America's Surveillance Society

WTF are we doing?

H/T: LGM

This is just nuts

Man, shit is totally out of control. I am actually frightened. Just a tidbit from Glenn Greenwald:

McConnell clearly described that in 1978, we enacted a law prohibiting warrantless eavesdropping; the Bush administration broke that law repeatedly; and the telecommunications companies actively participated in that lawbreaking. And now -- as a matter of national security -- the Bush administration is demanding that Congress pass a new law declaring that telecom companies are immune from any and all consequences -- both civil and criminal -- in the event they are found to have violated the law. It is hard to imagine open contempt for the rule of law being expressed more explicitly than this.

Sometimes I am of two minds ...

Legal wiretaps on rise in Colorado

The number of phones secretly wiretapped by Colorado law enforcement hit a 10-year high last year, leading to large drug busts statewide while raising concerns about the privacy of innocent people.
The increase in the court-authorized wiretaps was led by the U.S. Attorney's Office, which used 108 wiretaps in its first year under U.S. Attorney for Colorado Troy Eid. That's four times the number used in the 12 months prior to Eid's August 2006 arrival, according to data from his office.
State prosecutors, meanwhile, got permission to use 43 wiretaps in 2006 - more than in the previous nine years combined, according to an annual report by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

... but actually, I think I'd rather err on the side of civil rights, thank you very much.

Britain's Surveillance Society

"The World" had a fascinating and frightening report on surveillance in Britain.