NSA Violated Domestic Wiretap Limits

Public fine with surveillance cameras, not fine with email snooping

(NEWSER) - Americans are willing to give up some privacy and freedoms for security—but not others. A new AP poll has charted just which freedoms Americans are partial to. For example:

• 71% are OK with surveillance cameras in public places
• 58% are fine with full-body scans and pat-downs at the airport
• 47% favor a national ID card
• 35% approve of ethnic or racial profiling at the airport
• 30% support monitoring emails without a warrant
• 25% back eavesdropping on domestic phone calls without a warrant

Cisco, other Western companies are poised to help

(NEWSER) - China is preparing a surveillance network with an area bigger than New York City—and Cisco is among the Western companies set to help. China says the system of up to 500,000 cameras is aimed at preventing crime, but human rights advocates fear it could be used to stamp out political dissent, the Wall Street Journal reports. Under construction for the next few years in the city of Chongqing, the project is due to stretch across 400 square miles. More»

Wiretap ruling leaves Holder facing dilemma

(NEWSER) - Eric Holder's Justice Department would probably like to accept last month's ruling that warrantless wiretapping under the Bush administration was illegal. There's a big catch, however, reports Newsweek : doing so would mean the department may have to pay damages to the Islamic charity that was wiretapped, which has been declared a terrorist organization. More»

Administration tells Congress it wants to renew surveillance laws

(AP) - The Obama administration supports extending three controversial provisions of the Patriot Act that are due to expire at the end of the year, AP reports. The Justice Department tells Congress in a letter they will back preserving the post-9/11 law's authority to access business records, monitor so-called "lone wolf" terrorists, who have no known ties to terrorist groups, and conduct roving wiretaps. But they also expressed a willingness to add privacy protections if they don't weaken the law's effectiveness. More»

(NEWSER) - The embattled Bush administration lawyer who drafted memos justifying waterboarding and warrantless wiretaps is fighting back as his role comes under greater scrutiny, the Washington Post reports. John Yoo, now a University of California law professor, has been giving speeches around the country defending the tactics and his view that their use came under the president's authority. More»