How much damage has the passage of the Patriot Act, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, and the implementation of various illegal wiretapping schemes done to our civil liberties? Here's a story that is neither the first nor the last of its kind. More importantly, how big is the iceberg in relation to the visible tip exposed above the waters of secrecy and authoritarianism?
A special agent for the Department of Commerce is facing up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for using a Department of Homeland Security database to cyber-stalk his former girlfriend.
Read the full story here, and more comments and quotes below the fold.
It is exactly this kind of abuse that was anticipated by opponents of legislation like the Patriot Act as well as the illegal data mining programs. And here we see these insidious efforts bear fruit. Fortunately, this guy was caught. But how many other incidents have gone unreported or forgiven with a slap on the wrist?
Benjamin Robinson, 40, was indicted Sept. 19 by an Oakland, Calif., jury for unlawfully obtaining information from a protected computer and making a false statement to a government agency. Each count carries a maximum jail term of five years.
In the past year or so, a redstater used his connections at DHS to track Glenn Greenwald's trips to Brazil and post them on redstate.com. This was an obvious attempt at intimidation, but thankfully, Glenn was having none of it. He reprinted the posts on his site and lambasted both the secret programs and the intimidation tactics (unfortunately, I couldn't find the story on either Salon or Unclaimed Territory). Whereas Glenn's intimidation was more subtle and implied, this guy was cruel and vicious in trying to bend his ex-girlfriend to his will:
The indictment also claims that during and after the relationship, Robinson alternatively threatened to have the woman deported or to have her and her family killed.
This is a criminal indictment, which prosecutors don't usually bring unless they have fairly compelling evidence. This guy is innocent until proven guilty, but we'll be seeing more stories of abuses of the various wiretapping and data mining systems that aren't under the supervision of a judge.
I just hope it isn't about any of you.