A Chilling Effect: Your Privacy Is Worthless; Obama’s Privacy Is Priceless
by Phil Maymin
LewRockwell.com
Unwinnable wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, enormous expansion of federal health regulations, indefinite detention, targeted killing of American citizens, bungled government responses to environmental disasters, warrantless surveillance and bailouts galore. Are we sure George W. Bush is no longer president?
Barack Obama’s administration now wants to be able to see the headers on all e-mails that you send, even if there is no probable cause, no warrant, no judicial oversight and no disclosure to you or anyone else that the FBI even peeked. As far as I can tell, Obama’s bill modifying the Electronic Communications Privacy Act would allow the FBI to secretly track information in the from, to, carbon copy and subject fields, among others. The bill would likely also include the history of web sites you visit.
I use terms like “likely” and “as far as I can tell” not only because the language is vague – it would merely insert the four words “electronic communications transactional records” into an ever-growing list of exclusions the FBI can rely on to avoid getting a warrant – but also because there doesn’t seem to be any plausible way to object, review, or punish an overbroad or unnecessary FBI investigation.
The Rest…HERE
The FBI recently asked for the power to obtain without warrants, Citizens’ “electronic communication transactional records” including email addresses Americans used to send communications. While there is much press and debate concerning the FBI’s request for warrant-less Internet surveillance of Citizens’ Internet Activity, one obvious point has been overlooked: If the FBI gets this warrant-less power: every time someone receives an email from some idiot that mentioned anything that might allude to anything illegal, the receiver of the email will have to notify police to avoid the potential of federal conspiracy charges.
The FBI’s request for warrant-less Internet surveillance can’t be viewed separately: if pending bills in Congress pass, the FBI could use warrant-less Internet surveillance of Internet Activity, including sent or received emails to arrest and indefinitely detain Americans on (mere suspicion) not evidence. Information the FBI gleans from warrant-less searches of email headers—could be used by U.S. Government to target anyone for arrest without evidence. The FBI would need only subpoena the contents of someone’s email having circumvented the Fourth Amendment against warrant-less searches.
See McCain’s 12-page Senate bill S.3081 The “Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010 that would allow arrest and indefinite detention of Americans in Military Custody on mere suspicion; without evidence, probable cause or the right to an attorney. See:
assets.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/politics/ARM10090.pdf
The recent Washington Post Report (Secret America) did not mention in the U.S., government-private contractors and their operatives work so close with U.S. law enforcement, exchanging information to arrest Americans and or share in the forfeiture of their assets, they appear to have merged with police. Similarly in 1933 Hitler merged his private police the Gestapo with German national security. Before the Gestapo was consolidated with the German Government, the Gestapo arrested Citizens and confiscated private property with no legal authority. However U.S. Government has already granted that power to private U.S. contractors. In 1939 all German Police agencies including the Gestapo were put under the control of the “Reich Main Security Office” the equivalent of U.S. Homeland Security.
Obama gave a speech in May 2010 that asked Congress to pass legislation to give the President power, to detain any person in the U.S. that government deems a “combatant” or likely to engage in a violent act in the future. President Obama wants the power to incarcerate U.S. Citizens not on evidence, but for what they might do. Obama wants the power to override the U.S. Constitution, to detain indefinitely any American based on conjecture her or she might do something violent in the future. If Obama’s proposal to detain Americans without probable cause is approved, and the FBI is granted warrant-less searches of the Internet, it is foreseeable Government could use anyone’s Internet activity including emails to claim an individual or lawful organization might do something violent in the future to order their indefinite detainment. See: Obama Sound-Video asking for power to detain people without probable cause at:
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/630.html
If FBI warrant-less Internet Spying is approved, it is problematic the FBI will share its spying with law enforcement, government contractors and private individuals that have security clearances to facilitate the arrest and forfeiture of Americans’ property—-to keep part of the bounty. Police too easily can take an innocent person’s hastily written email, Internet fax, phone call or web activity out of context to allege a crime or violation was committed to cause an arrest or confiscation of someone’s property. There are over 200 U.S. laws and violations mentioned in the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000 and the Patriot Act that can subject property to civil asset forfeiture. Under federal civil asset forfeiture laws, a person or business need not be charged with a crime for government to forfeit their property.
Rep. Henry Hyde’s bill HR 1658 passed, the “Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000” and effectively eliminated the “statue of limitations” for Government Civil Asset Forfeiture. The statute now runs five years from when police allege they “learned” that an asset became subject to forfeiture. With such a weak statute of limitations and the low standard of civil proof needed, little more that hearsay for government to forfeit property “A preponderance of Evidence”, it is problematic law enforcement and private government contractors will want access to FBI, and other government Internet surveillance, including wiretaps perhaps illegal to arrest Americans, to seize their homes, assets and businesses under Title 18USC and other laws.
Of obvious concern, what happens to fair justice in America if police and government contractors become dependent on “Asset Forfeiture” to pay their salaries and operating costs?