The NSA can officially tap US domestic communications, unchecked ...

Recently we brought our listeners attention to a pending US congressional vote on a proposed bill to somewhat regulate the NSAs sweeping, privacy invading, mass warrant-less email and phone tapping. The bill merely sought to require the most basic accountability for the surveillance, let alone stem the activity itself.

The debate and vote on the 27th of this month was delayed until the last possible moment. It was only allocated a single days deliberation at the eleventh hour. The result of which was nothing short of a constitution bending abomination. Not only has congress allowed five years of indiscriminate and universal wire tapping for all overseas communications, but they rejected the proposed amendment which would bring some sort of accountability to the intelligence organisations spying on their own citizens. In other words, congress effectively elected to stay in the dark about the sweeping surveillance of ?good guys? (law abiding US citizens) without probable cause. The surveillance activity is and will continue to collect and store vast amounts of data, including but not limited to calls and emails US residents make and take from people offshore, and no doubt that pass through US owned and operated IT and telephony infrastructure abroad.

We are not primarily a politically motivated site, but please take a moment to consider that while the conventional media whipped up a storm when Instagram changed a privacy policy, and a good many of us sulked after unwittingly self posting hoax privacy exemptions to our Facebook walls, this landmark ruling goes through with relative mainstream silence today. It may not be the death of liberty at ?thunderous applause? described by Natalie Portman?s Star Wars character Senator Amidala, but with 73 votes to 27 in favor of the spys governing themselves, one really has to ask how such a change can shuffle through under the radar.

Questions often asked in relation to unwarranted wire taps?

• Q: How does this affect me as a non US resident?
• A: Essentially the NSA may capture (through various methods) any and as many private communications as they see fit, then store this information indefinitely without a warrant. The scope includes both servers on US soil and US owned/operated foreign systems. For now, most of the worlds internet and email is routed through the US so? this means you and your junk.

• Q: I have nothing to hide, why should I care?
• A: Because this seriously diminishes en mass some of the most basic rights to your privacy. i.e. the civil liberties of the increasingly online dependent world community. You most likely belong to this community, which is the sum of all its parts. While you may not personally be scrutinized, random other innocents have and will continue to suffer at such unchecked and sweeping surveillance. A lot of people are indifferent either because they simply don?t know or it doesn?t impact them personally in the way Insta-gate may have. But Imagine how you would feel if 6 police showed at your door and went through every drawer in your house and every one else?s in your neighborhood just to see if you or they were a starting to err on the side of terrorism. After taking pictures of your private possessions, they then get filed away in a vault for ongoing scrutiny and reference. This is what?s happening in the the virtual space.

We highly recommend this video of Senator Ron Wyden?s speech to congress about the perils of mass surveillance with respect to the constitution and the fourth amendment. Wyden goes into the specifics as to why this is such a big deal in today?s environment of digital persona. This is the man with the drive, perspective and the facts.

Further information and references

Disclaimer: While we take an active interest in any issues affecting our listeners, and indeed the greater online community, we are not experts. Nor are we proffesional investigative journalists by any stretch of the imagination. Music is what we do best. As such, we will always try to provide sources for our information so you can find out more. If you have any corrections or would like to share something new please do not hesitate to contact us.

Source: http://www.budgiecollective.com/news/fisa/

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