NSA meta data collection ended....maybe?

[Trik'Stari]

So, apparently this has happened. Haven't seen a thread on it yet.

                                                  

 

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill on Wednesday that would end spy agencies' bulk collection of Americans' telephone data, setting up a potential showdown with the U.S. Senate over the program, which expires on June 1.

The House voted 338-88 for the USA Freedom Act, which would end the bulk collection and instead give intelligence agencies access to telephone data and other records only when a court finds there is reasonable suspicion about a link to international terrorism.

The strong support in the House by both Democrats and Republicans could increase pressure on Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow a vote on the bill.

McConnell and several other senior Republican senators have said they would rather renew the existing bulk data collection program, authorized under the USA Patriot Act, passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

 

Not surprising to me that they would rather renew it under the patriot act, despite that having been deemed by the court system as completely illegal.

 

 

"The big news in the USA Freedom Act is to limit bulk collection programs," said Georgia Institute of Technology professor Peter Swire, who served on a review commission appointed by President Barack Obama after Snowden's disclosures.

"One (court) order would no longer authorize a bulk collection program, whether for telephone metadata or for other purposes," Swire said.

Debate on the Freedom Act has been driven by the impending June 1 expiration of portions of the Patriot Act, which backers say provides essential counter-terrorism tools.

Senior Senate Republicans, including McConnell and John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, want the Patriot Act provisions extended through 2020.

McCain said he and his fellow Republicans had intense discussions about the Freedom Act throughout a party lunch on Wednesday but he did not know what would happen.

"Your guess is as good as mine," he told Reuters.

The White House said Obama supports the Freedom Act reforms and would sign the bill into law. (Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu)

 

Under the Freedom Act, such powers would remain in place, but investigators' data-collection power would be narrowed to cases where the government sets out tightly targeted "specific selection terms."

.....What? I don't even......

 

Seriously, I'm confused at this point. Either they can violate everyone's (in the US) rights, or they can't.....this makes zero sense now.

 

To be honest, I view this the way that Wendell views anything passed by the US government: "Take the name of the bill, and assume the exact opposite". How on earth are they going to prove a "link to terrorism" without already spying on us? and if the exact same powers remain in place....what?

 

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/13/usa-security-nsa-idUSL1N0Y41R620150513

[Blade of Grass]

I mean, they didn't bother following the law in the first place, how will this change it?

[Trik'Stari]

I mean, they didn't bother following the law in the first place, how will this change it?

Not to mention the mind f**k of "this is illegal, but we still have the power* apparent wording of the bill.....only a lawyer could make that seem logical.

[thekeemo]

they gave themselves legal loophooles essentially

[Trik'Stari]

they gave themselves legal loophooles essentially

That's what it sounds like.

 

Surprised at the lack of response here.

[blackadder]

Nope, heard Congress talk about this on npr, this form is gone but, this still is mass collections.

[blackadder]

they gave themselves legal loophooles essentially

they did, nothing is going ti change. Its all talk.

[Cookybiscuit]

lol, get real.

[Briggsy]

They are just moving into a more focused phase of data collection and analysis, as opposed to drag-netting the entire internet, and collecting all the garbage data. The move is probably motivated by practical reasons, rather than someone with a conscience stepping forward to try and stop it.

[bob345]

they will still just say "no, we arnt monitoring you at all. Also, that coffee in you kitchen drawer, where did you get it?" 

[Real_PhillBert]

My list of things I trust more than the US government:

1) A stripper just trying to pay for college

2) A fart after eating at Taco Bell

3) My girlfriend to park without hitting everything in the county

4) WCCFTech articles

5) The Onion

6) Bigfoot sightings

7) Elevator ride with Ray Rice

8) Taking pills from Bill Cosby

9) Mexican tap water

10) Gas station sushi

[SurvivorNVL]

"We whole-heartedly respect your individual rights, but we need to inform you that your milk is about to spoil, and the Chinese may've used the backdoor we created to get your bank-statements.  Have a good day."  Somehow I feel like that's an inevitable outcome for somebody, somewhere.

[Trik'Stari]

My list of things I trust more than the US government:

1) A stripper just trying to pay for college

2) A fart after eating at Taco Bell

3) My girlfriend to park without hitting everything in the county

4) WCCFTech articles

5) The Onion

6) Bigfoot sightings

7) Elevator ride with Ray Rice

8) Taking pills from Bill Cosby

9) Mexican tap water

10) Gas station sushi

Damn.... I don't think I can legitimately add anything to that list, except maybe:

 

11. Promises made by a political candidate before an election. (that's either on the list, or just as untrustworthy as this bill)

 

"We whole-heartedly respect your individual rights, but we need to inform you that your milk is about to spoil, and the Chinese may've used the backdoor we created to get your bank-statements.  Have a good day."  Somehow I feel like that's an inevitable outcome for somebody, somewhere.

 

More like: Everyone everywhere, except members of congress and their cronies.

[linuxfan66]

My list of things I trust more than the US government:

1) A stripper just trying to pay for college

2) A fart after eating at Taco Bell

3) My girlfriend to park without hitting everything in the county

4) WCCFTech articles

5) The Onion

6) Bigfoot sightings

7) Elevator ride with Ray Rice

8) Taking pills from Bill Cosby

9) Mexican tap water

10) Gas station sushi

WCCFTech?

[Real_PhillBert]

WCCFTech?

 

You must be fairly new. Welcome.

 

wccftech is a "news" site about tech, but they are probably more accurately described as a rumor mill than a news outlet. 

 

http://wccftech.com/

[spartaman64]

why is it always the republican senators 

[Trik'Stari]

why is it always the republican senators 

I'm sure there's a fair number of democrats who voted against it anyways, not to mention that judging by the language of the bill, it didn't really stop anything at all so...

 

 

Politicians aren't paid to know that they're voting on, they just get paid to vote these days, democrats and republicans alike.

[MrDynamicMan]

That's what it sounds like.

Surprised at the lack of response here.

Everyone's still talking shite on the Witcher thread, but yeah... Nothing changing. Pretty much they just realised what they were doing was illegal, so they made loopholes for themselves...

I gotta say, my government suck, but at least they suck so much that they could never pull this off.

[samcool55]

Never forget the rule "If you can't convince them, confuse them" So if you are confused. Think what's the worst for you that they can mean with it. And that's probably what they actually mean.

[Trik'Stari]

Never forget the rule "If you can't convince them, confuse them" So if you are confused. Think what's the worst for you that they can mean with it. And that's probably what they actually mean.

.....that's a damned good point.