Post by Rickster on Nov 30, 2015 21:57:51 GMT -6
SOURCE:
This is why I always in a smartass tone say the only difference between Democrats and republicans is the spelling. The original surveillance program was started under George Bush with the patriot act. Incredibly controversial for the loss of citizen privacy violating civil liberties and constitutional rights of americans. Prior to and during the next presidential election democrats expounded on the loss of rights of citizens everywhere. Obama being a constitutional lawyer and professor ran his mouth as well. Then in total secrecy without a single word from the media the democrat mouthpiece of America Nancy Pelosi carries in the law to have it resigned by our illustrious current dictator and POTUS.
Now don't you just love after all these years and a mild stink from the public more like outed by Snowden. We find out the NSA has had their own computers tied in directly to every telecommunications company switch systems in the US giving them instant access to every call. And since they were only capturing (Minimal amount) metadata of the calls they build a water cooled server farm in Colorado to store it all, using millions of gallons of water annually. How nice and for our protection no less. Listening to all of the calls in the US has stopped nothing and only produces forensic evidence for later. It really made a difference in the boston bombing didn't it?
So onto today the new law: H.R.2048 - USA FREEDOM Act of 2015
Now instead of having their computers tied directly into the switch office of telecommunications companies, this new law allows them to do it remotely. Just the spelling is different.
I think Judge Napolitano explains it best:
"Over two years after Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the NSA, the secretive agency is finally making some changes. They’re putting an end to the mass metadata surveillance of telephone communications, due to the implementation of the USA Freedom Act. The act was signed into law earlier this year, and beginning at midnight on November 29th, the NSA will have to stop the controversial program.
However, the agency’s surveillance dragnet hasn’t been neutered. The only thing that has changed is the way they collect this data. They can no longer cite article 215 of the Patriot Act, which allowed them to gather phone data on everyone without any restrictions. Now when the NSA receives a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, they can only collect data that is relevant to specific terms outlined in the warrant, and they can only investigate this information for 6 months. Alex Abdo of the ACLU is calling it a “symbolic victory, given it was the first major concession the intelligence agency had to make.”
Other critics of the NSA however, view the USA Freedom Act as an expansion of the NSA’s powers, rather than a hindrance. It’s only preventing the NSA from collecting a minuscule amount of data, and other executive orders are in place that allow bulk telephone data collection to continue, not to mention their broad collection of internet data, which hasn’t been addressed. It appears that the NSA’s latest concession is little more than a mild annoyance for them."
However, the agency’s surveillance dragnet hasn’t been neutered. The only thing that has changed is the way they collect this data. They can no longer cite article 215 of the Patriot Act, which allowed them to gather phone data on everyone without any restrictions. Now when the NSA receives a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, they can only collect data that is relevant to specific terms outlined in the warrant, and they can only investigate this information for 6 months. Alex Abdo of the ACLU is calling it a “symbolic victory, given it was the first major concession the intelligence agency had to make.”
Other critics of the NSA however, view the USA Freedom Act as an expansion of the NSA’s powers, rather than a hindrance. It’s only preventing the NSA from collecting a minuscule amount of data, and other executive orders are in place that allow bulk telephone data collection to continue, not to mention their broad collection of internet data, which hasn’t been addressed. It appears that the NSA’s latest concession is little more than a mild annoyance for them."
Now don't you just love after all these years and a mild stink from the public more like outed by Snowden. We find out the NSA has had their own computers tied in directly to every telecommunications company switch systems in the US giving them instant access to every call. And since they were only capturing (Minimal amount) metadata of the calls they build a water cooled server farm in Colorado to store it all, using millions of gallons of water annually. How nice and for our protection no less. Listening to all of the calls in the US has stopped nothing and only produces forensic evidence for later. It really made a difference in the boston bombing didn't it?
So onto today the new law: H.R.2048 - USA FREEDOM Act of 2015
Now instead of having their computers tied directly into the switch office of telecommunications companies, this new law allows them to do it remotely. Just the spelling is different.
I think Judge Napolitano explains it best: