Last week, FBI General Counsel Andrew Weissmann addressed the American Bar Association and complained that the FBI can’t see real-time online communications carried out through applications like email and social networks.
They want to change this by expanding their reach into your Internet activity. Instead of compelling providers to give up data about what you have been doing online after the fact, they want access in real time, which is to say they want the ability to watch what you are doing right now, even without a warrant. The FBI says that gaining more powers to wiretap all forms of Internet conversations and cloud storage is a “top priority” this year.
The 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act gives government agencies the power to compel ISP’s and phone companies to install surveillance gear in their networks. But applications like chat features within games, email, instant messaging and Skype aren’t covered under that 1994 law, and the FBI wants to insist they are, in real-time.
Most of us understand that by going online and using technology, we are leaving a traceable story for law enforcement should we ever come under suspicion. The concern now is that the government and other entities they contract with are watching all of us—even those who are not accused of a crime or in any way associated with someone who is—closely. You may very well understand that an email you send to a family member could be subpoenaed by law enforcement should you come under investigation; but no American citizen should be comfortable with giving the FBI the ability to view that same email in the very second that you are writing and sending it, without cause.
The “slippery slope” here is evident. Do we give up all of our privacy and allow the feds and law enforcement to see everything we do online, even when we are not accused of a crime? And whom will they share this information with? How safe will it be?
All of our information is being gathered for a variety of purposes: law enforcement use, homeland security, voting analysis, marketing, etc. Privacy is just not a concern to this administration. We need to stay on top of what Congress is debating and how our privacy rights are being shattered.
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Of course, criminals can be using online communications tools to carry out their plans. But why does that mean you and I have to have our lives subjected to FBI scrutiny just because there are bad people in the world? We are constantly fighting to balance our freedoms with security.
Our Fourth Amendment says that searches of "persons, houses, papers and effects" cannot be conducted without probable cause that a crime has been committed; but it doesn’t cover government records. And in this age of technology, this is becoming a larger issue.
We are guaranteed privacy, and we are guaranteed due process. Members of Congress, the President of the United States, Attorney General Eric Holder and employees of all government agencies need to abide by the Constitution.
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Sincerely,
Conservative Daily
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