FBI Responds To ACLU GPS Tracking Complaint 146
Nerdolicious writes "Ars Technica reports that the ACLU has received a response from the FBI after a formal legal complaint was filed to release documents related to warrantless GPS tracking data. But, as you can see from the two memos the ACLU posted to its website, they have unsurprisingly been redacted to uselessness, consisting almost entirely of large black blocks covering full pages."
This is wrong. (Score:5, Informative)
What the FBI does is wrong.
And they know it, that is why they hide it.
Inform your congressman.
Re:But the courts... (Score:5, Informative)
I think it's more like a game. A law is created, then the FBI "interprets" how that law applies to them and they create policy to comply. Then it is taken to the courts and the judges publish a decision about how the law should be interpreted. Then the FBI "interprets" the implication of that decision and sets policy again.
So, we need organizations like the ACLU to keep applying pressure to force the agencies to comply with the intention of the law. Donate today!
Re:This is wrong. (Score:2, Informative)
What the FBI does is wrong.
And they know it, that is why they hide it.
You have no idea just how right you are. I could tell you some insider
stories but I will spare you because you'd have nightmares.
The FBI exists to preserve power for itself and the Feds, and that is the
ONLY thing the FBI is actually concerned with.
The FBI will LIE under oath in order to secure a conviction. I know this because
they did it to me.
If you believe the FBI gives a fuck about the average citizen you are as naive as a young
child.
Re:Government believers (Score:5, Informative)
Experience teaches us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purpose is beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.
Louis Dembitz Brandeis (1856-1941)
Olmstead et al. vs. United States,
277 U.S. 438, 478, 1928
Re:More like (Score:5, Informative)
Donate millions of dollars to your congressman. Then they'll really be working for you.
They're not honest crooks. They don't stay bought.
Remember the opening of the Stasi archives a few years ago? Well, it looks like the US agencies are worse, with even more files, less openness and accountability. It's time to quit joking about police states when you live in one.
Re:This is wrong. (Score:5, Informative)
Congress can actually conduct a public hearing on the matter in which the results minus names of targets could become public information through means other then the FBI.
They can also do a private hearing if the subject is considered a matter of national security then release more of the information through leaks or bringing it up on the floor of congress.
So while you are right in that you go to court over an agency violating existing laws, you can still go to congress to get the answers you are looking for (provided congress is willing to take the matter up).