Loose FBI Rules Raise Privacy Fears

President to sign bill allowing indefinite detention of Americans

(NEWSER) - President Obama is taking a lot of heat today for dropping his threat to veto a controversial defense bill that could allow the military to capture and indefinitely detain American citizens on US soil. In a fiery editorial, the New York Times today called it "a complete political cave-in, one that reinforces the impression of a fumbling presidency," saying it had too many objectionable parts to name. Other criticism has included: More»

Training materials are playing into terrorists' hands, say former agents

(NEWSER) - A shocking Wired exposé reveals that FBI counterterrorism agents are taught that "mainstream" American Muslims are likely to sympathize with terrorists, and that more "devout" Muslims are more likely to be "violent." The magazine acquired FBI training materials, some from as recently as March, which also say that the Prophet Mohammed is a "cult leader," that Muslims give to charity as a means of "funding ... combat," and that pious Muslims have remained aggressive from 610 AD onward, while Jews and Christians gradually became "non-violent." More»

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

Agency now has more freedom to search trash

(NEWSER) - A new FBI manual makes it easier for agents to check databases, send out surveillance teams, and rifle through people's trash—often as part of a kind of investigation that gives agents the OK to look into people without having solid evidence that they are involved in terrorist or criminal activity. Among the changes to the Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide: FBI agents will be allowed to probe law enforcement and commercial databases without opening a formal inquiry first, as they must do now. They’ll be able to run lie-detector tests and search trash without initiating a “preliminary investigation”—a move that requires suspicion grounded in facts—if they're evaluating a target as a possible informant. More»

Move to extend surveillance powers passes 275-144

(NEWSER) - The House of Representatives has voted 275-144 to extend three key provisions of the Patriot Act until the end of the year. The measures—which would keep in place surveillance powers including counterterrorism officials' ability to conduct roving wiretap surveillance of targets—were slammed as "intrusive" and "unconstitutional" by opposing lawmakers, CNN reports. More»