spying...why even bother ...

...going through the secret panel??

Judge estimates 30K secret spying orders approved yearly

"Going forward, anytime the American people want to know something that I or a former president wants to withhold, we will have to consult with the Attorney General and the white house counsel, whose business it is to ensure compliance with the rule of law. Information will not be withheld just because I say so; it will be withheld because a separate authority believes my request is well-grounded in the Constitution. Let me say it as simply as I can: transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency." - B. Obama

....I guess he's not lying...there is a law that allows this....seems a bit unConsti-frikken-tutional to me though.

 

When I was doing the job, you'd get your butt handed to you for intercepting an American citizen's communications without going through proper channels; but as long as you submitted the right paperwork, it was basically a rubber stamp.

The technology used in the intercept would often determine the compartmentalization markings and caveats added to the classification. If it were highly compartmentalized, the intercept could never be declassified. I don't care how many FOI requests you sent in, you'd never get a glimpse of it.

I keep saying that electronic privacy is an illusion of the naive.

I don't even trust privacy software. I've seen too many targets that were absolutely sure that their communications were protected, while we were reading every word. I just assume that every keystroke I make, and every word I utter on a phone, is being, or could be, monitored.

The wife of a friend of mine who still works for the agency is convinced that even their house is bugged. She talks to the light fixtures, to explain a comment that she's made that could be taken out of context. Who knows? She may not be crazy after all.

 

I was talking to a Detective last week and he was writing up a warrant and I ask what was it for? He said cell records and transcripts. I knew you could get numbers from records to use for like phone harassment or to see who is being called. Now and Im not for sure but you can follow the paper trail and recieve transcipts of written txt and phone calls up to something like 5 years back. I don't know how detailed or how far back but I do know they are using them in court for convictions.

Another thing to keep in mind your GPS when you register them you can be tracked by them. Even if your are not in your vehicle if you are in a friends vehicle and he has one, there is a little square box looks like a Black-Berry where a officer can drive by the vehicle you are in lock on the GPS and track your every move. Same kind of tool for a lap top or desk computer with wireless, they can see every sight you go on, read e-mails and go through your computer history. I've seen this type in action the only thing the computer has to be on. As for the GPS it does not have to be on. If you have on star they can tap into it and listen to conversation in your vehicle and it does not have to be turned on or even activated. The vehicle just has to be equiped with it.