by Nick Gillespie. So provisions in The Patriot Act have expired, including some (such as section 215) that won't be renewed when Congress gets around to passing the reform legislation known as The USA Freedom Act. This is good news, even if many of the Patriot Act's controversial elements will become authorized under the replacement bill. ... MORE
by Rob Lever. Before the National Security Agency began complaining about being shut out of encrypted devices, it helped develop software for secure communications that could be adapted by the private sector. That technology is hitting the public this month in the form of a smartphone application called Scrambl3 from a California startup which ... MORE
The NSA's technotyranny. We now have a fourth branch of government. As I document in my new book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, this fourth branch came into being without any electoral mandate or constitutional referendum, and yet it possesses superpowers, above and beyond those of any other government ... MORE
Obama to Senate: more snooping, please. President Barack Obama called on the Senate Tuesday to extend key Patriot Act provisions before they expire five days from now, including the government's ability to search Americans' phone records. "This needs to get done," he told reporters in the Oval Office. "It's necessary to keep the ... MORE
by Scott Shackford. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was right. The Senate did not have enough votes to pass the USA Freedom Act, the compromise law that would have restrained, but not eliminated, mass data collection by the National Security Agency (NSA). The vote was 57-42 late this evening (technically early this morning), just ... MORE
Read by Rand Paul during his Patriot Act filibuster. One of the more controversial provisions of the Patriot Act was to broaden the “sneak-and-peek” power for federal law enforcement officials. The provision allows investigators to conduct searches without informing the target of the search. We were assured at the time that this ... MORE
Court gives NSA thumbs down. A U.S. appeals court's ruling that the National Security Agency's metadata collection was illegal turned the spy state upside down in almost 100 pages of common sense and solid understanding of the rights Americans have under the law. It shows, once again, that both common sense and a respect for the rights ... MORE
by Matt Welch. I don't know whether Rand Paul's ongoing Senate talkfest will succeed in running out the clock on the Patriot Act,
or (as he is seeking) opening up a debate and amendment process, but I
do know that—just like his 2013 exercise—these have been some of the
most invigorating hours on C-SPAN in recent memory. Warrants need ... MORE
Who watches the watchers? “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” -Ben Franklin, 1759. Those of us who defended Edward Snowden in his efforts to expose our government’s illegal data collection activities were vindicated last week, as was Mr. Snowden. In essence, ... MORE
When do you need a warrant? A decision last week about NSA spying by a panel of judges on the United States Court of Appeals in New York City sent shock waves through the government. The court ruled that a section of the Patriot Act that is due to expire at the end of this month and on which the government has relied as a basis for its bulk ... MORE
If only the Fourth Amendment had teeth. Last week a federal appeals court said
police do not need a warrant to look at cellphone records that reveal
everywhere you've been. Two days later, another appeals court said
the National Security Agency (NSA) is breaking the law by
indiscriminately collecting telephone records that show ... MORE
by James Ball. And it's not Snowden. On 6 June 2013, the Guardian published a secret US court order against the phone company Verizon, ordering it on an “ongoing, daily basis” to hand over the call records of its millions of US customers to the NSA – just one of numerous orders enabling the government’s highly secret domestic mass surveillance ... MORE
by Grant Gross. If only we had a Fourth Amendment, this wouldn't be necessary. A new bill in Congress would require law enforcement agencies to get
court-ordered warrants before targeting U.S. residents in searches of
electronic communications collected by the National Security Agency. The End Warrantless Surveillance of Americans
Act, introduced ... MORE