"Abused" is an indefinite term. One person's "abuse" is another person's "reasonable." So, you and others, and perhaps the majority of Americans may find the following to be "reasonable" uses of Patriot Act powers. "Privacy" is and has always been a balance between competing interests, and no two of us draw the line in exactly the same place.
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman loves to remind visitors of Sin City's oh-so-discreet tagline: "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." But since the New Year's celebrations ringing in 2004, he has had to modify the motto. Fearing a terrorist attack, the FBI descended on casinos, car rental agencies, storage warehouses, and other Las Vegas businesses with sheaves of "national security letters" demanding financial records covering about 1 million revelers. Startled business owners who questioned the action were told they had one choice: cough up their documents or wind up in court.http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/nov2005/nf20051110_9709_db016.htm
The national office of the American Civil Liberties Union is weighing in on the FBI's use of the Patriot Act to obtain wiretaps in the G-sting political corruption investigation. The feds used the post-Sept. 11 counter-terrorism legislation to seize the financial records of Las Vegas strip club owner Michael Galardi."The attorney general didn't tell Congress that he needed the Patriot Act to raid nudie bars," Laura Murphy, director of the ACLU Washington legislative office, told AFP Worldwide News Agency. "He told Congress in no uncertain terms that the Patriot Act was needed to prevent another life-threatening catastrophe at the hands of terrorists."
The FBI used provisions under the act to subpoena financial records that prosecutors may use as evidence of bribery.
http://www.lvcitylife.com/articles/2003/11/12/crime_punishment/crimepunish.txt
The FBI may now demand information on citizens with "national security letters," which were created in the 1970s to investigate suspected foreign spies. FBI agents threatened to issue such letters in Las Vegas in December 2003 when casino executives balked at handing over gaming and personal information on tourists celebrating New Year's Eve.Business leaders say companies receive tens of thousands of these letters each year, and complying is too costly. In a recent report by The Wall Street Journal, one banker said that 15 percent of her institution's annual operating costs are spent on Patriot Act compliance.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/editorials/2005/dec/02/519755695.html
" -- The FBI may now demand information on citizens with "national security letters," which were created in the 1970s to investigate suspected foreign spies. FBI agents threatened to issue such letters in Las Vegas in December 2003 when casino executives balked at handing over gaming and personal information on tourists celebrating New Year's Eve.
Business leaders say companies receive tens of thousands of these letters each year, and complying is too costly. In a recent report by The Wall Street Journal, one banker said that 15 percent of her institution's annual operating costs are spent on Patriot Act compliance.. --"
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it 'against the law' for businesses to notify customers of requests for these "security letters"?