EFF Asks How Big Brother Is Watching The Internet 354
MacDork writes "The EFF filed a FOIA request yesterday with the FBI and other offices of the US DOJ regarding expanded powers granted by the USA PATRIOT Act. The EFF is making the request in an attempt to find out whether or not Section 216 is being used to monitor web browsing without a warrant. The DOJ has already stated they can collect email and IP addresses, but has not been forthcoming on the subject of URL addresses. It seems the EFF is seeking any documentation to confirm such activity is taking place. One can only hope the automated FOIA search doesn't produce any false negatives or cost the EFF $372,999."
Coz' Microsoft is doing the watching? (Score:1, Interesting)
Wouldn't it be something... (Score:5, Interesting)
80% redaction (Score:5, Interesting)
NPR's On The Media program (aired yesterday in these parts), talked about ACLU requests in 2003 regarding Iraqi prisoner abuse (well before Abu Graib broke), and the docs they did receive -- after lengthy expensive lawsuits -- was mostly (80%) blacked out.
Re:Which is more important? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Wouldn't it be something... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Hilarious! (Score:1, Interesting)
First and last, I'd just like to say DONT FUCK WITH ME AND MY FAMILY OR MY COUNTRY. This includes everyone brain washed into believing Britney Spears is a diety to the litigous and scanalous entities who push the whole image, along with the lawmakers who enforce this thought policing.
We kicked the rest of the worlds ass for this place and we will do it again all day long if we have to. We dont need paperwork and beauracracy to keep the peace, we need an ugly stick and a good motto ( you feelin' froggy?) hanging on the wall in everyones house.
This just goes to show how few people will stand up for what they believe in anymore, let alone even know what they believe in.
Be alert (Score:5, Interesting)
Evidently months ago he bought the same kind of lighter fluid that was used to light his own house on fire with his wife and kids inside. He was pretty much going to 'pound me in the ass prison' until someone else 'fessed up to lighting the fire (the family didn't get hurt in the fire, IIRC.)
If you think for 60 seconds you aren't being watched - ask that guy.
Re:Creepy stuff (Score:3, Interesting)
I truly do not like the idea of me being put on a terrorist watch list for reading liberal publications, but I choose to read them anyways.
Alas, I am less of a coder and more of marketer.
Re:Creepy stuff (Score:3, Interesting)
I would check myself, but I hesitate to do so from work. I guess that in itself says something about being one of the few people to use encryption or proxying.
ECHELON (Score:0, Interesting)
Set up a "Honey pot"? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Why does the title... (Score:2, Interesting)
There potentially plenty of little brothers out there too, and best practices are to encrypt.
Remember to play them against each other too: if Big Brother ever asks why you encrypt everything, you can truthfully tell him you're protecting yourself from organized crime, nosey snoopers, terrorists, direct marketers, etc.
"Computer, I encrypt so that COMMIES(!) can't spy on us. Thanks to your teaching, I know they're everywhere! Oh, how I love the computer."
Re:Considerations (Score:5, Interesting)
The issue is that people think that because they pay taxes, they should be able to get any document they want without paying anything extra. They'll call asking for "All documents related to X, Y, and Z.". Ignoring for the moment that FOI requests have to be in writing, that could amount to stacks of boxes worth of documents. They look at a potential bill of hundreds or thousands of dollars, and wonder how it could possibly cost so much.
There are a few things that cost money here:
1) Copying fees
Somebody's got to copy all those documents. Whether we have them onsite and one of our folks has to do it or we have to pay for outside counsel to do it (We pay attorneys' rates to our counsel, and you will reimburse us for that
2) Transport fees
If the documents you want are offsite, you're going to have to pay for a truck to fetch them. If we've got a truck coming from offsite storage anyhow, your documents can generally ride for no extra charge.
3) Time to find what you want
We don't have every document magically indexed so a minimum wage intern can find anything you can possibly want. Your request will have to go to our human SQL engines. These people are amazing, know a ton, and cost money. They've been working for us for a long time, and are very busy. If they can fit your request into their normal workflow, great, but if not, you're going to have to pay extra for their time.
We don't price-gouge folks on these things. It's important for people to realise that FOI requests cost agencies money, and we will pass on whatever charges we incur to the requester. Many people decide that they really don't want as many documents as they thought--or any at all--once they realise it'll cost them money.
I'm not trying to discourage people from making FOI requests. I think it's important for people to know what their government is doing on their behalf. What I'm trying to say is that if you ask for all documents related to X, Y, and Z, and that comes to a few million pages, be prepared to get precisely what you asked for--and to pay for it.
