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Careful What You Post, the FBI Has More of These

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the do-you-see-what-i-see dept.

jamie writes "A comment posted to a website got its author's *friend's* car an unwanted aftermarket addon. The Orion Guardian ST820, a GPS tracking device, was attached to the underside of the car by the FBI. No warrant required. The bugged friend, a college student studying marketing, was apparently under suspicion because he's half-Egyptian. As Bruce Schneier says, 'If they're doing this to someone so tangentially connected to a vaguely bothersome post on an obscure blog, just how many of us have tracking devices on our cars right now ...' The ACLU is investigating." This follows up on our earlier mention of the same student, who turned the tracking device over to the FBI.

2 of 761 comments (clear)

  1. Re:got spyware? by WCMI92 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    That is not how Castle Doctrine works, and you do a great disservice to all responsible gun owners by spreading such FUD, not to mention being a poor example of character. There would be insufficient evidence from somebody just walking up to your vehicle, stooping down, and then walking away for you to 'reasonably believe' that they were committing an act sufficient enough to warrant a response of deadly force. You would not *ever* get that to stand up in court.

    To get to my vehicle means breaking into my garage, which means invading my home.

    If you break into my home, how am I to know the difference between a FBI person taking advantage of a horrible judicial opinion that will be overturned by the Supreme Court and a rapist breaking into my home to rape my wife/daughters?

    Answer: There isn't any way. That's why the Castle Doctrine was passed into law. There are lawful ways for law enforcement to bug me, or even to gain entrance into my home and it involves showing sufficient probable cause to a judge. Not breaking and entering on a whim.

    That's why we have a Constitution.

    --
    Corporatism != Free Market
  2. Re:get a lawsuit by c6gunner · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    From what I can tell, the FBI's only reason to place this bug on the guy's car is that he's "half Egyptian".

    Argument from Ignorance

    What a second-rate nation the US has become in the past thirty years.

    Yes; the lack of critical thinking skills among the populace really has me concerned.