Pentagon Reveals Hundreds Of Cases Of Unlawful Surveillance In Intelligence Efforts

from the spies-like-us dept

Thu, Feb 25th 2010 6:55pm — Mike Masnick

We keep hearing about more and more revelations of unlawful spying on Americans, often with the President's explicit approval. It's really quite impressive (if not surprising) how often the regular oversight process for surveillance appears to be ignored or abused. The latest, brought to us, once again, by the tireless efforts of the EFF, is to reveal hundreds of reports from the Defense Department concerning surveillance efforts that the Inspector General has "reason to believe are unlawful."

What's really amazing here is that the US does have clear processes for surveillance and wiretapping efforts. But it seems like these processes are regularly ignored. So it makes you ask why? The most likely reason is that those involved know that these attempts wouldn't be approved. For a country that supposedly believes in due process and civil rights, it seems like we have a long, long way to go.

Filed Under: defense department, privacy, surveillance

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Anonymous Coward, 25 Feb 2010 @ 7:12pm

"So it makes you ask why?"

Because the TERRRISTS are going to attack us with NUKULAR bombs.
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NAMELESS.ONE, 25 Feb 2010 @ 7:52pm

Because TERRORcakes are going to attack us with nuklehead bombs

there fixed that for you
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someone who doesn't actually know what he's talkin, 25 Feb 2010 @ 8:39pm

John Yoo is not a war criminal.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Feb 2010 @ 9:09pm

Despite all this illegal (and legal) surveillance, the government is still almost worse than useless in terms of actually doing something to protect us (ie: the passengers end up saving the day and the spokesperson for the department of homeland security considers this a systematic success).
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Feb 2010 @ 10:42pm

"For a country that supposedly believes in due process and civil rights, it seems like we have a long, long way to go."

It's true we have a long ways to go for a lot of things (not just this), but you must admit, we have gone a long ways. In the next couple hundred years or so social progress will be more evident.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2010 @ 1:25am

It is a program of fear mongering the people of the world. The motivation for this program is to get us to give away all or fredom to the .gov corporates. "We need them to protect us" The danger comes from our own .governments who spin the information to look like it comes from teroist organisations. They also enable the civilian criminals to have free rain to do as they please.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2010 @ 11:52am

What we need is Blackwater to protect us.
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- Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2010 @ 12:28pm
  
  Re:
  Cheney/Cheney 2012!
  
  Note that both Cheneys will just be Cheney himself, not his daughter.
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