Also, as much as we'd like for our human SQL engines to be infallible and be able to recall every document related to anything you could possibly want, it is possible we'll miss something. We don't intentionally withhold stuff you've requested. In fact, we will give you -precisely- what you've requested, so it's a very good idea to phrase your request carefully, so as to avoid a huge bill and a mountain of paper you don't want. We generally warn you if you request a mountain of data and sound like you're expecting 20 pages, but if you insist you want everything, you will get it. I don't know whether the FBI or the DOJ withholds data, but I'm pretty sure it's against policy and anybody caught doing so will be suitably reamed.
It's easy to get pissed off at a huge faceless agency and assume they're holding out on you because they're The Man and you're onto them. It may just be that the person who was tasked with your FOI request really truly couldn't find anything. Government agencies are staffed by humans, too.
statistically speaking... (Score:3, Interesting)
Chances of a child dying in a third world country before you finish reading this post: 100%
Chances of corporations being allowed to pump shit into the atmosphere until everyone with beach front property ends up having a really bad century: 100%
Chance of a really imporant species becoming extinct for no other reason than to increase shareholder value before the end of today: 100%
Chance that Monsanto is not telling us the 'whole truth' when it comes to genetically modified food (they've done it before guys): very freakin high
etc etc
Not trying to knock peoples beliefs here, but seriously...for sheer return on investment, isn't there a bunch more useful things to get angry about?
There are some real threats to this world, generally, your government is too stupid/apathetic/disorganized to be one of them.
Re:49% (Score:1, Interesting)
Choice 1: Don't vote
Choice 2: Vote for a pile of stinking shit
Choice 3: Vote for a smaller, febrezed piece of shit that happens to agree with you - sometimes
Choice 4: Vote for some other guy with no chance of getting elected, causing your vote to be wasted in the only election in years that has mattered, which, compounded with the wasted votes of others, contributes to the overall pseudo-fascist corporate rule of tomorrow, all because you couldn't agree on a candidate, or, god forbid, write your god damn congressmen about instating an ammendment which enacts the Green Party's instant runoff voting method, so that you don't have to choose between Choice 3 and 4 now, as four years later you'll be able to vote for who you god damn well want!
Choice 5: Choice 4, with the added part of complaining on
Death To FOIA? (Score:3, Interesting)
Can anyone substantiate this argument? If so, how can an act that is used at least two million times a year [gao.gov] be killed without any outcry from the public?
Where I live (Score:2, Interesting)
You can't suppoena records that don't exist (Score:2, Interesting)
The Bush junta has recently replaced the head of NARA [hnn.us] (National Archives and Records Administration). The new director will be in office at a time when the records from Bush's father are scheduled to be subject to the Presidential Records Act (PRA) and could be opened. Other areas which can be affected are, obviously, the 2000 election scandal, the events (misdeeds) permitting the Sept 11 2001 attack, the controversy about the decision to attack Iraq and, last but not least, irregularities regarding the 2004 election.
The new director will also oversee the Electronic Records Management e-government and the Electronic Records Archives projects. Note that electronic records, unlike paper, go away by default unless timely, correct, and proactive action is planned and taken.
Now there are many different views on those controversial topics, but getting the relevant government records into the light of day is about the only democratic way to resolve those questions.
Re:Creepy stuff (Score:2, Interesting)
Not something I'd want to put any money on.
Another vote for privacy across the world (Score:1, Interesting)
Internet snooping by paranoid governments is a terrible thing and should only be applied to very suspected big criminals with proper authority of a court order etc. Because it is such an invisible thing, the best solution would be to encourage everyone to use anon surfing techniques like proxies and SSL. Unfortunately most people just don't care about privacy and understand the importance of it.
In fact, for Europeans, BRUSSELS should be doing something about it. But of course they are more interested in the correct length of a banana and banning Brazil nuts and cutting deals Bill Gates about ID cards and Windows software. Well well.
Don't look to the EU to save your human rights....Oh unless you ARE a terrorist of course and then you will get big rewards by the European Court of Human Rights if you are handcuffed too roughly by the police.
Re:Considerations (Score:3, Interesting)
We hire outside counsel as needed because it's cheaper than keeping our own host of specialised counsel on staff. I'm not aware of any instance where attorney/client privilege has been used to withhold files. We simply pass along whatever it costs us to get the documents you requested.
I appreciate the paranoia. In order to be paranoid you have to care what's going on, which is a far sight better than the general apathy that seems to permeate society these days.