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Google Releases Data On FBI Spying
An anonymous reader writes "According to Wired, 'National Security Letters allow the government to get detailed information on Americans' finances and communications without oversight from a judge. The FBI has issued hundreds of thousands of NSLs and has even been reprimanded for abusing them.' It's significant, then, that Google has released data about how many NSLs they've received annually since 2009. The numbers are fuzzed — the FBI apparently worries that if we know how often they're spying on us, we can figure out who. But Google is able to say they've received from 0-999 letters each year for the past four years. And we know it's likely near the upper end of that range because they list the number of accounts affected, as well: always over a thousand."
We've gone way too far with empowering the government. The time is now to roll back the "emergency" terrorism powers the government gave itself after 9/11. We are not "at war" with Al Qaeda in the United States. There are plenty of opportunities to catch terrorists without infringing on the rights of law-abiding Americans who have done nothing wrong.
These powers were voted into place in a panic and now we're living with the consequences.
Who did what now?
"National Security Letters" were quite plainly search warrants and subpoenas without Fourth Amendment protections back when they were first proposed. And that's all they'll ever be: If the FBI had real evidence that somebody was a bad guy, they could have easily gone to a judge and said "We'd like to investigate this person, and here's why."
Instead, we're heading into Kafka land: People investigated and/or locked up without charges, without evidence they can confront, without a chance of freedom, and punishment of death when it's all over.
I am officially gone from
Because most of what they have to read when they're figuring out what's up with someone that fits into what they're researching is as poorly written as that summary/post. That's some fine editing, there.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
'In the interest of National Security' is a fast and loose term that has too often been used to escape the cleansing sunlight of oversight.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
When you have done nothing wrong, you have your good reputation to worry about...
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
FBI releases data on Google spying.
Taking a step back for just a moment, I can see an actual suspect (one in which they have gone and gotten a warrant on) having a mail account that has mailed xxx number of other emails - if they really think their warranted suspect is a terrorist threat then they will want to look into the email accounts/gchat logs of those he emailed.
I think the concept of needing to do this is ok in certain investigations but it needs needs more judicial oversight with checks and balances. Even if it's a judge saying "what investigation is this attached to?" and tying it to a subpoena'd suspect. I'd also like to make sure that this is only used for national security issue. I wouldn't want this flipping over into normal run of the mill criminal activities. I'd even go so far as to say "If evidence is found in this way it's off limits" as evidence so it doesn't have the temptation of being abused.
There is no law protecting them, so fbi/cia/whatever could ask their records too. why not release those numbers too?
Maybe you gave the government the power to further empower itself. Just like when lighting a fire: The first bit of energy has to be provided, but as soon as it burns, it can ignite more material all by itself.