WDWHound
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2000
- Messages
- 5,895
The following is from wired.com:
Congress approved a bill on Friday that expands the reach of the Patriot Act, reduces oversight of the FBI and intelligence agencies and, according to critics, shifts the balance of power away from the legislature and the courts.
A provision of an intelligence spending bill will expand the power of the FBI to subpoena business documents and transactions from a broader range of businesses -- everything from libraries to travel agencies to eBay -- without first seeking approval from a judge.
Under the Patriot Act, the FBI can acquire bank records and Internet or phone logs simply by issuing itself a so-called national security letter saying the records are relevant to an investigation into terrorism. The FBI doesn't need to show probable cause or consult a judge. What's more, the target institution is issued a gag order and kept from revealing the subpoena's existence to anyone, including the subject of the investigation.
The new provision in the spending bill redefines the meaning of "financial institution" and "financial transaction." The wider definition explicitly includes insurance companies, real estate agents, the U.S. Postal Service, travel agencies, casinos, pawn shops, ISPs, car dealers and any other business whose "cash transactions have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax or regulatory matters."
You should read the Full article. It talks about how this was snuck into an intelligence agency spending bill. The artical is found at this link:
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,61341,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1
Just to be clear, this means the FBI can now go to any place you do business with (Bank, video store, airlines, doctor, etc) and demand your records from them without a subpoena or search warrant. To top it off, the business would be forbidden to tell anyone that this took place. (making it impossible to challange the new rule in court).
Up until now, I have been OK with the Patriot act, but this is making me very nervous. I have nothing to hide, but the government has no right to start going throught our personal records without proven cause. Under this new rule, they no longer need cause.
Congress approved a bill on Friday that expands the reach of the Patriot Act, reduces oversight of the FBI and intelligence agencies and, according to critics, shifts the balance of power away from the legislature and the courts.
A provision of an intelligence spending bill will expand the power of the FBI to subpoena business documents and transactions from a broader range of businesses -- everything from libraries to travel agencies to eBay -- without first seeking approval from a judge.
Under the Patriot Act, the FBI can acquire bank records and Internet or phone logs simply by issuing itself a so-called national security letter saying the records are relevant to an investigation into terrorism. The FBI doesn't need to show probable cause or consult a judge. What's more, the target institution is issued a gag order and kept from revealing the subpoena's existence to anyone, including the subject of the investigation.
The new provision in the spending bill redefines the meaning of "financial institution" and "financial transaction." The wider definition explicitly includes insurance companies, real estate agents, the U.S. Postal Service, travel agencies, casinos, pawn shops, ISPs, car dealers and any other business whose "cash transactions have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax or regulatory matters."
You should read the Full article. It talks about how this was snuck into an intelligence agency spending bill. The artical is found at this link:
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,61341,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1
Just to be clear, this means the FBI can now go to any place you do business with (Bank, video store, airlines, doctor, etc) and demand your records from them without a subpoena or search warrant. To top it off, the business would be forbidden to tell anyone that this took place. (making it impossible to challange the new rule in court).
Up until now, I have been OK with the Patriot act, but this is making me very nervous. I have nothing to hide, but the government has no right to start going throught our personal records without proven cause. Under this new rule, they no longer need cause.
YIKES, eBAY?????? 
