Posted on 05/11/2006 12:30:13 PM PDT by demlosers
Washington is agog today with the disclosure that appeared in USA Today that Verizon, AT&T and Bell South have been providing domestic phone call information to the National Security Agency on millions of residential and business phone calls made by Americans.
It’s all part of the spy agency’s quest to create a huge database of caller information it could data mine in order to find patterns that might reveal terrorist communications. But it has raised enormous privacy concerns in the minds of many.
The USA Today report, coming after last year’s disclosure in the New York Times of the NSA’s warrantless electronic surveillance of phone calls it deems to be connected to terrorism ginned up the debate over how far is too far in the Bush administration’s efforts to protect the American people from al Qaeda and other terrorists.
The newspaper’s disclosure modified a lot of plans today. President Bush, on his way to give a commencement address in Biloxi, Miss., stopped in the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room to deliver a brief statement to the press.
By the way, the president’s rapid response was remarkable. When other bad news has hit, say Dubai Ports World or the initial revelations of the NSA surveillance last December, there was a noticeable lag which allowed White House critics to define the debate.
The president’s quickness before today might be attributable to Tony Snow, the new press secretary. Or it could be that the White House is so nervous about the president’s ever lower poll ratings that he and his advisors felt he had to speak and quickly.
PRESIDENT BUSH: After September the 11th, I vowed to the American people that our government would do everything within the law to protect them against another terrorist attack. As part of this effort, I authorized
(Excerpt) Read more at newsblogs.chicagotribune.com ...
You couldn't find a lost sock if it was on your foot, so that doesn't worry me.
Are you a telecom attorney?
If you're not, I'll wait to hear what the people who actually know what the law is, and means, have to say.
Dirtboy and Glenn seem to think having a name NOT cross referenced with a phone number for study violates the unreasonable search and seizure clause. And it does appear the Telicos agree on the legality of this issue with the Bush administration.
Thanks for the laugh, guys and gals. I can never overestimate the depth to which you'll stick your head in the sand whenever a Republican president is caught doing naughty things. You must be close to reaching China by now. Go ahead and flame away all you want, this was just a "drive-by" comment. I won't waste any more time by reading responses, an action which will surely get me accused of cowardice. Thanks again; you guys are hilarious.
Sounds like Qwest is your type of phone company. And I have misrepresented no law. I've just posted from the Verizon Privacy Statement, in which they say they may disclose information without your knowledge.
Indeed, since they're a private company, a case could be made that they could turn these records over to me, a private citizen, if they so chose.
On the contrary, since your only comment contains no actual discussion of the topic at hand, one has to wonder if you even understand the topic at hand.
Reading further would just cause your head to explode.
The NSA does NOT have a list of any NAMED, ordinary citizen's phone call numbers.
Forget for a second that it's numbers not content. It's also that the numbers aren't on a list under someone's name. This is just phone numbers and phone numbers and more phone numbers and what numbers these numbers have called or what numbers have called these numbers. They are looking for call patterns related to the al-Qaeda terror network. They have other- sourced intel on suspected members of this network, but they have no intel on anyone by name if not al- Qaeda connected and if no warrant is sought.
But I'm not sure this point is lost on the hysterical ones, sink...some of them might get the point but could have an agenda to take down President Bush and the Republican Party.
Hiding behind this issue, of course...
Sorry, but this battle was lost long ago. FDR and every president since (and maybe before) has used warrantless wiretapping in national security cases. Since there's no warrant the material can't be introduced in court; hence, it was often difficult to get convictions of Cold-War era spies -- see, for example, the 1945 Amerasia Case.
Data mining is just a logical update of these practices and probably not new post-9/11. In this instance, computers pick out suspicious patterns. By the time any human being looks at your call records, YOU ARE SUSPECTED.
Electronic communications take place over networks that are privately owned but government regulated. Just so, state troopers can set up speed traps on highways. They don't have to have probable cause to suspect that you personally are prone to speeding in order to target their equipment on you.
Why don't they simply require warning labels on all phones. Something like "If you use this phone to plan a nuclear or other terrorist attack on America we reserve the right to use your phone records against you in court" ought to make it "fair".
Topics:
*W" is reading your mail & listening to your phone calls
*Bush's NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
*Ann "The Man" Coulter may lose his voting rights
*Why doesn't the U.S. Government know who attacked us on 9/11?
*Irresponsible Republican tax bill drives America further into debt
*Republican administration secretly collecting ordinary Americans' phone numbers
*Sen. Frist, a few minutes ago on Fox news, said "America has been enriched by illegal aliens".
*Bush caught again spying on innocent Americans. NSA has massive database of tens of millions of phone calls made
*WOW!! THE NSA IS ACTUALLY DOING IT'S JOB!!
*GOP Immigration Bill Revived - Millions of illegal immigrants to be citizens soon
*Caption this humorous picture of the moron in chief
*Peeping George says He's No Lurker
Listening to Brit Hume now on this topic...
message from Pravda...wtg America! Finally democracy and capitalism is exposed for what it is...Lenninism in drag.
What exactly is the domestic phone call information they collect? Its clearly more than just phone numbers and addresses.
Trent Lott just confirmed the story to Bloomberg News. He said he was briefed on this. Thanks and play again.
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