Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Senators Push To Preserve NSA Phone Surveillance

Posted by samzenpus on from the works-for-them dept.

cold fjord writes "The New York times reports that the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Vice Chairman, Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), are moving a bill forward that would 'change but preserve' the controversial NSA phone log program. Senator Feinstein believes the program is legal, but wants to improve public confidence. The bill would reduce the time the logs could be kept, require public reports on how often it is used, and require FISA court review of the numbers searched. The bill would require Senate confirmation of the NSA director. It would also give the NSA a one week grace period in applying for permission from a court to continue surveillance of someone that travels from overseas to the United States. The situation created by someone traveling from overseas to the United States has been the source of the largest number of incidents in the US in which NSA's surveillance rules were not properly complied with. The rival bill offered by Senators Wyden (D-OR) and Udall (D-CO) which imposes tougher restrictions is considered less likely to pass."

9 of 252 comments (clear)

  1. Fire them. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They're not representing the people and therefore undemocratic. Fire them.

  2. As a world traveler by canadiannomad · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As a world traveler who is actively seeing many places, cultures and things let me tell you about my perspective... Nah, I better keep my mouth shut.

    Also who trusts FISA again??? The secret court that declares itself legal... I think I did that in the garage when I was 5.

    --
    Hmm, the humour and sarcasm seem to have been be lost on you.
    1. Re:As a world traveler by Dunbal · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's not so much the guns. I live in Costa Rica - police with automatic weapons is the norm. You go anywhere important (bank, jewelry store, etc) and there's always a guard with a shotgun. So like I say, it wasn't the weapons per se, it was the obvious tactical deployment forcing all passengers to walk very close to the officers and the dog, while receiving dirty looks from said officers. This was "in your face" policing. I would think it's ok for the police to make me feel like a criminal if I've done something, but I haven't done anything. Still I felt as if at any moment they were going to grab me. And obviously that was the intent - to intimidate the passengers: "You're in America now and we won't take any shit from you". Yeah well, keep your police state.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    2. Re:As a world traveler by NatasRevol · · Score: 5, Insightful

      the court is constitutional

      How can a court that doesn't have any oversight, including the supreme court, be constitutional?

      Just because congress passed a law creating FISA doesn't make it constitutional.

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
  3. "Legal" does not equal "ethical" or "right" by gweihir · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why do so few people understand that? The surveillance in totalitarian regimes is typically "legal", something being "legal" does not mean anything.

    You can in fact establish a totalitarian regime in an entirely legal way almost everywhere. Step one is to scare the population into irrationality ("terrorism" and other specters work nicely). Then you manipulate the supreme court (if you have one) into doing more and more bizarre interpretations of the constitution (if you have one). This has been going on for some while in the US. And finally you drop all pretense and make laws against "crimes" that place more and more people into that class (victim-less crimes work well here), so you can get rid easily of anybody you do not like. Allowing the use of random finds in searches, even when the original reason for the search turns out to be bogus (a truly despicable practice) helps, because everybody has something illegal that can be found with over-broad criminalization. Then scare the targets into a deal, so no judge or jury gets to examine the accusations.

    See, easy. And well under way in the US.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    1. Re:"Legal" does not equal "ethical" or "right" by dkleinsc · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If you're ever in a jury where the NSA is presenting data against someone, find that person innocent?

      Err, what makes you think that will ever happen? The data from the NSA isn't going to be used for those silly trials (where a jury might find somebody not guilty). Instead, we'll use the data to put people on secret lists that will ensure that it is extremely unpleasant for them to:
      - Get on a commercial plane.
      - Cross an international border.
      - Deposit money into a bank account.
      - Get or keep a job.
      - Vote.
      - Rent a car.
      - Take out a bank loan.
      - Enter a court of law, regardless of the reason.
      - Own a smartphone, laptop, or other portable electronic device.
      Oh, and if you're in a foreign country that nobody important cares about, like Yemen, then they may just decide to kill you and your family with a drone and be done with it.

      Most of these kinds of steps have already been taken against people who the national security state has decided are troublemakers.

      --
      I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
  4. Still not learned from history by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    America has a horrible habit of not learning from history. It is worrying to see obvious extremists like Feinstein, pushing through viciously totalitarian legislation of this type.
    Look at the German experience of these type of laws - first with the Nazis, then with the Stasi police state.
    What has been happening in America is FAR more reaching than either the Nazi or Stasi surveillance ever was. The American people need to act now, to move towards a democratic path. It will be a difficult journey after such a long period of ruthless totalitarian government. It will require rebuilding of all the fundemental institutions of the state, to be free of corruption, and to be free of corporate interference. I hope for the sake of ordinary americans, that they can cast aside the corrupt regime, before it is too late, and their country implodes.

  5. That's going to work by HangingChad · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The bill would reduce the time the logs could be kept, require public reports on how often it is used, and require FISA court review of the numbers searched.

    Riiiight. The organization that lied to Congress, lied to the FISA Kangaroo Court, and then lied to the public when they got caught is going to suddenly be cowed by tweaking the law.

    They should call this the Whitewash Amendment.

    --
    That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
  6. So what the NSA got on these senators? by Bruce66423 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Given that their behaviour is grossly inconsistent with their other political views, one is forced to the conclusion that the NSA has got some means of coercion to get them to propose this.