Big Brother is Watching You

[Vrede too]

The USA Liberty Act won’t stop the NSA from reading your emails, text messages or listening to your phone calls.

Members of Congress released a draft bill to continue government surveillance under Section 702. We were hoping it would contain strong reforms to keep our government from spying on us.

But the bill, the USA Liberty Act, doesn’t go far enough to protect us, and even worse, it contains a massively problematic loophole.

Sign the petition: Tell your House Rep we need stronger reforms in the USA Liberty Act.

Here’s the what’s wrong with the bill:

It doesn’t stop backdoor searches, which is when the government searches through the hundreds of millions of communications it collects yearly for information on Americans and people on US soil -- all without a warrant. Instead, it okays collecting info for “a foreign intelligence purpose,” which is a loophole big enough to drive a truck through.

It doesn’t stop the Justice Department from using Section 702 information in investigations and prosecutions that have nothing to do with national security, because the bill doesn’t place any meaningful limits on when and how data collected under Section 702 can be shared with other agencies or used in court.

It doesn’t prevent “parallel construction.” Under this bill, law enforcement can still use information gathered under Section 702 (for national security purposes) to prosecute people for crimes that have nothing to do with national security, like non-violent drug charges, and then hide where the info came from.

It gives the NSA too many free passes. The bill adds transparency measures but doesn’t enforce them, giving the NSA leeway to ignore transparency reports if they don’t feel like complying. And there’s no public oversight into how President Trump and Attorney General Sessions interpret the 4th Amendment.

Without stronger reforms to protect people living in the US from warrantless government surveillance, the USA Liberty Act doesn’t really protect our freedom.

Tell your House Rep we need more to protect Americans in the USA Liberty Act.

Petition to the House of Representatives:
The surveillance programs under Section 702 allow spying on everyday Americans, without a warrant or probable cause. The House bill, USA Liberty Act, does not go far enough to fix that. Americans deserve privacy from intrusive government surveillance of their online communications. The USA Liberty Act needs stronger reforms to protect our privacy.

[Vrede too]

Tell Congress:
Don’t give Trump unconstitutional spying powers
Congress Is Debating A Bill To Extend The Power To Spy On Americans – Without A Warrant – To Trump, The NSA, And The FBI. It Must Be Fundamentally Fixed Or Stopped Dead.

[Vrede too]

The petition to Congress reads:

"Protect our privacy from warrantless spying. Support Senate Bill 1997, the USA Rights Act, and close the backdoor search loophole in Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act."

[Vrede too]

Thank you for contacting me about Surveillance of Foreigners outside the United States under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and related legislation. It’s an honor to represent the people of North Carolina’s 11th district, and I appreciate the opportunity to hear your thoughts on this issue.

Representative Bob Goodlatte (VA-6) introduced the USA Liberty Act on October 6, 2017. This bill has been referred to the House Committees on Judiciary, Oversight and Government Reform, Intelligence, and Homeland Security. The USA Liberty Act would amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978 to clarify the procedures for authorizing certain acquisitions of foreign intelligence and aims to prevent the reinstatement of barriers to sharing foreign intelligence which existed before September 11, 2001. It would prohibit the collection of so-called “about” communications, for only six years; and, it requires the Director of the National Security Agency and the Attorney General to jointly sign an affidavit certifying that communications collections under section 702 that are determined not to contain foreign intelligence can be purged. The bill also makes some improvements to the operations of the Privracy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board and extends some whistleblower protections. Finally, it reauthorizes for another six years Section 702 through September 30, 2023. I will review this legislation with your comments in mind.

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the USA RIGHTS Act on October 24, 2017. This legislation has been referred to the Committee on the Judiciary in the Senate for further review. Among other provisions, this bill would amend FISA to clarify and prohibit “querying of collections of communications to conduct warrantless queries for the communications of United States persons and persons in the United States”; prohibit reverse targeting under FISA; and clarify the treatment of information collected under FISA; and extend new authority to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to receive and investigate all whistleblower complaints made through approved government channels. If this legislation comes before me in the House, I will consider it with your comments in mind.

As you may know, Section 702 of FISA authorizes the Intelligence Community to target the communications of non-U.S. persons located outside the United States for foreign intelligence purposes. According to a partially declassified 2011 opinion from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), the National Security Agency (NSA) collected 250 million Internet communications per year under Section 702.

As an advocate of whistleblower protections and a staunch defender of our Fourth Amendment and Bill of Rights, I understand your concerns for privacy. I want to ensure that our privacy and Constitutional liberties are protected, including our Fourth Amendment freedom from warrantless search and seizure. I believe our intelligence and law enforcement communities can protect our liberties and our security alike. Again, thank you for contacting me. To stay up to date on my work in North Carolina and Washington, you can sign up for my email newsletter and follow me on Facebook.

Sincerely,
Mark Meadows
Member of Congress (R - NC11)

Not a commitment, but does understand the issue and could be worse.

[Vrede too]

Tell your senator: Vote NO on the “torture memos” author

[Vrede too]

Documents show US monitoring of Black Lives Matter



NC Was Involved in Torture (video)

The North Carolina Commission of Inquiry on Torture (website)


NCAC (National Coalition Against Censorship and many others) Condemns Government Policy Depriving Americans of Access to Art by Guantanamo Detainees

[Vrede too]

Tell Congress: Protect our Rights & Privacy

The NSA and FBI are using Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to spy on us without a warrant, for reasons that have nothing to do with national security. Section 702 expires at the end of the year, but Congress is looking at ways to expand and extend it.

