Thread: "Privacy no longer means anonymity."--The Government

WASHINGTON (AP) -- As Congress debates new rules for government eavesdropping, a top intelligence official says it is time that people in the United States change their definition of privacy.
Donald Kerr, principal deputy director of national intelligence, wants Americans to redefine privacy.





Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguard people's private communications and financial information.


Kerr's comments come as Congress is taking a second look at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.


Lawmakers hastily changed the 1978 law last summer to allow the government to eavesdrop inside the United States without court permission, so long as one end of the conversation was reasonably believed to be located outside the U.S.


The original law required a court order for any surveillance conducted on U.S. soil in order to protect Americans' privacy. The White House argued that the law was obstructing intelligence gathering because, as technology has changed, a growing amount of foreign communications passes through U.S.-based channels.


The most contentious issue in the new legislation is whether to shield telecommunications companies from civil lawsuits for allegedly giving the government access to people's private e-mails and phone calls without a FISA court order between 2001 and 2007.


Some lawmakers, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, appear reluctant to grant immunity. Suits might be the only way to determine how far the government has burrowed into people's privacy without court permission.


The committee is expected to decide this week whether its version of the bill will protect telecommunications companies. About 40 wiretapping suits are pending.


The central witness in a California lawsuit against AT&T says the government is vacuuming up billions of e-mails and phone calls as they pass through an AT&T switching station in San Francisco, California.


Mark Klein, a retired AT&T technician, helped connect a device in 2003 that he says diverted and copied onto a government supercomputer every call, e-mail, and Internet site access on AT&T lines.


Full story: Intelligence deputy to America: Rethink privacy - CNN.com

Why can't we leave reputation for this "Advertising" fellow? I want to green him for his faithful pushing of Mozilla Firefox and Ads by Google.

Originally Posted by freethinkr

Why can't we leave reputation for this "Advertising" fellow? I want to green him for his faithful pushing of Mozilla Firefox and Ads by Google.

Really, I was thinking of gigging for spam.

So your privacy does not mean your privacy, why does that not surprise me. We have (actually never me) allowed our bill of rights get eaten piece by piece with no opposition, then they tell you that it does not exists. Surprise!

They want us to re-define privacy? Hmm. Odd how they want us to do it. Seems more like they want us to get used to their new definition of what privacy means to them. What we think is private will remain that way as long as the Government is involved in the decison.

michaelr is right. We have allowed our rights to be nibbled away with nary a whimper. J Edgar Hoover mus have that party dress on and is dancing in the streets of Hell right now.

Originally Posted by CRUM

michaelr is right. We have allowed our rights to be nibbled away with nary a whimper. J Edgar Hoover mus have that party dress on and is dancing in the streets of Hell right now.

LOL, I love that you brought up Hoover. You sure know your history.

How the hell do these people represent the best interests of the United States' citizens? I am at a loss on that.

Dave - my wife says this new avatar picture is the one you should stick with. "Quite distinguished." She says. She won't post so I have to speak for her.

I see a blackmarket [of sorts] forming in communications in the near future.

I think it is about time we start tapping the WH phone, reviewing their emails, and taking certain actions against questionable documents. LOL. Yeah I know it doesn't sound realistic, but either does targeting Americans as terrorists.

Originally Posted by johnflesh

Dave - my wife says this new avatar picture is the one you should stick with. "Quite distinguished." She says. She won't post so I have to speak for her.

Heh-heh...the pipe adds 10 IQ points. I don't really smoke it anymore though.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by michaelr

So your privacy does not mean your privacy, why does that not surprise me. We have (actually never me) allowed our bill of rights get eaten piece by piece with no opposition, then they tell you that it does not exists. Surprise!

You can have all the privacy in the world as long as the government can watch. Its not like its a private citizen spying on you. It's just your friendly, benevolent uncle sam.