U.S. Terrorism Agency to Tap a Vast Database of Citizens by Julia Angwin by Dec 12, 2012 The Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324478304578171623040640006.html
[Excerpted] Top
U.S. intelligence officials gathered in the White House Situation Room in March
to debate a controversial proposal. Counterterrorism officials wanted to create
a government dragnet, sweeping up millions of records about U.S. citizens—even
people suspected of no crime.
A week later, the attorney general signed the changes into effect.
The rules now allow the little-known National
Counterterrorism Center to examine the government files of U.S. citizens for
possible criminal behavior, even if there is no reason to suspect them.
The agency has new authority to keep data about
innocent U.S. citizens for up to five years, and to analyze it for suspicious
patterns of behavior. Previously, both were prohibited.
The changes also allow databases of U.S. civilian
information to be given to foreign governments for analysis of their own..... [end excerpt]
Majia here: This article explains that two legal
precepts bar this type of surveillance and storage of civilian information:
The
US Fourth Amendment of the Constitution requiring “probable cause” for searches
The Federal Privacy Act of 1974, which prohibits inter-agency sharing of
data for unrelated searches.
But, there is an escape clause that is being
employed. The Federal Privacy Act allows agency to be exempted from the
prohibition of information sharing across agencies for unrelated searches if
they place a notice in the Federal Register, which is the federal daily
publication of proposed rules. Holy Cow! What an escape clause.
Now the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC)
doing precisely that. Big Brother has been born and his name is NCTC standing
(a.k.a., New Coercive, Totalizing Compliance).
His name is Big Bro
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