As Quietly as Possible, the Government is Renewing Its Assault on Your
Privacy
Published on
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
by
The Guardian
As Quietly as Possible, the Government is Renewing Its Assault on Your
Privacy
Having failed to secure an anti-encryption bill, the FBI and justice
department are now engaged in a multi-pronged attack on all sorts of other
privacy rights
by
Trevor Timm
'The justice department has continued to argue that the US government
doesn't need a warrant to gather the cell phone location information of
Americans.' (Image: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain )
With their dangerous crusade for an anti-encryption bill in Congress all but
dead (for now), the FBI and US justice department are now engaged in a
multi-pronged attack on all sorts of other privacy rights - this time, with
much less public scrutiny.
A report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office harshly
criticized the FBI last week for its little discussed but frequently used
facial recognition database and called on the bureau to implement myriad
privacy and safety protections. It turns out the database has far more
photos than anyone thought - 411.9m to be exact - and the vast majority are
not mugshots of criminals, but driver's license photos from over a dozen
states and passport photos of millions of completely innocent people. The
feds searched it over 36,000 times from 2011 to 2015 (no court order needed)
while also apparently having no idea how accurate it is.
Worse, the FBI wants its hundreds of millions of facial recognition photos -
along with its entire biometric database that includes fingerprints and DNA
profiles - to be exempt from important Privacy Act protections. As the
Intercept reported two weeks ago: "Specifically, the FBI's proposal would
exempt the database from the provisions in the Privacy Act that require
federal agencies to share with individuals the information they collect
about them and that give people the legal right to determine the accuracy
and fairness of how their personal information is collected and used."
In Congress, Senate Republicans are pushing for a vote this week on
controversial new warrantless surveillance measures that would let the FBI
use unconstitutional National Security Letters to get email records and
internet browsing history from countless US citizens - without going to a
judge or court at all. The Senate leadership is bringing the measure up to
vote by invoking the Orlando attack, despite the fact that we know the FBI
had no problem surveilling the Orlando killer when he was previously
investigated. It is a blatant attempt to exploit the tragedy in order to
gain powers the FBI has long asked for (powers, by the way, the FBI is
already reportedly using, despite the justice department telling them it's
basically illegal).
The justice department, meanwhile, is busy attempting to implement a new
rule for the court system that would make it much easier for the FBI to hack
into computers worldwide - including those of hacking victims. Using the
obscure process for amending the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the
department has convinced the courts that they should be able to get one
warrant to potentially hack thousands of computers, and shouldn't have to
comply with the normal rules involving getting the court order in the
jurisdiction where the crime occurred.
As the Electronic Frontier Foundation has noted, "this is a recipe for
disaster," and it is being done by circumventing the normal democratic
process. Several organizations (including Freedom of the Press Foundation,
the organization I work for) have called on Congress to put a stop to it.
Also in the courts, the justice department has continued to argue that the
US government doesn't need a warrant to gather the cell phone location
information of Americans - even though that type of information can give
authorities your precise whereabouts 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The justice department convinced the fourth circuit court of appeals last
month to overturn its previous ruling that police need a probable cause
warrant to get such information. The court agreed with the justice
department that cellphone users don't have a "reasonable expectation of
privacy" around their location, even though it is some of the most intimate
information that exists, giving law enforcement officials a detailed picture
of your life that even your close friends and family may not know.
Last year, the FBI director disingenuously tried to claim that the pendulum
"has swung too far" in the way of privacy, despite the fact that the agency
has virtually unprecedented access to all sorts of information on Americans.
If it wasn't clear before, it should be now: they plan on using any means
necessary to further erode the rights of hundreds of millions of citizens in
their crusade against privacy.
C 2016 Guardian News and Media Limited
Trevor Timm
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As Quietly as Possible, the Government is Renewing Its Assault on Your
Privacy
Published on
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
by
The Guardian
As Quietly as Possible, the Government is Renewing Its Assault on Your
Privacy
Having failed to secure an anti-encryption bill, the FBI and justice
department are now engaged in a multi-pronged attack on all sorts of other
privacy rights
by
Trevor Timm
. 2 Comments
.
. 'The justice department has continued to argue that the US
government doesn't need a warrant to gather the cell phone location
information of Americans.' (Image: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain )
. With their dangerous crusade for an anti-encryption bill in Congress
all but dead (for now), the FBI and US justice department are now engaged in
a multi-pronged attack on all sorts of other privacy rights - this time,
with much less public scrutiny.
. A report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office
harshly criticized the FBI last week for its little discussed but frequently
used facial recognition database and called on the bureau to implement
myriad privacy and safety protections. It turns out the database has far
more photos than anyone thought - 411.9m to be exact - and the vast majority
are not mugshots of criminals, but driver's license photos from over a dozen
states and passport photos of millions of completely innocent people. The
feds searched it over 36,000 times from 2011 to 2015 (no court order needed)
while also apparently having no idea how accurate it is.
. Worse, the FBI wants its hundreds of millions of facial recognition
photos - along with its entire biometric database that includes fingerprints
and DNA profiles - to be exempt from important Privacy Act protections. As
the Intercept reported two weeks ago: "Specifically, the FBI's proposal
would exempt the database from the provisions in the Privacy Act that
require federal agencies to share with individuals the information they
collect about them and that give people the legal right to determine the
accuracy and fairness of how their personal information is collected and
used."
.
https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/myj16-articlehttps://secure.actbl
ue.com/contribute/page/myj16-article
In Congress, Senate Republicans are pushing for a vote this week on
controversial new warrantless surveillance measures that would let the FBI
use unconstitutional National Security Letters to get email records and
internet browsing history from countless US citizens - without going to a
judge or court at all. The Senate leadership is bringing the measure up to
vote by invoking the Orlando attack, despite the fact that we know the FBI
had no problem surveilling the Orlando killer when he was previously
investigated. It is a blatant attempt to exploit the tragedy in order to
gain powers the FBI has long asked for (powers, by the way, the FBI is
already reportedly using, despite the justice department telling them it's
basically illegal).
The justice department, meanwhile, is busy attempting to implement a new
rule for the court system that would make it much easier for the FBI to hack
into computers worldwide - including those of hacking victims. Using the
obscure process for amending the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the
department has convinced the courts that they should be able to get one
warrant to potentially hack thousands of computers, and shouldn't have to
comply with the normal rules involving getting the court order in the
jurisdiction where the crime occurred.
As the Electronic Frontier Foundation has noted, "this is a recipe for
disaster," and it is being done by circumventing the normal democratic
process. Several organizations (including Freedom of the Press Foundation,
the organization I work for) have called on Congress to put a stop to it.
Also in the courts, the justice department has continued to argue that the
US government doesn't need a warrant to gather the cell phone location
information of Americans - even though that type of information can give
authorities your precise whereabouts 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The justice department convinced the fourth circuit court of appeals last
month to overturn its previous ruling that police need a probable cause
warrant to get such information. The court agreed with the justice
department that cellphone users don't have a "reasonable expectation of
privacy" around their location, even though it is some of the most intimate
information that exists, giving law enforcement officials a detailed picture
of your life that even your close friends and family may not know.
Last year, the FBI director disingenuously tried to claim that the pendulum
"has swung too far" in the way of privacy, despite the fact that the agency
has virtually unprecedented access to all sorts of information on Americans.
If it wasn't clear before, it should be now: they plan on using any means
necessary to further erode the rights of hundreds of millions of citizens in
their crusade against privacy.
C 2016 Guardian News and Media Limited
/author/trevor-timm
/author/trevor-timm
