May 2006, USA Today
The date is May 2006.
NSA secret database report triggers fierce debate in Washington
A massive government database containing the phone records of tens of millions of Americans — reported by USA TODAY on Thursday — marks the modern intersection of two powerful emerging forces: terrorism and technology.
And the firestorm sparked by disclosure of the National Security Agency project mirrors a debate that dates to the nation's founding, and before, over balancing the interests of the government with the rights of individuals.
"It's an issue of our times — a huge issue," said Clayton Northouse, editor of Protecting What Matters: Technology, Security, and Liberty since 9/11, published last month.
The argument was lost then.
NY Times:
Late Wednesday, Mr. Greenwald, a lawyer and longtime blogger, published an article in the British newspaper The Guardian about the existence of a top-secret court order allowing the National Security Agency to monitor millions of telephone logs. The article, which included a link to the order, is expected to attract an investigation from the Justice Department, which has aggressively pursued leakers.
On Thursday night, he followed up with an article written with a Guardian reporter, Ewen MacAskill, that exposed an N.S.A. program, Prism, that has gathered information from the nation’s largest Internet companies going back nearly six years.
ZOMG! He's a
blogger! That changes everything.
Polling report sums up recent terrorism vs privacy polls, and as with all issue polling, it depends how the question is worded. Still, most polls show unease with AP/reporter records subpoenaed. We'll have to wait for newer polling after the size and scope of current government activities, defended by ranking Republicans and Democrats in Congress, settles in to the public consciousness. Interesting that from the Congressional perspective (see Lindsey Graham—Lindsey Graham ‘glad’ NSA tracking phones—and Dianne Feinstein—NSA snooping has foiled multiple terror plots: Feinstein—), this isn't really a partisan issue (see Baltimore Sun link, below). And that's not meant as a defense, simply an observation that it's many more elements of the government than the WH, though they bear responsibility.
FWIW here's how the House voted on the Patriot Act extension in 2011. Mostly GOP votes, but needed Dem votes to pass.
http://t.co/...
— @fivethirtyeight via web
More policy and politics below the fold.
Ron Brownstein:
Amid the disclosure that the federal government has systematically obtained massive amounts of Verizon phone records, a new poll shows that a preponderant majority of adults already fear that their private communications are no longer private.
Americans believe their cell-phone, e-mail, and other communications history is more likely to be accessed without their consent than any other form of sensitive personal information, the latest Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll has found.
In the poll, 85 percent of adults surveyed said it was likely that their "communications history, like phone calls, e-mails, and Internet use," was "available for businesses, government, individuals, and other groups to access without your consent." That was a higher percentage than believed that any other kind of private information, such as medical and financial records, is being obtained without their approval.
The survey, which was conducted just before the controversy erupted over the National Security Agency's access to Verizon phone records (although not actual conversations), will be released in full on June 13.
NY Times:
A solid majority of Americans opposes a broad national right to same-sex marriage, saying the power to legalize gay unions should rest with the states — even as most support marriage equality for gay people, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
Overturn DOMA, they say, but leave it up to the states. More, same poll:
On national security, Americans expressed strong skepticism about taking the lead in trying to solve overseas conflicts, but support for action against Iran if it is on the verge of acquiring a nuclear weapon. The public continues to support the Obama administration’s use of unmanned drone aircraft; 72 percent back their use against people suspected of being terrorists, but 66 percent are concerned the drone program suffers from “not enough oversight.”
The poll found mistrust of the federal government, amid national debate about whether it has grown too intrusive; in subsequent interviews, several respondents said the federal government should stay out of private lives, and one cited the recent scandal at the Internal Revenue Service, which has acknowledged targeting Tea Party conservatives, in arguing marriage should be left to the states.
“The federal government is too involved in too many personal things that they don’t need to be involved in,” said Frances Narramore, 75, a retired teacher in Arizona, who calls herself an independent. “Just look at what’s happening at the I.R.S., and you see what I mean by that.”
Let's hear from
the Guardian, which broke the original story:
The disclosure has reignited longstanding debates in the US over the proper extent of the government's domestic spying powers.
Ron Wyden of Oregon, a member of the Senate intelligence committee who, along with Udell, has expressed concern about the extent of US government surveillance, warned of "sweeping, dragnet surveillance". He said: "I am barred by Senate rules from commenting on some of the details at this time, However, I believe that when law-abiding Americans call their friends, who they call, when they call, and where they call from is private information.
"Collecting this data about every single phone call that every American makes every day would be a massive invasion of Americans' privacy."
What needs to come out of this is a debate about the Patriot Act. And if you don't know who Glenn Greenwald is by now, you should.
Another person to follow for explanation and context is
Marcy Wheeler:
By far the most disingenuous, however, was Jim Sensenbrenner, who (as he has emphasized to the credulous journalists who served as his stenographers today) wrote the PATRIOT Act, who has remained in a senior position on House Judiciary Committee since that day, and who now claims to be shocked — shocked! — there is dragnet collection going on in the casino he built.
Fair warning: ZOMG! She's a
blogger!
Baltimore Sun:
Privacy advocates expressed outrage Thursday over revelations that the National Security Agency has been collecting telephone records of virtually every phone call made in the United States for seven years, but the Obama administration and a bipartisan group of lawmakers defended the program as both legal and necessary.
Top House and Senate lawmakers who oversee the NSA, which has its headquarters at Fort Meade, said they had been briefed regularly on the domestic surveillance operation and dismissed concerns that the collection of phone logs was overly intrusive.