Does anyone not mind the government gathering their phone information?

[AmyNation]

I don't agree with it. Im angry over it, but ... It's been going on for 7 years and sadly Im used to it now.

 

[ArcticDaishi]

I too have nothing to hide, but I don't want the government violating my privacy.

 

[bendog]

Well, just to be real clear, there's likely no right to privacy as to whom you called from your cell phone because you just gave that data to a third party, verizon or whomever, and the govt has not sought the content of your call.

Still, the govt just accessed the name and number of whom you called, and where you called from. I'm not real happy, but I also don't want some sob blowing off the legs of me or mine. So, personally, I'm more concerned with limiting how the govt uses information. If I just put a hundred bucks on Miami, I think they have to find that out another way.

 

[boedicca]

It's more than just phone calls, emails and web searches...the NSA is also gathering up CREDIT CARD CHARGES...

The National Security Agency's monitoring of Americans includes customer records from the three major phone networks as well as emails and Web searches, and the agency also has cataloged credit-card transactions, said people familiar with the agency's activities.

White House Defends Phone-Record Tracking as 'Critical Tool' - WSJ.com

 

[Wry Catcher]

I've got nothing to hide, but I sure as heck don't want the government gathering information on me. Who I talk to and associate with is my business.

But is there anyone who thinks the government should be monitoring your phone records?

What do you think monitoring is? Do you think the Feds have enough staff to listen to every phone call made every 24 hours, 7 days a week?

The sad fact is there are those in the United States, some natural born residents, who would engage in cowardly terrorist attacks. How do you propose the Feds should behave given the attack on 9-11; in Boston this year, at the Atlanta Olympics, Oklahoma City?

I know I don't have the answer and I'm sure you don't.

I'm familiar with all the quotes about liberty and security, most of which spoken before weapons of mass destruction were developed and in the hands of this new breed of criminal, the terrorist.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Well, just to be real clear, there's likely no right to privacy as to whom you called from your cell phone because you just gave that data to a third party, verizon or whomever, and the govt has not sought the content of your call.

Still, the govt just accessed the name and number of whom you called, and where you called from. I'm not real happy, but I also don't want some sob blowing off the legs of me or mine. So, personally, I'm more concerned with limiting how the govt uses information. If I just put a hundred bucks on Miami, I think they have to find that out another way.

Voluntarily contracting to let a company handle your data doesn't mean there is no right to privacy.

 

[Osomir]

I don't really mind no. It has been going on for years, quite frankly i'm surprised anyone is really shocked over the gathering of phone records. This isn't about wire tapping or listening in on our calls, this is about gathering call data and seeing who persons of interest have been talking to. It has congressional oversight and review and so I'm not particularly worried about it for now.

 

[Politico]

If Obama wants to know I called my ass doctor today he's more than welcome.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

I don't really mind no. It has been going on for years, quite frankly i'm surprised anyone is really shocked over the gathering of phone records. This isn't about wire tapping or listening in on our calls, this is about gather call data and seeing who persons of interest have been talking to. It has congressional oversight and review and so I'm not particularly worried about it for now.

Except it's not about persons of interest at all. It indiscriminately affects all Verizon customers.

 

[Osomir]

Except it's not about persons of interest at all. It indiscriminately affects all Verizon customers.

I don't really see how, the government doesn't have the manpower to focus on non-persons of interest and they still have the congressional review committees to pitch justifications to for their targets.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Except it's not about persons of interest at all. It indiscriminately affects all Verizon customers.

I don't really see how, the government doesn't have the manpower to focus on non-persons of interest and they still have the congressional review committees to pitch justifications to for their targets.

I'm not saying they're looking into every single piece of data they're collecting, merely that they are collecting it indiscriminately. The data is there to be perused whether you're a person of interest or not.

 

[Osomir]

I'm not saying they're looking into every single piece of data they're collecting, merely that they are collecting it indiscriminately. The data is there to be perused whether you're a person of interest or not.

So your problem is that phone records are kept at all even if they aren't accessed? I'm not really bothered by that.

 

[flacaltenn]

No problem...if there is any concern it's this administrations ability to properly manage it and make it productive.

Seriously? You one of the 5 votes in the poll so far that doesn't care?

You know -- you've got "bomb-making materials" at your "compound" --- dontcha?

The lady who applied to the IRS for a certificate and got visits from the FBI, the BATF and the OSHA --- what did SHE do to deserve the attention? She had a political point of view.

