FBI Investigates Open Records Request

GrooveMoose writes "A university student at the University of Texas makes an open records request for information on the underground tunnel system at the school. A few months later the FBI and Secret Service come knocking on his door to see if he's a terrorist. He's still under investigation by the federal government regarding a completely open request."

Comments

There's a lot of naivety here...

[GrpA]

Step 1. Apply for information which someone thinks is suspicious.
Step 2. Your noted on a government database as having requested that information. (You're the only one most likely). The reason is because of likely crime or terrorist activity associated with that information, otherwise no one would bother adding you to the database. You are initially interviewed by authorities.
Step 3. Someone commits crime/terrorist act related to the information. Because they were a criminal/terrorist, they got the required information from other sources.
Step 4. You are detained without warrant and held without charge. You disappear. No one knows where you are. You are not allowed to make a phone call.
Step 5. Further investigation yields no clues. Law enforcement officials with an average IQ of 100 are under pressure to make an arrest, and charge someone.
Step 6. Based on your comments under (mild) mental torture and previous slashdot posts, you are arrested and charged. The circumstantial evidence of your having asked for the information without a valid reason otherwise may be enough to convict you. More recently, they can also hold you without charge or communication until you confess too now.
Step 7. You are convicted.

That's why this kind of stuff is scary. It does happen. All too often. After all, there is a real chance of the crime/terror incident happening or otherwise you wouldn't have been questioned in the first place.

Bottom line, if you don't want to face the risk of being interrogated/charged for something you didn't do, then be careful what you ask for and how you draw attention to yourself. Even comments in forums like this can be use against you, and they are kept for a very long time... Everyone who reads slashdot is probably considered a potential terrorist/criminal by anyone who doesn't understand what geeks are. Some people feel threatended by geeks. Especially hackers - white or black hat - and those sort of people are the most likely content of a jury.

It is a bit chilling. And it's not recent legislation or the US. Check the history of academic dissidents throughout recent history. This is a common theme.

GrpA.