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

[Florida173]

Latests Update (MAY 7, 2015)

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court in New York on Thursday ruled that the once-secret National Security Agency program that is systematically collecting Americans’ phone records in bulk is illegal. The decision comes as a fight in Congress is intensifying over whether to end and replace the program, or to extend it without changes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/08/u...tion-ruled-illegal-by-appeals-court.html?_r=0

My opinion on the matter is that it is going to do more harm than good. People's perception of the injustices happening are typically way worse than the real thing. We have EO 12333 shoved down our throat on a daily basis in regards of protecting USPERs' Constitutional rights and I believe we absolutely appreciate the importance of it. Any infractions seen are incredibly exceptional because I believe most people are like me in that we value our careers and our freedom outside of the prison system. The oversight and audit system is robust.

 

[BloodStripe]

Court overturns ruling against NSA

Politics at play here. At the Federal level judges are appointed, correct?

 

[Brill]

Politics at play here. At the Federal level judges are appointed, correct?

Perhaps they actually looked at the law and ruled accordingly? Not every bench operates like SCOTUS.

The ruling basically says the plaintiffs didn't have standing and couldn't prove injury.

http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/intern...F1785257EAF004F71E8/$file/14-5004-1570210.pdf

If you read further, the previous ruling was VERY over reaching: just because a judge doesn't agree with the "morality", doesn't make the action illegal.

Court: NSA spying likely unconstitutional
"The almost-Orwellian technology that enables the government to store and analyze the phone metadata of every telephone user is unlike anything that could be conceived in 1979," he wrote.

He also concluded that the explosive growth of smartphones means that collecting "metadata" today gives the government much more insight into people's private lives than it did in 1979.

"The ubiquity of phones has dramatically altered the quantity of information that is available and, more importantly, what that information can tell the government about people's lives," he wrote.

"Put simply, people in 2013 have an entirely different relationship with their phones than they did thirty-four years ago."

Really?