You are SUICIDALLY NAIVE, if you think you're immune from abuse stemming from this power of snooping.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

I'm not saying they're looking into every single piece of data they're collecting, merely that they are collecting it indiscriminately. The data is there to be perused whether you're a person of interest or not.

So your problem is that phone records are kept at all even if they aren't accessed? I'm not really bothered by that.

Yes, because they have no right to collect that data in the first place.

 

[flacaltenn]

If Obama wants to know I called my ass doctor today he's more than welcome.

How about where you bank? Who your clients or donors are? Where you have been? Whether you're likely having an affair? Your religion, your hobbies, the location of your family and children?

You might not know the kid who mows your lawn is a gangmember. But this NSA creation can finger an entire structure of an "urban gang" quite well. And if you call him -- you might get a visit someday...

Really not scared of being reamed by association or someone's lust for political power?
Don't understand that at all.. Especially given the EXTENT of this effort, the costs, and complete fruitcakes (like Feinstein) who are "watching out for your interests" as oversight.

Oh yeah --- your name is Politico ---- it figures..

 

[Osomir]

Yes, because they have no right to collect that data in the first place.

I suppose this is where we'll simply have to agree to disagree because i don't have a problem with the government having that data in reserve. My privacy isn't really being violated unless that data is accessed, and if they do access my data they have to justify it to the oversight committee.

 

[Little-Acorn]

1.) Is the government authorized by the Constitution to fight terrorists?
2.) Can the government do a better job of fighting terrorists if it monitors everyone's (foreign and domestic) phone records?
3.) Is the government authorized to monitor everyone's (foreign and domestic) phone records?
4.) Is there a downside to the government monitoring everyone's (foreign and domestic) phone records?
5.) Do the advantages of the govt monitor everyone's (foreign and domestic) phone records, outweigh the downside of their monitoring the records?

My answers:

1.) Yes
2.) Yes
3.) They apparently got a warrant to do so, from the FISA court. But I thought the FISA court had jurisdiction over only foreign calls - that is, calls between a person in the U.S. and a person outside the U.S. Is that true?
4.) Yes
5.) Such govt monitoring is horribly open to abuse. We have a few (so far unrelated) examples of such abuse, in the IRS scandals. What checks/balances are in place to prevent that abuse in monitoring everyone's (foreign and domestic) phone records?


Yup, some of my answers aren't answers, they're more questions. Because I don't have enough info to provide answers.

Anyone else?

 

[Osomir]

How about where you bank? Who your clients or donors are? Where you have been? Whether you're likely having an affair? Your religion, your hobbies, the location of your family and children?

You might not know the kid who mows your lawn is a gangmember. But this NSA creation can finger an entire structure of an "urban gang" quite well. And if you call him -- you might get a visit someday...

Really not scared of being reamed by association or someone's lust for political power?
Don't understand that at all.. Especially given the EXTENT of this effort, the costs, and complete fruitcakes (like Feinstein) who are "watching out for your interests" as oversight.

Oh yeah --- your name is Politico ---- it figures..

If I have direct phone contact with a gang member planning a domestic terrorist attack then I am a legitimate person for the police / FBI to be talking to whether i know anything or not.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Yes, because they have no right to collect that data in the first place.

I suppose this is where we'll simply have to agree to disagree because i don't have a problem with the government having that data in reserve. My privacy isn't really being violated unless that data is accessed, and if they do access my data they have to justify it to the oversight committee.

I doubt they have to justify accessing data they've already collected to anybody, and rather merely had to make some lame justification to the committee to collect it in the first place, which they obviously did. Though I would point out that the federal government having to justify its actions to itself is hardly a check on its power, and certainly the Oversight Committee couldn't stop the NSA from doing this. Also, the fact that they've collected the data at all is clearly a violation of privacy, whether or not you personally have an issue with it.

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

I've got nothing to hide, but I sure as heck don't want the government gathering information on me. Who I talk to and associate with is my business.

But is there anyone who thinks the government should be monitoring your phone records?

I doubt anyone wants the government monitoring anything but the way the Republicans are creating scandals, saturating their own news sources with their version of the facts is actually creating the opposite effect for them. Nobody believes all the bullshit anymore.

Americans want facts not some version of the facts. Let the real story come out.

Good Lord.... that's fucking priceless. I guess the Repubs got 4 Americans killed in Libya, sicked the IRS on the Teaparty, went after a Fox reporter and Verizon customers?

How charming Sarah...