Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: FBI snoops into complete web browsing history and records of all online purchases

  1. #1

    Exclamation FBI snoops into complete web browsing history and records of all online purchases

    Somewhere in hell, the STASI is cheering.


    U.S. government reveals breadth of requests for Internet records

    https://ca.news.yahoo.com/u-governme...--finance.html

    By Dustin Volz

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation has used a secretive authority to compel Internet and telecommunications firms to hand over customer data including an individual’s complete web browsing history and records of all online purchases, a court filing released Monday shows.

    The documents are believed to be the first time the government has provided details of its so-called national security letters, which are used by the FBI to conduct electronic surveillance without the need for court approval.

    The filing made public Monday was the result of an 11-year-old legal battle waged by Nicholas Merrill, founder of Calyx Internet Access, a hosted service provider, who refused to comply with a national security letter (NSL) he received in 2004.

    Merrill told Reuters the release was significant “because the public deserves to know how the government is gathering information without warrants on Americans who are not even suspected of a crime.”

    National security letters have been available as a law enforcement tool since the 1970s, but their frequency and breadth expanded dramatically under the USA Patriot Act, which was passed shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. They are almost always accompanied by an open-ended gag order barring companies from disclosing the contents of the demand for customer data.

    A federal court ruled earlier this year that the gag on Merrill’s NSL should be lifted.

    Merrill's challenge also disclosed that the FBI may use NSLs to gain IP addresses on everyone a suspect has corresponded with and cell-site location information. The FBI said in the court filings it no longer used NSLs for location information.

    The secretive orders have long drawn the ire of tech companies and privacy advocates, who argue NSLs allow the government to snoop on user content without appropriate judicial oversight or transparency.

    Last year, the Obama administration announced it would permit Internet companies to disclose more about the number of NSLs they receive. But they can still only provide a range such as between 0 and 999 requests, or between 1,000 and 1,999. Twitter has sued in federal court seeking the ability to publish more details in its semi-annual transparency reports.

    Several thousand NSLs are now issued by the FBI every year, though the agency says it is unaware of the precise number. At one point that number eclipsed 50,000 letters annually.

    The FBI did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
    Another mark of a tyrant is that he likes foreigners better than citizens, and lives with them and invites them to his table; for the one are enemies, but the Others enter into no rivalry with him. - Aristotle's Politics Book 5 Part 11



  2. Remove this section of ads by registering.
  3. #2

  4. #3
    If you've got nothing to hide...............

  5. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by tod evans View Post
    If you've got nothing to hide...............
    Or until they mismatch your IP with someone else's by mistake.

  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by LibertyInNY View Post
    Or until they mismatch your IP with someone else's by mistake.
    The only ones who actually matter are already protected by qualified immunity.......

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by tod evans View Post
    If you've got nothing to hide...............
    Because "terrorism" isn't defined as googling the phrase "bill of rights".......yet

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Anti Federalist View Post
    Somewhere in hell, the STASI is cheering.


    U.S. government reveals breadth of requests for Internet records

    https://ca.news.yahoo.com/u-governme...--finance.html

    By Dustin Volz

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation has used a secretive authority to compel Internet and telecommunications firms to hand over customer data including an individual’s complete web browsing history and records of all online purchases, a court filing released Monday shows.

    The documents are believed to be the first time the government has provided details of its so-called national security letters, which are used by the FBI to conduct electronic surveillance without the need for court approval.

    The filing made public Monday was the result of an 11-year-old legal battle waged by Nicholas Merrill, founder of Calyx Internet Access, a hosted service provider, who refused to comply with a national security letter (NSL) he received in 2004.

    Merrill told Reuters the release was significant “because the public deserves to know how the government is gathering information without warrants on Americans who are not even suspected of a crime.”

    National security letters have been available as a law enforcement tool since the 1970s, but their frequency and breadth expanded dramatically under the USA Patriot Act, which was passed shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. They are almost always accompanied by an open-ended gag order barring companies from disclosing the contents of the demand for customer data.

    A federal court ruled earlier this year that the gag on Merrill’s NSL should be lifted.

    Merrill's challenge also disclosed that the FBI may use NSLs to gain IP addresses on everyone a suspect has corresponded with and cell-site location information. The FBI said in the court filings it no longer used NSLs for location information.

    The secretive orders have long drawn the ire of tech companies and privacy advocates, who argue NSLs allow the government to snoop on user content without appropriate judicial oversight or transparency.

    Last year, the Obama administration announced it would permit Internet companies to disclose more about the number of NSLs they receive. But they can still only provide a range such as between 0 and 999 requests, or between 1,000 and 1,999. Twitter has sued in federal court seeking the ability to publish more details in its semi-annual transparency reports.

    Several thousand NSLs are now issued by the FBI every year, though the agency says it is unaware of the precise number. At one point that number eclipsed 50,000 letters annually.

    The FBI did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

    HUH?

    Appropriate judicial oversight or transparency?

    What is that?


    In The American Kangaroo Court System



    Rather, the language of the amendment is so broad and sweeping (“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated” except by a search warrant issued by a judge upon probable cause.) that for 230 years it has been held to restrain and regulate all government efforts to gather private information — no matter their purposes.

    Nevertheless, the NSA’s agents and lawyers felt it necessary to concoct this groundless, disingenuous and fictional legal distinction in order to persuade the FISA court that it is legally acceptable to permit untethered spying so long as the fruits of that spying are not used in criminal prosecutions. Curiously and naively, judges of the FISA court bought that argument
    .
    .DON'T TAX ME BRO!!!

    .
    .
    "It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)

  9. #8
    I've got nothing to hide. My search history:

    "why is donald trump so awesome"
    "government data entry jobs"
    "government accounting jobs"
    "how to get good government jobs"
    "boobs"
    "big boobs"
    "big black boobs"
    "how to clean keyboard"
    "amazon household cleaning products"
    "welfare application form"
    It's all about taking action and not being lazy. So you do the work, whether it's fitness or whatever. It's about getting up, motivating yourself and just doing it.
    - Kim Kardashian

    Donald Trump / Crenshaw 2024!!!!

    My pronouns are he/him/his



  10. Remove this section of ads by registering.
  11. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by TheTexan View Post
    I've got nothing to hide. My search history:

    "why is donald trump so awesome"
    "government data entry jobs"
    "government accounting jobs"
    "how to get good government jobs"
    "boobs"
    "big boobs"
    "big black boobs"
    "how to clean keyboard"
    "amazon household cleaning products"
    "welfare application form"
    You had me at "big boobs." Did you find a good deal on Amazon?



Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •