2/14/2024 0 Comments Obama prism print out![]() We believe the large-scale collection of this information by the government has a very significant impact on Americans' privacy, whether senior government officials recognize that fact or not.įinally, we have long been concerned about the degree to which this collection has relied on "secret law." Senior administration officials have stated on multiple occasions that the Patriot Act’s "business records" authority is "analogous to a grand jury subpoena." And multiple senior officials have stated that US intelligence agencies do not collect information or dossiers on "millions of Americans." We appreciate the recent statement from the Director of National Intelligence, which declassified certain facts about this collection, including its breadth. When Americans call their friends and family, whom they call, when they call, and where they call from is private information. We also disagree with the statement that the broad Patriot Act collection strikes the "right balance" between protecting American security and protecting Americans' privacy. We hope that President Obama will probe the basis for these assertions, as we have. As far as we can see, all of the useful information that it has provided appears to have also been available through other collection methods that do not violate the privacy of law-abiding Americans in the way that the Patriot Act collection does. We remain unconvinced that the secret Patriot Act collection has actually provided any uniquely valuable intelligence. Based on this experience, we respectfully but firmly disagree with the way that this program has been described by senior administration officials.Īfter years of review, we believe statements that this very broad Patriot Act collection has been "a critical tool in protecting the nation" do not appear to hold up under close scrutiny. In our capacity as members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, we have spent years examining the intelligence collection operations that have been secretly authorized under the USA Patriot Act. It's the only way to protect everyone's civil liberties and create the safe and free society we all want over the long term. We strongly encourage all governments to be much more transparent about all programs aimed at keeping the public safe. We will continue fighting aggressively to keep your information safe and secure. When governments ask Facebook for data, we review each request carefully to make sure they always follow the correct processes and all applicable laws, and then only provide the information if is required by law. We hadn't even heard of PRISM before yesterday. ![]() And if we did, we would fight it aggressively. We have never received a blanket request or court order from any government agency asking for information or metadata in bulk, like the one Verizon reportedly received. I want to respond personally to the outrageous press reports about PRISM:įacebook is not and has never been part of any program to give the US or any other government direct access to our servers. Obama has helped muddy the water for him. He just has to point to the contradictions between America's stated ideals and the way those ideals have been compromised in the pursuit of security. President Xi does not need to prove equivalence, however. ![]() Americans, by contrast, can use of the internet virtually without impediment it is just they can no longer be sure of doing so in private. The access of the Chinese people to information and open discussion is severely constricted by the constraints imposed by the party leadership. There is no question here of an equivalence between the United Statesand China when it comes to basic freedoms. It was not Xi Jinping at the podium today on the defensive against allegations of an overweening state infringing the civil liberties of its citizens – it was Obama. The revelations of the past few days about the Obama administration's own electronic surveillance and cyber operations have done a lot to blur the sharp, bright edges of this gameplan. The Sunnylands summit was billed by the White House as an opportunity for Barack Obama to his confront his new Chinese counterpart with a litany of American complaints about hacking and cyber theft.
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