Really struggling with what to think of the NSA/phone story

CQB said:
As most here are defenders of the Second Amendment right, how does that now sit with the decision that the US federal Court has ruled that NSAs' data gathering is unconstitutional?
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It's a 4th Amendment issue.

I think the NSA over reached and the courts will put restrictions on the data.
 
One item the talking heads won't bring up, and is worse than the perpetrated deeds IMO, is how a BUNCH of people in gov't (civ and mil) decided any of this was okay. We aren't talking abou unchecked power in the hands of a few, we're talking power and abilities in the hands of thousands and thousands with "oversight" provided by other "believers."

In a sense, UBL and Co. are winning because they have fundamentally altered how we think. Sure, this sort of crap has gone on forever, I've pointed that out, but the scope of these episodes. Whether driven by technology or fear doesn't matter to me, what matters is how widespread and pervasive this has become.
 
CQB said:
As most here are defenders of the Second Amendment right, how does that now sit with the decision that the US federal Court has ruled that NSAs' data gathering is unconstitutional?
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I'm pleased to hear it too.
 
compforce said:
The judge from the federal district court stated that Smith v Maryland doesn't apply as there is a huge difference between gathering data on switched networks (POTS) and the metadata that is provided by cell phones and cell carriers. He stated that the decision was based on different circumstances in a different technology.

FISA oversees it, but the argument is that they are rubber stamping things without knowing the ramifications.

Either way, I think it is immaterial. Privacy has been dead for years. This is just the government getting in on the game.
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Big difference between private corporations spending their dollars gathering information on people for marketing purposes and elements of the US Government compiling unspeakably huge reservoirs of data on the American people with the influence of law behind them, and especially while leveraging things like "patriotism".

You don't want to be a terrorist do you? Then hand us the records of all your 3,500,000 service subscribers. You aren't "with the terrorists", are you? Then give us all the data on the users of your service. Never mind that this trips little red flags in the back of your mind, as to whether or not this falls into possible Constitutional issues. Trust us; we have badges. Let go of your own personal convictions and fall in line.

In the end, the broader debate is going to be about how much danger and risk the American people are willing to simply live with in exchange for privacy.
 
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I'm not going to link to the video, and don't think we should because it purportedly contains leaked TS documents, but run over to Youtube when you have an hour+ to kill and watch To Protect and Infect, Part 2. To be fair, when I hear someone talk about "drone murder" I know they are "slightly" biased, but I don't think I can argue withhis technical description(s) of what's going on. Get past his jabs at Republicans and whatnot and just look at the technical aspects of his presentation.
 
Freefalling said:
I'm not going to link to the video, and don't think we should because it purportedly contains leaked TS documents, but run over to Youtube when you have an hour+ to kill and watch To Protect and Infect, Part 2. To be fair, when I hear someone talk about "drone murder" I know they are "slightly" biased, but I don't think I can argue withhis technical description(s) of what's going on. Get past his jabs at Republicans and whatnot and just look at the technical aspects of his presentation.
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Wrist slitting depressing? I wish he would!
 
Thanks for posting that other article, @Dame. I was on an app that pulls a bunch of different news organization into one place, and my intent was to directly link the CIA review but was unable to do so through that app.
 

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