jct74
01-20-2014, 11:15 AM
Still Unprotected
President Obama’s reforms at the NSA won’t protect Americans’ privacy from continued government intrusion.
BY RAND PAUL
JANUARY 19, 2014
When we learned the National Security Agency (NSA) was collecting the phone data of every American last June, it posed a serious constitutional question: Do we no longer have a Fourth Amendment?
On Friday, Jan. 17, President Barack Obama essentially responded, "No, we really don't."
The president is to be commended for trying to enact reforms at the NSA. At the very least, he recognized a problem and sought to address public concerns.
But nothing he said in his speech reverses or even significantly impedes the government from prying into the private lives of citizens as a general practice. Nothing fundamentally changes about how our privacy is still unprotected.
The Fourth Amendment was included in the Constitution precisely to prevent the issuing of general warrants, in which blanket authority is given to the government to spy on citizens at will. The American colonists had to endure general warrants used by the British, who went to door to door searching as they pleased.
...
read more (bypass paywall):
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCwQqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.foreignpolicy.com%2Farticles% 2F2014%2F01%2F19%2Fstill_unprotected&ei=oljdUvOYBciIyAHIrYHQBg&usg=AFQjCNHMR_Ug1a1WKCH_OHzFBl4FDFMHIg&bvm=bv.59568121,d.aWc
direct linK:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/01/19/still_unprotected
President Obama’s reforms at the NSA won’t protect Americans’ privacy from continued government intrusion.
BY RAND PAUL
JANUARY 19, 2014
When we learned the National Security Agency (NSA) was collecting the phone data of every American last June, it posed a serious constitutional question: Do we no longer have a Fourth Amendment?
On Friday, Jan. 17, President Barack Obama essentially responded, "No, we really don't."
The president is to be commended for trying to enact reforms at the NSA. At the very least, he recognized a problem and sought to address public concerns.
But nothing he said in his speech reverses or even significantly impedes the government from prying into the private lives of citizens as a general practice. Nothing fundamentally changes about how our privacy is still unprotected.
The Fourth Amendment was included in the Constitution precisely to prevent the issuing of general warrants, in which blanket authority is given to the government to spy on citizens at will. The American colonists had to endure general warrants used by the British, who went to door to door searching as they pleased.
...
read more (bypass paywall):
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCwQqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.foreignpolicy.com%2Farticles% 2F2014%2F01%2F19%2Fstill_unprotected&ei=oljdUvOYBciIyAHIrYHQBg&usg=AFQjCNHMR_Ug1a1WKCH_OHzFBl4FDFMHIg&bvm=bv.59568121,d.aWc
direct linK:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/01/19/still_unprotected