paraphrase Lincoln, we now have government of the people, by the government, for the government ... but, in reality, that's [very] old news.