Slashdot Mirror
FBI Responds To ACLU GPS Tracking Complaint
Nerdolicious writes "Ars Technica reports that the ACLU has received a response from the FBI after a formal legal complaint was filed to release documents related to warrantless GPS tracking data. But, as you can see from the two memos the ACLU posted to its website, they have unsurprisingly been redacted to uselessness, consisting almost entirely of large black blocks covering full pages."
What the FBI does is wrong.
And they know it, that is why they hide it.
Inform your congressman.
When can we vote Bush/Cheney out of office?
This is filed under "Privacy". I feel if would have been more appropriately filed under "Censorship".
Donate millions of dollars to your congressman. Then they'll really be working for you.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
Thank you for your request. We are happy to inform you that [redacted], conforming with sections [redacted] of [redacted]
We hope this fully answers your questions. Please feel free to contact [redacted] if you have any further requests.
Glad to have helped you.
Signed [redacted]
People who live and work in the system are usually believers. They will always believe that they are trying to do the right thing, that they are helping not hurting. Every time governments start doing evil things and people finally get prosecuted, they always seem to have convinced themselves that they were somehow acting in then best interests of the people.
But, in this case, I just can't seem to figure out what the person who redacted those pages was thinking. Did they actually believe that it was too dangerous to communicate the FBI's policy to the very people they are supposed to be protecting? I just can't figure out what mental twisting they could have used to justify keeping this secret. I can only conclude that they don't actually believe they are acting in the best interests of the people, but in their own interests. Do they really have so much contempt for us?
This is a very good time to point out how much organizations like the ACLU and EFF are needed. Donate if you can, it's tax deductible!
"Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
Wow, you seem so wise. Please, oh enlightened one, tell use what exactly the hippies knew about FOIA in the 70's.
"Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
I hope you can use your new language better than you can use English.
"Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
I think it's more like a game. A law is created, then the FBI "interprets" how that law applies to them and they create policy to comply. Then it is taken to the courts and the judges publish a decision about how the law should be interpreted. Then the FBI "interprets" the implication of that decision and sets policy again.
So, we need organizations like the ACLU to keep applying pressure to force the agencies to comply with the intention of the law. Donate today!
"Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
Why did the ACLU redact those pages before posting them?
What are they hiding?
Is it aliens?
No brain, no pain.
... when one is marked as UNCLASSIFIED - sensitive, and the other is not marked with a classification at all (that I saw)? If it's not marked with a classification level the I believe that it is automatically unclassified and deemed suitable for public.
Here is an interesting paper on understanding government classification of information.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/eprint/bagley.html
Life takes interesting turns, but the most interest is when you're off the beaten path.
They left unblanked both the page numbers and the side notes.
Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
Ah -- but could that premise be wrong?
Did you keep your US citizenship?
If you print out all the pages and lay them vertically edge to edge, the redacted black resembles a big middle finger.
--Udo.
What's odd is that in the law enforcement community, Unclassified has several caveats, of which sensitive is pretty high. As I understand it, For Official Use Only is the highest level. In the intelligence community, Unclassified For Official Use Only is pretty much the lowest level used. So for the originator, Unclassified Sensitive means there is information unsuitable for public release in it. The reference seems focused on Intelligence Community markings. There are many more in the law enforcement community.
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
Nice to see you, Mr. McAfee.
Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
Do you have any actual "journalists" at geekwire? Redactions, advertorials - you kiddies act like you just found out how reporting and journalism works in the last 12 hours. Take a news reporting class at your local community college - you'll learn a thing or two that the hippies knew all about regarding the FOIA in the 70's. Or read a stinking "Reporting for Dummies" book.
I see, so a group submits a request for information that the government refuses to release by way of redaction, and that's called Journalism? Thanks for clearing that up.
"What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
GOD DAMN GEORGE W. BUSH AND HIS SPYING INFRASTRU...
wait, n/m.
