Senate bill would validate NSA’s harvesting of phone, e-mail records, privacy advocates say

[Indi Guy]

Source: Washington Post

Privacy advocates and at least one U.S. senator are expressing concern that legislation introduced Thursday would not only endorse the National Security Agency’s collection of all Americans’ phone records, but also give the agency permission to collect massive amounts of their e-mail records.

The bill to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which advanced out of the Senate Intelligence Committee, would codify limits that a special court has placed on NSA’s use of the records.

But if the FISA Improvements Act became law, Congress would be validating expansive powers that have been claimed by the NSA and upheld by a court — but never explicitly written into statute — to harvest the phone and e-mail records of millions of Americans, the advocates say.

“The bill that the intelligence committee voted on this week would expressly authorize this bulk collection for the first time, and that would be a huge step backward for the rights of law-abiding Americans,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), one of four committee members who voted against moving the bill...

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senate-bill-would-validate-nsas-harvesting-of-phone-e-mail-records-privacy-advocates-say/2013/11/02/aa24932e-4310-11e3-a751-f032898f2dbc_story.html

[Laelth]

1. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[blkmusclmachine]

2. I've read that the Post Office scans to/from addresses of all mail.

I supp. that's in there, too?

[DeSwiss]

3. Goddamned criminals. That's all they are. - K&R n/t

[woo me with science]

10. +100000

I never thought I would see my country brought to this.

[Egnever]

4. As long as it has appropriate oversight

and is not used for fishing expeditions I am fine with that.

[davidthegnome]

6. So..

What would you consider appropriate oversight? The problem is that any oversight in these situations, is usually the responsibility of a committee of very corruptible politicians.

I'm not fine with it, if they don't have a warrant, if they do not have a good enough reason, if they do not have some kind of proper legal procedure, then this is and needs to remain illegal. Who will watch the watchers to ensure that they do not abuse this? Who will watch the watchers of the watchers? Eventually, it ends up redundant to the point of absurdity.

It should be simple common sense. Without solid legal reasoning and procedure, the NSA has no right to spy on millions of American citizens. They do not have a right to read my email, to listen in on my phone conversations - not without a warrant or reasonable suspicion that I am in some way a threat or a criminal.

[Indi Guy]

11. Doesn't it bother you that your own government (the one YOU pay for)...

...treats you like a federal prisoner - rifling through your private information indiscriminantly, sorting and boxing it for later use (maybe decades from now)?

If your own government treats you with such disrespect now, can you imagine what the future may hold?

If you're OK with your Constitutionally (lawfully) guaranteed freedoms being trampled on, then what recourse is left for you should the government up the ante decide to impact your life more directly (i.e, up close and personal).

[Egnever]

12. Minus the hyperbole

No

They have much bigger fish to fry. I am not a blip on their radar screen and neither are you. I would lay odds somewhere in the 99.9% range no human will ever look at a single piece of data they collect on me or you either.

I think it is very important there is good oversight preferable by as non partisan a panel as possible to ensure that unless there is reasonable cause no human should ever look at the data they collect on you or me.

I also recognize the value of what they are doing and am not so foolish as to believe every other country out there isnt doing the same thing or as much of it as they are able. Heck there are at least 4 countries we work together with to enable us to collect much of the foreign data that we do.

If the oversight is good there is nothing to fear.

[Enrique]

14. there is zero oversight

the intelligence people have a free pass to lie to Congress under oath. Oversight is impossible.

[JDPriestly]

5. Thanks to Ron Wyden for standing up for human rights.

You don't really have the right to freedom of speech or of the press if the NSA can trace everything you write about on the internet and listen in on your phone calls. Most of us never say or even think anything all that subversive or potentially damaging, but the fact is that at this time, outside of the NSA, our government is good and pretty democratic (although very corrupt). That could change.

And if it ever does, we or our children or grandchildren will greatly regret the fact that we did not end this overly invasive NSA spying on us. The New York Times article today tells us that although the NSA deftly spies on Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, we are not doing especially well there militarily. Maybe our focus is wrong.

[djean111]

7. See? All nice and legal now!

The government works swiftly and surely - just not for us.

[sakabatou]

8. Oh god...

[jsr]

9. The FISA Improvements Act - from the Bureau of Orwellian Bullshit.

[Celefin]

13. So in other words it needs validating

Meaning it so far wasn't and you might be able to sue until the bill comes into effect with a clause that it also works retroactively.