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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: domestic surveillance

domestic surveillance stories: 20 news summaries

 Loose FBI Rules 
 Raise Privacy Fears 

People are unfairly targeted, complain Muslim groups

Oct 29, 09 2:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - The FBI has been given far too much leeway to gather information on individuals and groups, charge Muslim and civil liberties organizations. Guidelines in a newly disclosed FBI manual allow the bureau to probe people or organizations without any factual evidence against them. Agents are given broad powers to proactively... More »

MORE ABOUT:
FBI • privacy • ACLU • domestic intelligence • Islamic extremists • domestic surveillance • civil liberties • Muslim-Americans

Obama Supports Extending Patriot Act Provisions

Administration tells Congress it wants to renew surveillance laws

Sep 16, 09 3:30 AM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Department of Justice • American Civil Liberties Union • domestic surveillance • surveillance • Patriot Act • wiretapping • Obama administration • President Obama

 Harman: 
 Release 
 Wiretap 
 Transcripts 



Calif. rep decries 'outrageous' 'abuse of power'

Apr 21, 09 1:05 PM CDT
(Newser) - California Rep. Jane Harman demanded today that Justice Department release “unredacted” transcripts of telephone conversations recorded without her knowledge, Politico reports. Harman demanded the wiretapped conversations be released in response to media reports that she was recorded agreeing to try to help two pro-Israel lobbyists accused of spying in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Israel • FBI • NSA • domestic surveillance • lobbyist • Jane Harman • domestic wiretapping • Eric Holder

NSA Violated Domestic Wiretap Limits

Agency overcollected Americans' emails, phonecalls: officials

Apr 16, 09 6:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - The NSA has been listening in on the domestic communications of American citizens well in excess of the limits placed on it by Congress last year, say intelligence officials. The Justice Department has confirmed to the New York Times that it detected "issues" in recent months but said it ... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Department of Justice • domestic surveillance • surveillance • National Security Agency • warrantless wiretapping • intercept

 Scotland Yard Secretly 
 Tracking Activists 

Civil liberties groups believe database on peaceful protesters may be illegal

Mar 7, 09 10:05 AM CST
(Newser) - British human rights advocates have been alarmed to discover that Scotland Yard keeps a secret database on political activists, the Guardian reports. Surveillance teams have tracked and gathered information on protesters, including thousands of people not suspected of any crime. Personal information on the activists—including their political affiliation—is... More »

MORE ABOUT:
police • protests • domestic surveillance • database • Britain • protesters

Score Card on Late White House Rules Changes

Bush administration pushes through midnight regulations

Nov 21, 08 8:28 AM CST
(Newser) - With the  Bush White House pushing through a raft of last-minute rules, the nonprofit journalism group ProPublica offers a running list, with the status of each:
  • Business-friendly safety regulations would loosen restrictions on exposure to toxic chemicals in the workplace.
  • Local police would get increased surveillance ability.
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Bush administration • endangered species • environment • abortion • gun control • public health • domestic surveillance • investment bankers • workplace safety • George W. Bush • regulations • midnight regulation

 Maryland
 Cops Spied
 on Peaceniks 

Activists branded terrorists & drug dealers

Jul 18, 08 4:25 AM CDT
(Newser) - Groups opposing the death penalty and the war in Iraq were infiltrated and spied on by undercover Maryland State Police officers, according to police logs obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union. Some activists were placed on terrorist and drug trafficking databases with no evidence they were involved in any... More »

MORE ABOUT:
American Civil Liberties Union • First Amendment • domestic surveillance • surveillance • terrorist • Maryland State Police • infiltration • Homeland Security and Intelligence Division • Baltimore Coalition Against the Death Penalty

 Senate passes FISA, 69-28 

Amendments fail

Jul 9, 08 2:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Senate approved a bill today overhauling the rules on secret US government eavesdropping and granting immunity to telephone companies that helped it listen in after 9/11. The so-called FISA bill passed by a large margin of 69-28. The upper house also voted against three amendments that would have watered... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Senate • domestic surveillance • FISA • warrantless wiretapping • George W. Bush • telecom immunity

ANALYSIS

Telecoms Gain Immunity From Wiretap Suits

'It’s not compromise;
it’s pure theater,'
says one plaintiff.

Jun 20, 08 8:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - Yesterday's Congressional deal on warrantless wiretapping will wipe out some 40 pending lawsuits against phone companies that took part in the Bush administration's eavesdropping scheme, ending 5 months of Democratic resistance to giving the telcos immunity for their actions. In what the New York Times calls to the biggest change... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Bush administration • domestic surveillance • warrantless wiretapping • eavesdropping • wiretapping bill

 Big Brother Sees Washington 

City develops extensive CCTV surveillance network

Jun 16, 08 1:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - If you plan to go outdoors in Washington, DC, comb your hair first, because someone's probably going to see you. The capital is ramping up a video surveillance system that puts most others in the entire world to shame, the LA Times reports. Unsurprisingly, the 5,625-camera network has captured... More »

