Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

FBI Widens Use of National Security Letters

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the wishing-for-1984 dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The Washington Post reports that the FBI has drastically increased its use of National Security Letters (NSL), which permit it to collect information without judicial oversight. According to the article, the use of NSLs is up by a factor of 100, and the records are kept forever (in the past they were thrown away if the subject was cleared). Deep in the article, the author reports that NSLs were used to collect records '[...] of every hotel guest, everyone who rented a car or truck, every lease on a storage space, and every airplane passenger who landed in [Las Vegas]' for a two week period, in response to a terrorism threat in 2003. Those records, apparently, will be kept forever by the federal government. There's an ombudsman, and a procedure to resolve complaints, but the mere existence of an NSL is secret, so it's not clear how anyone can complain!

5 of 379 comments (clear)

  1. Ombudsman? by TheSpoom · · Score: 5, Funny

    Man, I want THAT job.

    Person: Are you the ombudsman for National Security Letters?

    Me: Yes.

    Person: I'd like to complain about the FBI's issuance of one against me. I was cleared and they're now storing all my personal information forever.

    Me: Sir, you're not supposed to know about that.

    Person: But I...

    Me: I'm afraid you're now a threat to National Security.

    Person: Wait, what the... No, I'm an innocent man! I'M INNOCENT DAMN-*gunshots* *silence*

    Me: I love my job.

    --
    It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
    - E. Debs
  2. Three words... by Chickenofbristol55 · · Score: 4, Funny
    Double edged sword.

    One the one hand it's useful, but on the other it contradicts our constitutuion. Man I love polidicks[sic].

    --
    public class null extends java applet { System.out.print ("Tabula Rasa"); }
  3. Slashdot post... by G3ckoG33k · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, I would imagine that just by posting to Slashdot you are registered 'for all eternity' in some federal register. So, what's your point?

  4. you've never been to Alpha Centauri? by swissfondue · · Score: 4, Funny
    "There's an ombudsman, and a procedure to resolve complaints, but the mere existence of an NSL is secret, so it's not clear how anyone can complain!"

    I eventually had to go down to the cellar. With a torch. The notice was on display at the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying "beware of the leopard".
    --
    Rubies and Pearls are not what you think.
  5. Allow me to explain the plan: by Elrac · · Score: 4, Funny
    1. Make prostitution and the solicitation thereof illegal everywhere except in one state
    2. Keep complete records of the activities of everyone who goes to that state
    3. Have records on hand to blackmail anyone who wants to get his rocks off safely, legally and without emotional issues
    4. Take your pick of:
      • Political ammunition
      • Criminalization
      • Slander;
        or that all-time favorite,
      • Profit!
    --
    When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called Rel