Privacy In The Era Of Obama

While the left harangued Bush for the Patriot at, it would seem that Obama is much further along in violating privacy rights than Bush ever was.

It seems the Department of Justice wants to be able to do warrantless searches of emails. According to CNET, "the Justice Department has taken a legalistic approach: a 17-page brief it filed last month acknowledges that federal law requires search warrants for messages in "electronic storage" that are less than 181 days old. 


But, Assistant U.S. Attorney Pegeen Rhyne writes in a government brief, the Yahoo Mail messages don't meet that definition. "Previously opened e-mail is not in 'electronic storage,'" Rhyne wrote in a motion filed last month. "This court should therefore require Yahoo to comply with the order and produce the specified communications in the targeted accounts." (The Justice Department's position is that what's known as a 2703(d) order--not as privacy-protective as the rules for search warrants--should let police read e-mail.)


On December 3, 2009, U.S. Magistrate Judge Craig Shaffer ordered Yahoo to hand to prosecutors certain records including the contents of e-mail messages. Yahoo divulged some of the data but refused to turn over e-mail that had been previously viewed, accessed, or downloaded and was less than 181 days old."

Google, The Electronic Frontier Foundation The Center For Democracy and Technology, The Progress and Freedom Foundation, The Computer and Communications Industry Association and TRUSTe have formed a coalition with Yahoo to contest the judge's order and try to put a stop to the infringement on privacy. We wish them well.

In a seemingly unrelated case, a youth in Penn Valley Pennsylvania discovered that the laptop he received from school was used to take photographs and videos of him at all times of the day and night of all imaginable conditions. We are talking thousands of pictures. This was done with the authority of the Lower Merion School District. It seems there is a loophole that allows them to do this. Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.) introduced legislation to close what he said was a loophole in federal wiretap laws and prevent unauthorized monitoring. Specter recently held a hearing in Philadelphia on the issue.

"Many of us expect to be subject to certain kinds of video surveillance when we leave our homes and go out each day - at the ATM, at traffic lights, or in stores, for example," Specter, who is running for reelection, said on the floor of the Senate. "What we do not expect is to be under visual surveillance in our homes, in our bedrooms and, most especially, we do not expect it for our children in our homes."

According to the article, Robbins, a sophomore at Harriton High School, and his parents, Michael and Holly Robbins, contend e-mails turned over to them by the district suggest Carol Cafiero, the person that administrates the laptop program, "may be a voyeur" who might have viewed some of the photos on her home computer.

This is a case of pedophilia, no? I don't understand why this person is still employed. Tying this in with the DOJ issue may seem tangential at best, but it is a harbinger of what privacy issues that come with the further integration of technology in our lives and the government's position in either affirming our rights or trampling them. Because schools receive federal money, they have to operate under the same constraints that governmental organizations do. While there seems to be a loophole, why? I think this kid has a damn good case and I bet he is not the only one.

Understand that every digital bit of communication in this country is monitored. The government has sniffing facilities in the three major telecoms offices that mirror all internet and voice communications through NSA equipment that filters messages and sends "suspicious" messages to listening posts where they are analysed. Look up ECHELON or Room 641A, if you doubt me. Also, this isn't snooping foreign Al Qaeda operatives, it's us. Somewhere, sometime, we have to draw the line.

Thank you for reading this blog.

Obama Seeks New Powers

A new bill being proposed in the senate will give Obama special powers to "safeguard" public and private networks and entities from a cyber attack.

From The Hill:
The president would have the power to safeguard essential federal and private Web resources under draft Senate cybersecurity legislation.

According to an aide familiar with the proposal, the bill includes a mandate for federal agencies to prepare emergency response plans in the event of a massive, nationwide cyberattack.

The president would then have the ability to initiate those network contingency plans to ensure key federal or private services did not go offline during a cyberattack of unprecedented scope, the aide said....Further:

Additionally, it will "promote public awareness" of Internet security issues, while outlining key protections of Americans' civil liberties on the Web, the aide continued.

Privacy groups are nonetheless likely to take some umbrage at Rockefeller and Snowe's latest effort, an early draft of which leaked late last year.

When early reports predicted the cybersecurity measure would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency," online privacy groups said they felt that would endow the White House with overly ambiguous and far-reaching powers to regulate the Internet.

The bill is sponsored by Olympia Snow, a RINO from Maine, and Jay Rockefeller, a Democrat from West Virginia. The main problem with the bill is that is gives powers, emergency powers for Obama to act on a perceived or real "cyber threat".  According to Rockefeller, "Too much is at stake for us to pretend that today’s outdated cybersecurity policies are up to the task of protecting our nation and economic infrastructure," Rockefeller said. "We have to do better and that means it will take a level of coordination and sophistication to outmatch our adversaries and minimize this enormous threat." If that is the case, and it seems reasonable, why gives the powers to one person, the President, who at this time isn't someone I would trust with my 4 year old, let alone emergency powers over data and voice communications in this country.  It's bad enough the NSA snoops every packet of information that traverses the public network. What more does he want? 

Like all progressives, he wants evolutionary change in our government and society, which is that the government asserts more and more control over it's citizens in everything they do. To me, this opens a door that should remain shut, but we can blame Bush for opening the door with Echelon and it's subset Room 641A. Couple this with the patriot act and the proposed bill stated here, the government could do what it wants to anyone. Oops, it already can...

Why people find this acceptable is beyond me. We are evolving into a society of Obama's desires and yet we close our eyes to the closing walls. 

Thank you for reading this blog.