For those that aren’t aware, National Security Letters (NSLs) are these shady Orwellianinstruments used by the FBI to spy on citizens without a warrant. The really creepy part about them is that you aren’t permitted to know if there is one out on you. It’s all one giant secret, you know, to get those terrorists. Well, Google has finally come out and given us some color on NSLs. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) gives us the scoop:
Of all the dangerous government surveillance powers that were expanded by the USA PATRIOT Act, the National Security Letter (NSL) power provided by five statutory provisions is one of the most frightening and invasive. These letters–the type served on communications service providers such as phone companies and ISPs and are authorized by 18 U.S.C. 2709–allow the FBI to secretly demand data about ordinary American citizens’ private communications and Internet activity without any prior judicial review. To make matters worse, recipients of NSLs are subject to gag orders that forbid them from ever revealing the letters’ existence to anyone.
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1 comment:
With the Patriot Act, the NDAA, 35,000 proposed drones, satellite surveillance, pervasive photographing of all Americans who appear in public venues, secret detentions, trials, and prisons (in the USA!! against U.S. citizens), secret legal justifications of drones attacks on American citizens ("we say it's legal, we just can't let you know how we got that conclusion, you serfs"), national programs of stopping (by heavily armed and trigger happy police) INNOCENT citizens (you know, just to see IF there are any crimes being committed), and the continuing strong efforts to disarm the populace (its for the CHILDREN, for God's sake!!...riiiight), it seems as if the entire country is a cesspool of terrorists. If the above mentioned endeavors (and it's a short list of MANY other active Orwellian activities) don't alarm you at all, we are lost as a country. Even communist dictators are looking at us and saying "Damn!!! Why didn't WE think of THAT!!".
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