15 of 16

Write now Article Tools

Page 5 of 6

old friends still with federal law enforcement and I'm told this is now standard operating procedure because of 911.

In the old days, federal agents would go to mob weddings and collect license plate numbers. Today they drive through parking lots of Mosques and hang out in millions of computers - with or without probable cause or court orders. The movie "Minority Report" with Tom Cruise may yet turn out to be just as prophetic as Orwell's 1984 if current enforcement trends are not curbed immediately. But public fear, whether real or created, gives momentum and motivation to those in government who now believe privacy has become a luxury and no longer a constitutional right. Those who write our laws should not have to violate the constitution and the privacy of millions just to find a few dozen bad apples that could routinely be identified if inter-agency rivalry was eliminated and agents learn how to properly share information with one another.

It's a sad day in America when we have to put our government in the same category as hackers. On thing is certain, we must all actually start reading those "privacy policies" and "terms of use" agreements on our search engines, ISP service contracts, browsers, and e-mail providers before even their disclosure of cooperation with government snoops is outlawed.

On a related note, U.S. Magistrate James Orenstein, upheld our constitutional rights to Privacy in November of 2005 when he ruled that the FBI could not use our cell phones as tracking devices without a warrant proving a crime was in progress or about to be committed. Unfortunately, President Bush disagrees with Judge Orenstein and made sure the new Patriot Act allows our G men to track even "people of interest" by their cell phones. Surveillance cameras, cell phone tracking, and now computer infiltration. Are chip implants the next "security measure" of the Bush administration? Hopefully, the Democrats in the House and Senate might restore some sanity to Washington and privacy for the rest of us.

The recent law suit brought against Google by the U.S. Justice Department demanding their client search records and the recent revelation that the U.S. government has been spying on even our allies for years (most recently Canadian citizens and their banking records), quickly identifies the mind set of the Bush administration. Any and all means apparently justifies the end result even if it means trashing our rights as law-abiding and patriotic citizens. Unfortunately, we

• << previous page
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about The Patriot Act: Invasion of privacy?
We want to hear your view. Write now!