We are happy with bipartisanship breaking logjams.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
So the government is basically FUCKING WITH US. How much longer are we going to take this fucking bullshit?
According to the OPEN Government Act of 2007, they are required to specify the reason for each redaction. I would really like to see their explanation for blocking out an entire document.
Reproduce the content now blacked out. So it's not what is in the FBI's copy? Oh well, let them prove otherwise. Imagine the fun--making up stuff about how the FBI is abusing other rights and planning to plant evidence. Go wild! Just make sure it fits in with what little text they do provide.
Can you rise to the challenge?
READ the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the other amendments! http://lcweb2.loc.gov/const/const.html
How many of the Freedom of Information requests come back in clear text? Most are blacked out to the point of making them incomprehensible. I can understand blotting out some private citizen's name or a social security number, but not whole paragraphs.
Your [REDACTED] is so [REDACTED], that when she [REDACTED], she [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED]. -- FBI
Hopefully this is merely the first step in a process towards getting this stuff out in the open.
I am sure the ACLU isn't going to give up after just a sing FOIA request.
What the ACLU needs is more support. Along with similar organizations that actually are working along these lines.
While this is the executive branch it still is worth writing to your elected overlord. They do hold the purse strings after all. And the fact that their voters are identifying this as an issue people care about will register.
The FBI didn't even create a response. They just cut-n-pasted some intern summary of the court's decision and surrounded it by large black boxes to give the effect of redacted text. The second document containing only black boxes was a nice touch, though.
Cheap and effective.
Howdy howdy howdy
The next time they do this, the ACLU should just freely publish the FOIA response with all the redacted bits filled in with whatever they like. Make it as incriminating as possible.
If the FBI files some sort of libel suit, the ACLU can say "Gee, that's what the documents we recieved said. Do you have some sort of evidence to the contrary you'd like to enter into record?"
It would get some fine media attention, if nothing else.
If you get a document from the FBI or CIA or IRS or SEC etc under FOIA with big chunks blacked out - challenge it as overly broad redaction. Whatdo you think all these courts and attorneys general are there for? You think they are in trial all the time? They have constitutional and statutory responsibilities toward the citizenry (as in, "you") - put them to work, don't just sit and whine about how your government doesn't respect you. And if you don't get the information, find a different court or a different attorney general.
This is why modern "activism" will never stack up to the hippies - those folks were smart and persistent. They learned the law and applied it until they were a complete, intractable thorn in the side of every oppressor in a position of power. You think Wall Street gives a crap about OWS? The hippies would have had those bankers on their knees begging for mercy. They brought a sudden and dramatic end to the largest conflict in US history (Vietnam), despite massive entrenched special interests that were making billions from weapon sales and war support. They crippled the nuclear power industry worldwide. What have anonymous and OWS done to end the current conflicts in the middle east? Anything? Nothing? Too busy Facebooking, or launching DDoS attacks at the RIAA over their right to share music?
Unclassified means it is not Secret or Top Secret. Sensitive means that while it is not Secret it still contains data that could be harmful but not tnecessarily to national security. SSN's are a very good example of data that is not classified but still sensitive, as is all PII data. FOUO usually means it's information that they just don't want spread around but does not warrant being Secret or above and does not warrant the protections that are required for Sensitive data.
On top of all that just because something is not labeled does not mean that it shouldn't be. It is a very good point though that here they deliberately picked out a document to essentially publish and redacted bits from it and still didn't bother to properly mark it. I'd blame incompetence on that one.
This is where we learn that the Government's response is written in their version of inverted Mindfuck.
They want to see who's smart enough to figure it out.
When politicians are involved, everyone loses.
CIA Realizes It's Been Using Black Highlighters All These Years
The ENTIRE DOCUMENT is redacted. This is the sort of thing that screams 'Well, here you go motherfucker! We have to give it to you, but we get to decide what parts are redacted, don't we?'
Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company -- Mark Twain