The National Security Agency has been engaging in massive dragnet spying on American internet traffic since 2001. It has been doing so, with the cooperation of major telecommunications carriers, such as AT&T, where a whistle-blower there provided evidence that the NSA has installed a splitter that was handing over wholesale voice and data traffic to the NSA for the purpose of data mining. The Electronic Frontier Foundation comments:"The undisputed documents show that AT&T installed a fiberoptic splitter at its facility at 611 Folsom Street in San Francisco that makes copies of all emails, web browsing, and other Internet traffic to and from AT&T customers, and provides those copies to the NSA. This copying includes both domestic and international Internet activities of AT&T customers. As one expert observed, 'this isn’t a wiretap, it’s a country-tap.'"
The EFF brought a lawsuit against AT&T for this wiretap in 2006, however, the case was dismissed in 2009 after the FISA Amendments Act, signed into law by President Bush in 2008, retroactively made all of this previously illegal wiretapping legal and provided retroactive immunity.
So, the wiretap remains. The NSA was never held accountable for committing illegal spying on Americans through legal and political maneuvering. Furthermore, previously illegal wiretapping is now legally sanctioned.
My questions are these: What is your opinion on the necessity of this type of domestic spying? Should we trust a government agency with this amount of unchecked power?
For more information on the AT&T splitter, check out this Frontline report.
Very nicely worded post Mr. Miller. I'm sure you know that already. If I may share my opinion this topic you bring to us is that of a sensitive one to many people...automatically I think that it is more sensitive to those who tend to have reason their privacy is being invaded, from there they lobby or are amongst a legislative body convincing the ones who know little about these topics so that they, in numbers make a bigger stink.
ReplyDeletePeople, perhaps mainly Americans never seem to truly think about what it truly takes to protect the nation. Sometimes in order to protect the country it takes measures of inconspicuous actions i.e. wiretapping, especially in a time of war that revolves around terrorism.
Sometimes some levels of our freedoms are sacrificed in order to better protect other freedoms. We can have an academic argument all day as to what professionals say inclusive to what American public says...but until the collective actually fight for freedom and all of the losses that come with the fight, its hard for me to see why somethings in our invisible backbacks of benefits relative to freedom cannot be sacrificed if it means we the Amrerican people and guests are going to be more safe...and if it means less freedom fighters have make the ultimate sacrifice fighting for freedom long form.