Snowden Vindicated : NSA’s PRISM Program Ruled Unconstitutional By Federal District Judge

NSA Phone Spying Program Ruled Unconstitutional By Federal Judge

 

 

” A federal judge ruled on Monday that the National Security Agency’s PRISM program, which collects telephone records and metadata and was revealed this summer by whistleblower Edward Snowden, could be unconstitutional.

  U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon, appointed by George W. Bush, ruled that PRISM likely violates the Fourth Amendment’s ban of unreasonable search and seizure. Leon argued that the NSA’s widespread collection of telephone calls made in or to the United States represents an “arbitrary invasion” of the lives of its own private citizens. He also said that the Justice Department has done little to demonstrate that these information-collection efforts actually prevent future terrorist acts. “

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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DEA : Medical Records Are Not Private

THE DEA THINKS MEDICAL RECORDS DON’T COUNT AS “PRIVATE”

 

 

 

 

” If last month’s revelation that the the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has been keeping a database of phone logs since 1986 wasn’t bad enough, here’s further proof of the intrusiveness of the agency’s tactics: a lawsuit being fought between the DEA, Oregon, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) hinges on the fact that the drug warriors believe they should have easy access to the Oregon Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) database and have been acting on that belief, even though it contradicts state law. In plain English, the DEA says that if your medical records are shared with a pharmacy—something that happens routinely thanks to the PDMP—you lose the right to assume that that information is private, even if lawmakers in your state disagree with law enforcement.

The basis for the DEA’s legal argument is the third-party doctrine, the precedent the government leans on if it wants to look into your credit card charges, your utilities bills, your emails, or anything else that you have shared with someone else. The Fourth Amendment protects you against “unreasonable search and seizure,” but increasingly, in an era where the vast majority of our private communications go through a third party, law enforcement is expanding the definition of what a “reasonable” search is.“

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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