Leahy's Warrantless Email Surveillance Bill Scuttled
At a time when our civil liberties are being eroded right, left, and center, a bright piece of news. Declan McCullagh reports at CNET that Senator Patrick Leahy has withdrawn his disgusting proposal to grant government agencies more surveillance power -- including warrantless access to Americans' email accounts:
Leahy's proposal would have allowed over 22 agencies -- including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission -- to access Americans' e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant. It also would have given the FBI and Homeland Security more authority, in some circumstances, to gain full access to Internet accounts without notifying either the owner or a judge.That was an abrupt departure from Leahy's earlier approach, which required police to obtain a search warrant backed by probable cause before they could read the contents of e-mail or other communications. He boasted last year that his bill "provides enhanced privacy protections for American consumers by... requiring that the government obtain a search warrant."
One person participating in Capitol Hill meetings on this topic told CNET that Justice Department officials have expressed their displeasure about Leahy's original bill. The department is on record as opposing any such requirement: James Baker, the associate deputy attorney general, has publicly warned that requiring a warrant to obtain stored e-mail could have an "adverse impact" on criminal investigations.
Yeah? Probable cause is such a bitch.
From McCullagh's piece, more reaction to Leahy's proposed changes:
•Executives at DataFoundry, a provider of data center services in Austin, Tex., said the proposed changes were an unacceptable breach of Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure.•Ronald Yokubaitis, co-CEO of Data Foundry, said giving the government near-unchecked authority to search consumer information stored in the cloud would destroy confidence in cloud-based services and encourage more businesses to move overseas, where protections are greater.
"If this language comes in, we are opposed to the bill," Yokubaitis said. "It will kill cloud computing."
Why do they need it. With the NDAA they can just snatch you up and interrogate you at their leisure.
Jim P. at November 23, 2012 7:48 AM
The "Land of the Free" has become a pathetic joke, one overreaching law at a time. What our enemies could not do, our politicians have.
MarkD at November 23, 2012 11:06 AM
From what i read, Leahy's bill would have required warrants but Harry Reid amended it to say the opposite but while leaving Leahy's name on the atrocity. Reid has succeeded in making the republicans look like monsters, again. Too easy.
People will believe what they already believe.
Storm Saxon's Gall Bladder at November 23, 2012 3:34 PM
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