U.S. Gov't Spent $30M On Citizens' Personal Info

infosec_spaz writes "According to a news story on Yahoo! News, the U.S. Government has spent US$30 million in the last year on buying citizens' personal phone records from online brokers...The very ones who Congress is trying to put out of business." From the Article:"Congressional investigators estimated the U.S. government spent $30 million last year buying personal data from private brokers. But that number likely understates the breadth of transactions, since brokers said they rarely charge law enforcement agencies any price." "So...who is getting all of BellSouth, SBC(AT&T) and other phone records?"

Comments

Re:Vote GOP!

[Anonymous Coward]

You're so out of date!

We're not talking about fags anymore. The new real crisis is immigration. NO! NOT terrorism, the war, the economy, healthcare, social security, or unemployment. IMMIGRATION! Write it down.

Oh, did I mention IMMMMIIIIGRRRAAAAATTIIIOOOONNNNN!

-AC

Re:I am amazed by the whole concept.

[JWtW]

These aren't legitimate corporations, or at least they aren't known for their scruples. These 'brokers' obtain the information illegally, and sell it to anyone they want to. The question should be, why aren't they getting arrested for their crimes, instead of profitting from the very people that should be shutting them down?

I guess we justify it by saying that law enforcement has been using informants for as long as it's been around. Think of this as Jimmy the Fink with a paypal account, and an email address. The problem I have with this, is that it's not just trying to get the goods on a specific criminal, the government is buying the information in bulk, hoping to glean out a criminal or two. Now what happens to the remaining honest folks? Their information has been scrutinized for no reason, and there will always be a flag next to their name now. We're not the small fish that get pulled out of the net, and thrown back into the sea. The data is recorded, and always available.

Sorry for all of the analogies.

Re:Two wrongs

[Red Flayer]

Come on -- do you think spying on another country is "legal?"

Yes, yes it is. Oh, do you mean legal according to their laws, or legal according to ours?

I think if you check Article II Section 4 of the US Constitution, you'll find the blanket authorization that allowed the Congress to grant permission by law to the President:

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

(emphasis mine)

Foreign espionage, at the time of the writing of the Constitution, was definitely considered under the domain of the President, as a normal function of ambassadorial duties (what do you think Franklin was doing in Paris and London in addition to negotiating and womanizing? Gathering intel).

Foreign espionage was not explicitly allowed for in the Constitution -- but it was implicitly allowed for, since explicit mention of it would have caused an international incident.

Re:What are you scared of?

[TheGratefulNet]

in short, yes, anyone with half a brain is scared MORE of their government than their fellow citizens.

I'll even include non-citizens in there. I feel my gov more than any other society, culture or creed.

the US was setup on the principle that the gov isn't trustable and check and balances were installed for this. what has become of our c/b system, though? all whittled away for our 'war on drugs'. ooops, we lost that one. I mean 'war on terror'. yeah, that's the real war (rolls eyes).

people, wake up. the REAL war is from the gov against its own citizens.

Here is to the Separation of Powers

[mi]

The very ones who Congress is trying to put out of business

While the Legislative branch is trying to put these people out of business, the Executive branch is outsourcing data-collection to them. Very interesting. Very Constitutional...

Re:Bill of Rights?

[Red Flayer]

The Bill of Rights is not an all-inclusive list. It just lists some of the specific rights that were felt, at the time, needed to be specifically enumerated due to recent experiences with the British Crown and its agents.

The Right to Privacy has been confirmed by SCOTUS as a fundamental right that is only to be violated with due process (meaning court-ordered warrants). Warren and Brandeis do a pretty good job of explaining it in this 1890 brief. While this largely applies to Right of Privacy from private interests, it applies also to the government. Never mind the fact that the US ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Article 17 of which states: "1. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation."

Of course, the ICCP doesn't apply to US domestic law (only international law), exception are made in times of formally declared exigencies, and the US ratified with the disclaimer that Articles 1-26 are not self-executing.

However, ratification of this treaty serves to reaffirm the US's belief in the Right to Privacy as a fundamental humand right.