FBI snooping tactic ruled unconstitutional

[88m3]

AFP - A US judge has ordered the FBI to stop its "pervasive" use of National Security letters to snoop on phone and email records, ruling that the widespread tactic was unconstitutional.

The order issued by US District Court Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco came as a blow to a measure heavily used by the administration of President Barack Obama in the name of battling terrorism.

The Patriot Act passed after the September 11 attacks gave the Federal Bureau of Investigation strong authority to order that people's telecom records be handed over, without such requests having to be disclosed.

But in her ruling, Illston said evidence indicated that tens of thousands of NSLs are sent out every year, and that 97 percent of them are fettered with the provision that recipients never mention the requests.

"This pervasive use of nondisclosure orders, coupled with the government's failure to demonstrate that a blanket prohibition on recipients' ability to disclose the mere fact of receipt of an NSL is necessary to serve the compelling need of national security, creates too large a danger that speech is being unnecessarily restricted," Illston said in her written decision.

Illston set her ban on NSLs to take effect in 90 days to allow US lawyers to appeal the decision given "the significant constitutional and national security issues at stake."

The judge's ruling came in a lawsuit filed in 2011 by Internet rights law group Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on behalf of an unnamed telecom company.

"We are very pleased that the court recognized the fatal constitutional shortcomings of the NSL statute," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Matt Zimmerman.

"The government's gags have truncated the public debate on these controversial surveillance tools."

It was the potential for gag orders accompanying NSLs to violate the First Amendment right of free speech that prompted the ruling, according to Zimmerman.

NSLs are used to get companies to secretly turn over private information such as websites visited, phone records, email addresses, and financial data.

Google early this month made the unusual move of adding NSLs to its tranparency report about requests by governments for data about users of the Internet giant's various online products and services.

But Google said it was only allowed to provide broad ranges of numbers: in the years from 2009 to 2012, for example, it received between zero and 999 requests.

The requests affected between 1,000 and 1,999 accounts, except in 2010, when the range was 2,000 to 2,999 accounts.

"You'll notice that we're reporting numerical ranges rather than exact numbers," said a blog post from Google law enforcement and information security director Richard Salgado.

"This is to address concerns raised by the FBI, Justice Department and other agencies that releasing exact numbers might reveal information about investigations."

The numbers, while inexact, were believed to be the first data from a private company about the requests, criticized by civil liberties groups for giving the government too much power to conduct surveillance without a warrant.

The EFF calls the letters "dangerous" and has challenged the authority, along with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Google's actions are "an unprecedented win for transparency," EFF's Dan Auerbach and Eva Galperin said at the time.

Despite a lack of exact data, "Google has helped to at least shed some limited light on the ways in which the US government uses these secretive demands for data about users," they added in a blog post.

"While we continue to be in the dark about the full extent of how the law is being applied, this new data allays fears that NSLs are being used for sweeping access to large numbers of user accounts -- at Google, at least."

The EFF said public records have documented the FBI's "systemic abuse" of the power.

FBI snooping tactic ruled unconstitutional - FRANCE 24

 

[CouldntBeMeTho]

they knew it was unconstitutional, and this ruling wont change anything. theyre still going to monitor everything. people act like im crazy because i dont keep a cell phone with me. if yall knew the shyt I could do to your smart phone you'd be

imagine what the government has up their sleeve

 

[bzb]

thinking the alphabet boys can't get whatever information they want on you at any point in time is a false sense of security. it's fcked up but there's virtually nothing you can do about it unless you plan on dropping completely off the electronic map and using nothing but cash or barter. in the meantime just try to keep your nose as clean as possible and maybe they don't choose to fck with you. we live in an orwellian society with rampant abuse of power. the gov has used or manufactured opportunities to expand surveillance, data mining and erode our "rights" at a crazy rate especially since 9/11. and the big information companies and internet giants like google are in on it too.

 

[Crakface]

they knew it was unconstitutional, and this ruling wont change anything. theyre still going to monitor everything. people act like im crazy because i dont keep a cell phone with me. if yall knew the shyt I could do to your smart phone you'd be

imagine what the government has up their sleeve

You think theyre checking Your emails though? You're a coli poster. You be lucky if someones retweeting you bruh. I think we good.

 

[thekingsmen]

You think theyre checking Your emails though? You're a coli poster. You be lucky if someones retweeting you bruh. I think we good.

Topics like this have been saved in your favorite well known search engine best believe everything is not good.

 

[Crakface]

Topics like this have been saved in your favorite well known search engine best believe everything is not good.

Ok what does that mean? Everything i saved there.

 

[thekingsmen]

Ok what does that mean? Everything i saved there.

No...you can be on this forum right here and everything you wrote is saved on a search engine based off the subject on any S.E. you use regardless if you used it before or not.

I looked up a few subjects last year on a few search engines and the coli forums popped up in the search engine with the subject/date and everyone's replies.

 

[Federal Agent]

For the exception of some of you most of you have nothing to worry about. If you are concerned about your privacy request for that information.

FBI — Requesting FBI Records

 

[Bud Bundy]

They looking at my web history.

Your Welcome.

 

[newworldafro]

 

[CouldntBeMeTho]

You think theyre checking Your emails though? You're a coli poster. You be lucky if someones retweeting you bruh. I think we good.

that's not the point. they have computers that automatically check EVERYTHING. phone calls, emails, etc scanning for key words. they can remotely access cell phone mics and record everything you say, even when youre not on your phone. shyt they're even making tvs and appliances that can be used to spy on you. and you probably dont even know it. that's just the tip of the spyberg.

 

[CouldntBeMeTho]

For the exception of some of you most of you have nothing to worry about. If you are concerned about your privacy request for that information.

FBI — Requesting FBI Records

ya they said they have the legal authority to use drones on americans. nothing to worry about here. go fukk yourself. the technological capabilities they have are astounding, and a violation of freedom itself. and all we know about is the shyt that's decades old.

 

[Crakface]

that's not the point. they have computers that automatically check EVERYTHING. phone calls, emails, etc scanning for key words. they can remotely access cell phone mics and record everything you say, even when youre not on your phone. shyt they're even making tvs and appliances that can be used to spy on you. and you probably dont even know it. that's just the tip of the spyberg.

What keywords could a law abiding citizen get caught up saying?

 

[stealthbomber]

lol to be honest i dont mind if the government monitors me. they'll be very up to date on whats poppin in the coli

 

[CouldntBeMeTho]

What keywords could a law abiding citizen get caught up saying?

REVEALED: Hundreds of words to avoid using online if you don't want the government spying on you | Mail Online