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Patriot Act/Carnivore

This link is the source of the quote that follows. Take a stand: are you concerned?

http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/tip/1,289483,sid14_gci784713,00.html

Under the new Patriot Act, the FBI's powers have been greatly expanded. First, warrants can be obtained under FISA if intelligence gathering is only a "significant purpose," rather than the "primary purpose." Because of this change, as long as intelligence gathering is a "significant purpose" of the warrant, evidence gathered by what could otherwise be unconstitutional methods might be used for a criminal investigation. Second, the Patriot Act specifically lowers the threshold for obtaining a full collection warrant for Internet traffic. Instead of needing probable cause as required by Title III, the FBI now only needs to show that the information to be gathered is "relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation." That is a much lower standard than showing probable cause that a crime has been committed. The third major change is that when a wiretap warrant is issued, the person whose communications are being captured is notified, though sometimes this notification is allowed to be after the fact. The Patriot Act now allows nearly any search to be made in secret. Finally, these changes made by the Patriot Act are not limited to surveillance of suspected terrorists, but apply to all surveillance cases.

So, the bottom line is that the FBI can now get a warrant to capture all your Internet communications by showing that your communications might be relevant to their investigation of a case. It does not have to be a case that directly involves you, nor do they need to show probable cause that you have committed any crime. The data would be collected using the Carnivore tool, a tool that has no accountability. Should you be concerned about possible misuse of this technology? That's up to you to decide.

For links to sources about the Patriot Act:

http://www.cs.duke.edu/courses/cps182s/fall02/readings/patriot.html

 

∙ As always -- it depends By: cmz

    September 11th dramatically changed how America views its security from attacks.  We feel a new vulnerability--albeit that vulnerability probably existed even before 9/11--but the attacks brought this vulnerability to the forefront in America's eyes.  How do we respond?  How do we make ourselves feel more secure?  The Patriot Act is an attempt to decrease our vulnerabilities but may be misused to threaten our civil liberties, but I feel that the powers described in the Patriot Act are necessary to fight terrorism and protect the American people.      
Thomas Jefferson said that the purpose of government is to protect the Life, Liberty, Property, and the Pursuit of Happiness of all its citizens.  The Constitution implements these goals by giving the government powers to ensure equality, fairness, economic rules and also grants the citizen certiain civil liberties.  The Patirot Act is aimed at protecting the Life of American citizens, but comes at the expense of those citizen's Liberties.  In determing if we should worry about misuse of the Patriot Act, we need to answer the question: Liberty or Life?        
One must note that the change in the FBI's power is the result from changing the FBI's purpose of solving crimes to preventing crimes (particualry terrorism).  Preventing crimes requires much more information and data analysis than solving crimes.  After a crime has happened, the FBI can determine who committed the crime and then obtain a warrant from a judge to survey that person.  Time efficiency is not crucial once the crime has already been committed.  In preventing crimes, on the other hand, time efficiency is extremely important.  By the time the FBI has enough information to obtain a warrant for surveying the individual, it might be too late--the crime has been committed.  Thus, less restrictions on surveying the individual is necessary.        
Giving the FBI this unchecked power, however, threatens civil liberties.  The FBI can spy on any individual with essentially no provocation--Martin Luther King, Jr. is an example.  We can have a Big Brother effect where the government knows everything that we do, and that is against the American idea of government.  Are we willing to give up these liberties for protection against terrorists?  Currently the answer is Yes because there is a greater threat now from terrorists than from an abusive government.  If the government were to abuse those powers and severely threaten our civil liberties, then we will not give up our civil liberties and place from checks/restrictions on the power of the government.