Do you own a Cell Phone? Do you know where your Cell has been lately?
Justice Department 'Complies' With FOIA Request For GPS Tracking Memos; Hands ACLU 111 Fully Redacted Pages
by Tim Cushing, techdirt.com -- Jan 17th 2013
The ACLU filed a FOIA request last July in hopes of receiving some insight into the FBI's tracking of US citizens via GPS devices. Two months later, it filed a lawsuit against the FBI, forcing the issue. At long last, the FBI has responded... with 111 pages of black ink.
Two key memos outlining the Justice Department's views about when Americans can be surreptitiously tracked with GPS technology are being kept secret by the department despite a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the ACLU to force their release. The FBI’s general counsel discussed the existence of the two memos publicly last year, yet the Justice Department is refusing to release them without huge redactions.
[...]
A fully-redacted document doesn't seem to indicate that the FBI is operating within the constraints of United States v. Jones. It signals the very opposite and provides us with another example of how government agencies, when faced with constitutional limitations, are more than happy to simply "interpret" their way around them -- and keep these interpretations out of public view, perhaps indefinitely. It's extremely hypocritical for the FBI and DOJ to sit in a position of law enforcement when they clearly believe abiding by the law is optional.
SOOO, that's what "Freedom of Information"
looks like -- in the harsh light of day!
Here's why the ACLU filed that FOIA request:
Supreme Court FISA Decision: How the NSA and the Courts Are Trashing the First Amendment
by Shaq Katikala, policymic.com -- 3 months ago
On February 26, 2013, the Supreme Court denied standing to journalists in challenging recent amendments to the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). This 5-4 ruling in Clapper v. Amnesty is a First Amendment disaster -- it makes stories related to terrorism or war unavailable or more difficult to obtain. Without full exposure of these important topics, America risks a greater chance of government abuse and a general ignorance of crucial developments abroad.
FISA has a history of abuse. In 2005, the New York Times revealed that the National Security Agency (NSA) was conducting a secret and illegal wiretapping program in search of terrorists. Instead of reprimanding the government, Congress passed FISA, which made the practice legal. After an AT&T whistleblower revealed that a staggering number of emails and phone calls were being surveilled under FISA, another amendment passed to further expand the scope of the government's authority. A secret ex parte FISA court exists solely to grant FISA warrants, which, as a lower court acknowledged, almost never denies a request.
The most recent amendment in 2008 allowed the government to conduct dragnet surveillance with a single "warrant." That's in quotes because unlike most warrants, FISA warrants under the recent amendment no longer have to name specifically who's being targeted or what channels of communication need to be searched. These quasi-warrants only have to name what they're searching for -- a single warrant can result in the interception of thousands or millions of people's communications. In a recent FOIA request for information on who's being surveilled, the government mockingly replied with 111 fully blacked-out pages.
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Here's what 8 Patriotic Senators are trying to do about it:
Senators push bill to declassify secret FISA surveillance rulings
by Carlo Muñoz, thehill.com -- 06/11/13
Eight senators introduced legislation on Tuesday that would require the attorney general to declassify significant opinions made by courts operating under the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
[...]
The FISA court is the main legal body responsible for authorizing intelligence operations against U.S. citizens on American soil. Currently, FISA opinions are classified.
While the legislation has bipartisan backing, it received a chilly reception from Democratic leaders in the Senate.
Here's what's likely to happen with their FISA Sunlight Bill:
Durbin: FISA declassification bill dead on arrival
by Carlo Muñoz, thehill.com -- 06/11/13
Here's what's liable to just keep on happening ... underneath all that Black-Out:
[ Source ]
Well at least they know where to send the bill -- the phone bill, eh?