More Big Brother.......

[PegLeg45]

..... and/or tin-foil-hattery?

Senate bill rewrite lets feds read your e-mail without warrants

A Senate proposal touted as protecting Americans' e-mail privacy has been quietly rewritten, giving government agencies more surveillance power than they possess under current law, CNET has learned.
Patrick Leahy, the influential Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has dramatically reshaped his legislation in response to law enforcement concerns, according to three individuals who have been negotiating with Leahy's staff over the changes. A vote on his bill, which now authorizes warrantless access to Americans' e-mail, is scheduled for next week.



http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57552225-38/senate-bill-rewrite-lets-feds-read-your-e-mail-without-warrants/

[tombogan03884]

So what ?
It just formalizes and simplifies a process that has been going on since at least the 40's.
NSA collects all electronic emissions from the planet.
The law says however that they are not allowed to monitor the communications i the US.
But, several NSA listening posts, and all their collection is shared with the British GCHQ who are forbidden to monitor British communications, but not American.
Only a fool thinks they have any sort of communications privacy.

[PegLeg45]

So what ?
It just formalizes and simplifies a process that has been going on since at least the 40's.
NSA collects all electronic emissions from the planet.
The law says however that they are not allowed to monitor the communications i the US.
But, several NSA listening posts, and all their collection is shared with the British GCHQ who are forbidden to monitor British communications, but not American.
Only a fool thinks they have any sort of communications privacy.

I agree, nothing really unknown here, I was just humored by the flip-flop in the writing of the bill itself and what Leahy said about privacy.

[jnevis]

Besides, legally there is no expectation of privacy with anything on the internet, including email.

[PegLeg45]

Besides, legally there is no expectation of privacy with anything on the internet, including email.

Yes, no expectation of privacy....... we all know we shouldn't put anything in cyberspace that we don't want known.......

But should there be an expectation of privacy?
What makes a letter in an email any less private than a USPS letter or a hand-delivered letter in my briefcase?

Not disagreeing with anyone here.

What's next?

Opening of snail mail? (and yes, I know that's probably already done in the name of homeland security)

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

No, Snail Mail is NOT opened . It takes a court order to record the information on the outside of the envelope.
The reason is because of the sh!t storm the CIA got it's self into .
Since then even suggesting opening some ones mail has been on par with farting in church .

[MikeBjerum]

There are many areas of the internet that are public, however we should be able to expect privacy when it comes to email and remote links between our personal computers and business computers.  It doesn't matter that hackers can access us, the government should not be able to do so with out a warrant.

[PegLeg45]

No, Snail Mail is NOT opened . It takes a court order to record the information on the outside of the envelope.
The reason is because of the sh!t storm the CIA got it's self into .
Since then even suggesting opening some ones mail has been on par with farting in church .

Maybe not now.....but how far away may it be....... based on trends, товарищ?   

[tombogan03884]

Maybe not now.....but how far away may it be....... based on trends, товарищ?   

Probably be the very last freedom to go .
When was the last time you used snail mail for actual communication ?

[PegLeg45]

Probably be the very last freedom to go .
When was the last time you used snail mail for actual communication ?

Heck, I get a ton of mail.....but I seldom mail anything...... the occasional card...... or pound cake from time to time.