Audit Finds FBI Abused Patriot Act 341
happyslayer writes to mention that according to Yahoo! News a recent audit shows that the FBI has improperly and in some cases illegally utilized the Patriot Act to obtain information. "The audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine found that FBI agents sometimes demanded personal data on individuals without proper authorization. The 126-page audit also found the FBI improperly obtained telephone records in non-emergency circumstances. The audit blames agent error and shoddy record-keeping for the bulk of the problems and did not find any indication of criminal misconduct. Still, 'we believe the improper or illegal uses we found involve serious misuses of national security letter authorities,' the audit concludes."
Re:What are the chances... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:What are the chances... (Score:5, Informative)
The government itself says that abuses happened (Score:3, Informative)
The spokesperson of the Justice department has conceded that abuses have occurred. He categorized them as being ``small in number'' and asserted that ``it appears'' that no harm was done to either individual persons or corporations.
So your analogy isn't very apt; it's more like a police bureau not only not tracking the issuing of bureau firearms to officers but saying that it didn't keep track and in a large number of situations they have been fired in situations that did not warrant that extent of force but that situations where intent was malicious were small in number and that it doesn't look like any innocent bystanders were hit.
Read the government's own report on the matter [justice.gov]. The incidents categorized as ``improper'' fit the analogy you brought up. These are incidents where the appropriate paper work simply wasn't done or was done incorrectly. But there are also incidents categorized as ``illegal.'' These are incidents where the FBI retrieved email, phone records, or financial information in an illegal fashion. The report lists four incidents of this type. This says to me that any FBI agent presently has the ability to get almost any information he or she desires. I'd feel a lot more comfortable if the report had detailed disciplinary actions taken against the agents responsible for these abuses.
But of more concern to me are the nineteen incidents where the recipient of the letter responded with information outside the scope of the letter that was (in most cases) illegal for the recipients to furnish without a court order. It isn't just the FBI at fault here, it's also the telecoms, ISPs and credit bureaus who are abusing their positions of power.
Re:What are the chances... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:no surprise there (Score:3, Informative)
This is exactly how our system is supposed to work. This is good news.
Re:What are the chances... (Score:5, Informative)
Or even better, look back to the 1920's, and the founding of the FBI. A good start is to google for "Palmer raids", for an explanation of how and why the FBI came into existence.
The FBI started as a political agency, and it has remained one throughout its history. The idea that it's a law-enforcement investigative agency comes mostly from Hollywood.
The fun thing is that none of this is hidden. People who read actual history rather than watch TV and movies tend to be quite aware of this history. But there's no need to hide it from the general population, since most Americans don't read any history at all.
Re:What are the chances... (Score:3, Informative)