Repeater
Regular Member
The U.S. Justice Department offered what amounts to a frontal attack on proposals to amend federal law to better protect Americans' privacy. This attack applies to both e-mail communications and file storage "in the cloud" -- basically, the Obama administration is urging Congress not to adopt legislation amending the Electronic Communications Privacy Act that would impose constitutional safeguards on Americans’ e-mail stored in the cloud.
Gun rights activists who want to collaborate by sharing electronically private information and strategies, for example, would be subject to privacy violations that would be legal if the government has its way.
Privacy groups want the law amended to require law enforcement to secure a search warrant first.
The Justice Department opposes that; As CNET reported, James Baker, the associate deputy attorney general, warned that rewriting a 1986 privacy law to grant cloud computing users more privacy protections and to require court approval before tracking Americans' cell phones would hinder police investigations. Baker told a Senate committee that requiring a search warrant to obtain stored e-mail could have an "adverse impact" on criminal investigations. And making location information only available with a search warrant, he said, would hinder "the government's ability to obtain important information in investigations of serious crimes."
Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, seemed to agree. It's crucial, he said, "to ensure we don't limit (law enforcement's) ability to obtain information necessary to catch criminals and terrorists who use electronic communication." He also suggested that requiring warrants would lead to "increased burdens on the court system."
As you can see, both Progressives and NeoCons are siding with law enforcement over the citizens thereby promoting Statism over liberty.
You've been warned!
Gun rights activists who want to collaborate by sharing electronically private information and strategies, for example, would be subject to privacy violations that would be legal if the government has its way.
Privacy groups want the law amended to require law enforcement to secure a search warrant first.
The Justice Department opposes that; As CNET reported, James Baker, the associate deputy attorney general, warned that rewriting a 1986 privacy law to grant cloud computing users more privacy protections and to require court approval before tracking Americans' cell phones would hinder police investigations. Baker told a Senate committee that requiring a search warrant to obtain stored e-mail could have an "adverse impact" on criminal investigations. And making location information only available with a search warrant, he said, would hinder "the government's ability to obtain important information in investigations of serious crimes."
Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, seemed to agree. It's crucial, he said, "to ensure we don't limit (law enforcement's) ability to obtain information necessary to catch criminals and terrorists who use electronic communication." He also suggested that requiring warrants would lead to "increased burdens on the court system."
As you can see, both Progressives and NeoCons are siding with law enforcement over the citizens thereby promoting Statism over liberty.
You've been warned!
