Well I didn't really want to get drawn in again but surely the point is that NSA/US Government is breaking it's own law. Not only that but our own Governments, far from protecting or complaining that what we search on Google etc being effectively traceable by an arm of the US Government without due cause, are complicit in this spying of all our online activity, contrary to the laws of most nations. Forgive me if I appear 'old fashioned' but I thought one of things that made our societies 'free' was that you were innocent until proven guilty and thus we are free to do as we wish without monitoring unless they have a reasonable cause which is accepted by a judge, or in the British case the Home or Foreign Secretary, and then you can monitor a persons 'traffic' be it emails or whatever else. Are we all potential terrorists for the US? Possibly we are but that does not give the NSA to keep data of any or all internet traffic outside it's jurisdiction and arguably it has no right to mass track 'metadata' within the US itself.
Nor has got us far. The Russian authorities warned the US about the Boston bombers and the British security services knew who the Woolwich murderers were. Both were ignored. All this reliance on COMMINT is essentially a waste of time unless you have a lead. Collecting terabytes of metadata essentially allows you go back and check previous records once something happens or if you get a lead. To me once you have the lead then you have 'reasonable cause' and the job starts and the collection of all the metadata of innocent and guilty alike previous to that is an infringement on my liberty, contrary to law and wasteful expenditure.
Nor has got us far. The Russian authorities warned the US about the Boston bombers and the British security services knew who the Woolwich murderers were. Both were ignored. All this reliance on COMMINT is essentially a waste of time unless you have a lead. Collecting terabytes of metadata essentially allows you go back and check previous records once something happens or if you get a lead. To me once you have the lead then you have 'reasonable cause' and the job starts and the collection of all the metadata of innocent and guilty alike previous to that is an infringement on my liberty, contrary to law and wasteful expenditure.
Comment