Agorism
05-10-2011, 03:10 PM
Cell Phone Tracking Makes Patriot Act Even Worse Than We Thought
http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2011/05/10/cell-phone-tracking-makes-patriot-act-even-worse-than-we-thought
This morning at 10:00 Eastern, the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing entitled Protecting Mobile Privacy: Your Smartphones, Tablets, Cell Phones and Your Privacy. The hearing will focus on the way that the iPhone and other GPS-enabled electronic devices have been gathering databases of the locations and activities of their owners. Senators will put on a show of being outraged.
Most of those same senators, though, voted just a few weeks ago to extend the power of the federal government to use cell phones and other electronic devices to keep track of the activities of American citizens, spying on them in secret. They voted to extend the most abusive surveillance measures of the Patriot Act.
I don’t imagine that many of the senators will mention it during today’s hearings, but the Patriot Act, combined with the FISA Amendments Act gives the government the power to seize the kinds of electronic databases of information that iPhones and other portable devices have been compiling. For all we know, the government’s spy agencies have already been poring through this information for some time now.
This month, new legislation to renew the worst provisions of the Patriot Act yet again has been introduced to Congress.
What can we do, in the face of the steamroller to renew the Patriot Act? It may seem hopeless, but we can resist, and one thing that we can all do is to call our U.S. Representatives and senators, through the congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and tell them that we want a vote against renewal of the Patriot Act.
There’s another possible branch of action, though it’s difficult. With this hearing coming about, the ACLU dismisses the possibility of personal changes to protect private information: “Ok, so what now? We aren’t giving up our cell phones; I think we all know that.”
Despite what the ACLU claims, we do have the power to give up our cell phones. Ten years ago, we didn’t have smart phones and we didn’t need smart phones. The truth is that we still don’t. They’re just not necessary.
It’s sad that respect for constitutional rights has ebbed to such an extent that Americans are obliged to avoid using up-to-date technology in order to keep their private lives private. Nonetheless, we are forced to confront a choice: Whether we care more about fun apps or fundamental liberties.
http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2011/05/10/cell-phone-tracking-makes-patriot-act-even-worse-than-we-thought
This morning at 10:00 Eastern, the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing entitled Protecting Mobile Privacy: Your Smartphones, Tablets, Cell Phones and Your Privacy. The hearing will focus on the way that the iPhone and other GPS-enabled electronic devices have been gathering databases of the locations and activities of their owners. Senators will put on a show of being outraged.
Most of those same senators, though, voted just a few weeks ago to extend the power of the federal government to use cell phones and other electronic devices to keep track of the activities of American citizens, spying on them in secret. They voted to extend the most abusive surveillance measures of the Patriot Act.
I don’t imagine that many of the senators will mention it during today’s hearings, but the Patriot Act, combined with the FISA Amendments Act gives the government the power to seize the kinds of electronic databases of information that iPhones and other portable devices have been compiling. For all we know, the government’s spy agencies have already been poring through this information for some time now.
This month, new legislation to renew the worst provisions of the Patriot Act yet again has been introduced to Congress.
What can we do, in the face of the steamroller to renew the Patriot Act? It may seem hopeless, but we can resist, and one thing that we can all do is to call our U.S. Representatives and senators, through the congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and tell them that we want a vote against renewal of the Patriot Act.
There’s another possible branch of action, though it’s difficult. With this hearing coming about, the ACLU dismisses the possibility of personal changes to protect private information: “Ok, so what now? We aren’t giving up our cell phones; I think we all know that.”
Despite what the ACLU claims, we do have the power to give up our cell phones. Ten years ago, we didn’t have smart phones and we didn’t need smart phones. The truth is that we still don’t. They’re just not necessary.
It’s sad that respect for constitutional rights has ebbed to such an extent that Americans are obliged to avoid using up-to-date technology in order to keep their private lives private. Nonetheless, we are forced to confront a choice: Whether we care more about fun apps or fundamental liberties.