Use this tool to send an email to your Representative (for extra credit, you can make a phone call first, a script is on the next page).

[Vrede too]

Thank you for taking the time to contact me about the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). I appreciate hearing from you.

As you know, Section 702 of FISA is set to expire on December 31, 2017. Section 702 authorizes the Attorney General and Director National Intelligence (DNI) to target non-United States persons believed to be located outside the United States to gather intelligence for national security purposes. Such information is used to protect United State citizens and national security interests from outside threats. The FBI has continuously noted that this tool is absolutely crucial to our national security.

I believe Section 702 strikes the balance of legitimate national security needs with privacy protections guaranteed under the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. Section 702 authorities have effective, multi-layered oversight by all three branches of government against potential abuse. Additionally, I recognize the value of this tool in protecting our nation’s security. As such, I cosponsored S. 1297, a bill which would permanently reauthorize Section 702. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I will continue to follow this issue closely and remain an advocate for the responsible balance of privacy protections and the safety of American citizens....

Sincerely,

Thom Tillis
U.S. Senator (R-NC)

Not that it's a surprise.

[JTA]

Been thinking about doing one of those genetic tests. I settled on 23andme.

One thing I'm concerned about though is the privacy aspect. Seems pretty wild to let some company have all this genetic info at their fingertips. I guess there's steps you can take to maintain anonymity. Or maybe I'm being overly cautious. I'm just some random douchebag living in South Carolina, after all. Not a big-shot politician or public figure.

Hmm.

[bannination]

Been thinking about doing one of those genetic tests. I settled on 23andme.

One thing I'm concerned about though is the privacy aspect. Seems pretty wild to let some company have all this genetic info at their fingertips. I guess there's steps you can take to maintain anonymity. Or maybe I'm being overly cautious. I'm just some random douchebag living in South Carolina, after all. Not a big-shot politician or public figure.

Hmm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3EEmVfbKNs

Watching that made me feel better about the privacy issues, but not enough to push me over the edge.

[JTA]

I'm worried someone in the future may get a hold of my DNA and clone me.

[Vrede too]

I'm worried someone in the future may get a hold of my DNA and clone me.

It's a Men's Mangroomer: Electric Back Hair Shaver plot.

[bannination]

I'm worried someone in the future may get a hold of my DNA and clone me.

Believe me, that's a concern that all of us share.

[JTA]

[Vrede too]

[Vrede too]

“You Have the Way Out”
Recordings Capture Brutal FBI Tactics to Recruit a Potential Informant

[Vrede too]

Tell Congress: Protect our Rights & Privacy

The NSA and FBI are using Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to spy on us without a warrant, for reasons that have nothing to do with national security. Section 702 expires at the end of the year, but Congress is looking at ways to expand and extend it.

Use this tool to send an email to your Representative (for extra credit, you can make a phone call first, a script is on the next page).

Thank you for taking the time to contact me about the USA RIGHTS Act and reauthorization of the federal government’s authority to surveil foreigners outside the United States under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and related legislation. It’s an honor to represent the people of North Carolina’s 11th district, and I appreciate the opportunity to hear your thoughts on this issue.

I am a cosponsor of the bipartisan USA RIGHTS Act and voted for its passage. Unfortunately, on January 11, 2018, the House of Representatives rejected this legislation by a vote of 183 – 233. I voted for the USA RIGHTS Act because I believe it would have protected our 4th Amendment rights by preventing law enforcement from accessing information on U.S. citizens acquired “incidentally” through foreign intelligence surveillance without first obtaining a warrant. I am particularly troubled by “abouts” collections (collecting communications not just to or from foreign targets, but communications that merely reference them).

The USA RIGHTS Act would have prohibited the Federal government from collecting any domestic communications that are not to or from the target of surveillance, without a warrant.

On January 11, 2018, I voted against S. 139, the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act, which passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 256 – 164. This bill reauthorizes Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for a period of six years. I opposed the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017 because it allows the government to collect and search Americans’ communications without a warrant. Further, S. 139 authorizes even broader information collection and allows the use of domestic information in court. While I understand the need to adequately equip our national security, intelligence, and law enforcement personnel, we must do so without eroding Constitutional protections through warrantless searches and seizures....

Sincerely,
Mark Meadows
Member of Congress (R-NC11)

[Vrede too]

Private Corporation May be Sued for Role in Abu Ghraib Torture, Judge Rules
Horrific Treatment of Victims Constitutes Torture and War Crimes

February 21, 2018, Alexandria, VA – Today, a Virginia federal judge ruled that the treatment of three Iraqi individuals formerly detained at the infamous “hard site” at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq constitutes torture, war crimes, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, based on a thorough review of U.S. domestic and international law. The ruling also held that the men have sufficiently alleged that employees of private military contractor CACI Premier Technology conspired to commit and aided and abetted these crimes....

[rstrong]

As of March 12th, it's been five years since James Clapper lied to Congress about collecting data on American citizens. The clock has run out on any perjury charges. He got away with it.

[Vrede too]

Congress is trying to sneak through a new bill that would hand police in the U.S. and around the world extreme spying powers. (petition)