[Velveeta]

Quite a few Government agencies have the power to seize phone records and othe private info without a court order.

But here, the names, payment history, etc of every single debit card customer was logged into the government database.

I for one think wiretaps of foreign terror suspects talking with Americans should not even be questioned.

I agree, completely.

[yarddog]

I guess at some point a court order would be required but one of my best friends was an IRS Special Agent. I have talked to him quite a bit about what they could and couldn't do.

He carried blank summons' in his brief case. If he needed info or private records he would simply issue a summons for them. He technically didn't even need to issue the Summons but some would request one for their own protection before releasing the info.