MORE ABOUT:
terrorism • Washington DC • ACLU • camera • domestic surveillance • Department of Homeland Security • surveillance • CCTV footage

analysis

US Firms Complicit as China Fortifies Police State

'Bush would do what they are doing here in a heartbeat if he could,' expert says

Jun 2, 08 5:28 PM CDT
(Newser) - Free Tibet protests 3 months ago allowed China to road-test a new security network before the summer Olympics, Naomi Klein writes in Rolling Stone. Under the so-called “Golden Shield,” China is now installing closed-circuit cameras nationwide linked to facial recognition and other biometric software—technology from big-name US... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • War on Terror • homeland security • domestic surveillance • surveillance • Communism • police state • security cameras • facial recognition technology

Government's Spy Powers Up, But Terror Arrests Down

Civil-liberty groups squawk; feds say numbers don't tell whole story

May 12, 08 11:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - Big Brother is watching … but hasn’t found much, the Los Angeles Times reports. Despite vastly increased domestic spying activities, terrorism prosecutions have plummeted 50% since 2002; last year alone saw a 19% drop, despite a 9% increase in eavesdropping warrants. The Bush administration, meanwhile, is pushing for even... More »

MORE ABOUT:
War on Terror • terrorism • FBI • domestic surveillance • counterterrorism • FISA • warrantless wiretapping • domestic spying

The Software That Ruined Eliot Spitzer

Unusual deposits alerted ever-watchful bank computers

Mar 19, 08 3:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - The banks were watching Eliot Spitzer—and they’re watching all of us, too. These days, all large banks and most small ones are equipped with anti-money laundering software, Technology Review explains, which tracks even the most mundane transactions of every customer. Moves that don’t conform to a pattern—... More »

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sex scandal • bank • domestic surveillance • Eliot Spitzer • money laundering • prostitution ring • structuring

Spy Satellite Charter
May Calm Privacy Fears

Chertoff expects plan to be finished this week

Dec 20, 07 6:57 PM CST
(Newser) - A federal satellite-surveillance program will move one step closer to reality this week with the expected release of its new charter, the Wall Street Journal reports. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who is spearheading the project, will also reveal plans for a $15 billion program to protect the country’s... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Congress • domestic surveillance • Michael Chertoff • Internet security • satellite images

Court Sides With Bush on Wiretapping

Judges cite national security in rejecting challenge to program

Nov 16, 07 4:57 PM CST
(Newser) - The Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program cleared a big legal hurdle today when a federal appeals court rejected a lawsuit challenging the program on the grounds of national security. The court, considered one of the most liberal in the country,  cited the "state secrets" privilege in its ruling... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Bush administration • national security • domestic surveillance • FISA • US Circuit Court of Appeals • warrantless wiretapping • Al Haramain Islamic Foundation

Congress Torn on Telecom Immunity

Senate panel
sidesteps; House passes bill without it

Nov 16, 07 7:48 AM CST
(Newser) - Congress is conflicted over proposed immunity laws that would retroactively protect telecoms from suits alleging they illegally handed the government information on calls. The Senate Intelligence Committee endorsed immunity 13-2 last month, but the Judiciary Committee left the immunity section out of the document it approved yesterday. The House passed... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Senate • Senate Judiciary Committee • domestic intelligence • Patrick Leahy • domestic surveillance • telecom • Senate Intelligence Committee • warrantless wiretapping

Expect Less Privacy, Intelligence Official Says

Battle for anonymity can't be won in the Internet age, Kerr argues

Nov 11, 07 3:40 PM CST
(Newser) - Americans need to redefine their idea of privacy, Deputy Director of National Intelligence Donald Kerr said today, as Congress reviewed an August FISA revision that allows warrantless eavesdropping. “Protecting anonymity isn't a fight that can be won,” Kerr says, arguing that, after giving information away on MySpace, or... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Congress • domestic surveillance • Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act • Donald Kerr

Traveling? Uncle Sam is Watching

Feds are keeping track of Americans: who they fly with, where they stay... what they read

Sep 22, 07 3:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Feds are stockpiling data on millions of Americans as they travel, the Washington Post reports. Civil liberties activists charge Homeland Security with violating the Privacy Act, saying that travel partners, hotel bookings and reading material should not be in the Feds’ database. But Michael Chertoff claims that the data... More »

MORE ABOUT:
homeland security • domestic surveillance • Department of Homeland Security

Big Brother Making Strides in Technology

America's top minds are devoted to 'gait DNA' and new spy drones

Sep 16, 07 5:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - Top researchers are developing new surveillance technology, the BBC reports - including "gait DNA" to identify a person by their walk and advanced spy drones that can fly overhead for years. The Pentagon plans to continue its tech supremacy, which includes inventing the Internet in the 1970s and satellite... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Pentagon • homeland security • United States • domestic surveillance • surveillance • Britain

Appeals Court Won't Rule on Domestic Spying

Panel KOs warrantless wiretapping case on procedural grounds

Jul 6, 07 5:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - Although it raises a "cascade of serious questions," a federal appeals court will not hear a case about the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program because the plaintiffs can't prove they've suffered direct harm. In a 2-1 decision, the Sixth Circuit court dismissed the case, brought by the ACLU and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
ACLU • NSA • domestic surveillance • warrantless wiretapping • US Supreme Court

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