Posted on 06/22/2016 10:24:06 AM PDT by dayglored
The campaign against Rule 41 – which will give cops and Feds in America the power to hack people's computers around the world – has kicked up a gear.
Leaders of the US House of Representatives and Senate got a letter today urging them to block the rule change before it becomes permanent in December.
The proposed legislative tweak, quietly passed by an obscure committee and approved by the Supreme Court in April, would allow a US magistrate judge to grant law enforcement access to any stored data on a computer, phone, or any storage device around the world that was suspected of being "related" to a crime.
The amendment would also grant automatic legal approval for police hacking against those who use technology to conceal "the district where the media or information is located." Tor and VPN users, that means you: by accessing information remotely through an anonymizing or proxy service that hides where the information is truly stored, you'll be fair game to the authorities.
On Tuesday, 50 organizations – including Google, PayPal, the TOR Project, Data Foundry, the rather unfortunately named Hide My Ass VPN, the ACLU and the EFF – urged Congress to block the Rule 41 change, saying it was an undemocratic decision and an issue that elected representatives needed to debate rather than usher in via the backdoor.
"The rule changes attempt to sidestep the legislative process by using a process designed for procedural rules to expand investigatory powers," the open letter reads.
"The changes to Rule 41 will disproportionately undermine the privacy of those who have done the most to protect it. Specifically, the proposal would allow warrants for remote hacking in cases where privacy protective technologies obscure the location of a computer."
Congress didn't vote on Rule 41; the Department of Justice got judicial approval instead, and now Congress has until December 1 to pass legislation that would amend, or block, the rule change. Last month Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rand Paul (R-KY) tabled the Stopping Mass Hacking (SMH) Act to do just this.
"Like so many other proposals this amendment is a lose-lose: It won’t make our country safer, but it will take away crucial checks and balances that protect our freedom,” Wyden said. "If this proposal passes, FBI agents will be able to demand the records of what websites you look at online, who you email and chat with, and your text message logs, with no judicial oversight whatsoever."
Wyden pointed out that the FBI already has the powers for this kind of access under the Patriot Act, after getting judicial approval. In the event of a security emergency this can be granted weeks after the action by US courts who seldom turn down such applications.
"This isn’t about giving law-enforcement new tools, it’s about the FBI not wanting to do paperwork,” he told The Register in a statement.
The SMH legislation has bipartisan support, but with the US government currently involved in the election cycle it's going to come down to getting Congress motivated. To add pressure the Electronic Frontier Foundation has released embeddable code for website operators to add that makes it easier to petition Congress on its noglobalwarrants.org website.
But it's going to take a lot of public support to get this on legislator's radar. With the US locked in one of the most bizarre election in the country's history (the 1836 contest might give it a run for its money) getting congressional attention to something so seemingly mundane – yet so vital – could be difficult.
This is exceptionally bad. I had VPN setup to access my home network, and every major corporation in the world has VPN for their workers. The idea that law enforcement can legally hack into anyone’s network just by virtue of running a VPN is beyond dangerous, it’s criminal.
Ryan will do nothing about this.
I wonder how he would feel if Voters dug thru his personal files with the same vigor he wants the DOJ to dig thru our files.
BUMP AND LIGHT UP THE DC SWITCHBOARD PING!
*US gov’t spying is going to further chase int’l business / jobs away from the US due to privacy / data sovereignty concerns.
NSA data surveillance Snowden revelations has created a BIG mess of US - foreign data transaction law, and cost US businesses many millions in lost sales.
US gov’t idiots consistently fail to take action against terrorists that they have ample information on.
RE: “Sounds like this one might be worth some screaming about.”
And, yes, once again no one in authority gives a rat’s ass about the provisions of the Bill of Rights.
Only Screaming? I think this sounds more appropriate.
I suspect they won't until ignoring those provisions results in their loss of job (and entitlements; i.e. retirement) and/or life.
I’ve decided the only solution to stop these bastards is to dismantle all the existing intelligence agencies and pass legislation that any new agencies will operate under an elected civilian review board.
Congressional oversight is useless, and appointed civilian oversight is just in the pockets of whoever appointed them. We need dedicated representatives who are solely accountable to the people, and whose only job is to make sure intelligence agencies are not violating the bill of rights.
Need to go to court and have the new “rule” struck down as an unconstitutional “rule” - direct violation of the 4th Amendment.
If you’re not doing anything wrong you should have nothing to worry about.
Bump for later.
The proposed legislation would give the FED.gov a license to commit a crime - namely : Burlary , Breaking and Electronicly Entering,
While this may seem innocuous, it gives them authority not just to 'snoop and poop'
it also affords them the opportunity to plant evidence of wrong-doing to further their case against someone, without thier knowldge or consent.
You may feel that there is nothing wrong with this action in order to keep us safe , what happens when there is a change in administration ?
This electronic history could provide false documentation for a 'purge' of those who don't think like the current administration.
This request from an administration that already doesn't know the meaning of 'staying within the letter of the law', and has been cited for intolerable "Overreach" !!
I wonder how many of the privacy intrusions we would be asked to put up with if we didn’t have Muslims in the U.S.
Are these privacy breaches and having our daughters felt up at airports and the billions spent on law enforcement and the loss of heritage worth the benefit of being able to proudly claim we are “multi-cultural”?
bkmk
Your tech pings would seem to be appropriate here.... TIA
Yep, this is a bad one for sure.
The latest Apple/Mac/iOS Pings can be found by searching Keyword "ApplePingList" on FreeRepublic's Search.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me
Wow. Thanks for the info
It sounds like the government KNOWS that virtually all of our computers have wide-open back doors for government spying.
And they want to SEIZE them just for trying to maintain anonymity!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.