Would You Like To Keep The Government From Spying On You? Speak Up Now

from the do-you-have-a-secret? dept

We've been talking about the Senate debate over cybersecurity all week, and it appears that it's moving into the endgame process. Last night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called for cloture -- basically the process to end the debate and move to a vote. In doing so, he also set it up such that he's basically blocking most amendments from being discussed. However, the important Franken/Paul amendment that increases privacy protections will be voted on. In fact, it will be the first amendment to be considered. Whether or not the overall bill passes (and there's some skepticism about whether the votes exist), it is important that the Franken/Paul amendment pass, and Congress get the message that protecting the public from government snooping is an issue the public cares about. Senate staffers have been saying that they've been getting calls on this issue, but more would certainly help.

The folks at Fight for the Future have set up the excellent Do you have a secret? site to highlight why government snooping is a serious problem. Similarly, the EFF has set up a useful site with an embedded Tweet tool (and, yes, tweeting about this also helps -- staffers are paying attention to this, though calling is always best).
The Franken/Paul amendment does have some support, including from Senator Chuck Schumer who made an impassioned speech last night for protecting our privacy rights within this bill, and how important such privacy protections were to the future of the internet.
Either way, today and tomorrow are important days for letting your Senators know that stopping the government from snooping on your private info online is important to you, so speak up.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: al franken, chuck schumer, cybersecurity, privacy, rand paul, senate


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • icon
    Rikuo (profile), 1 Aug 2012 @ 11:09am

    Does the NSA really need to know I look up hardcore tranny pr0n?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      :Lobo Santo (profile), 1 Aug 2012 @ 11:36am

      Re: I'll see your...

      What, nothing involving dogs or horses?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      John Fenderson (profile), 1 Aug 2012 @ 12:16pm

      Re:

      How else are they going to find the really good stuff? Don't you think the NSA deserves to fap too?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Ninja (profile), 2 Aug 2012 @ 3:51am

      Re:

      I believe that snooping regular citizens will probably inflict serious mental damage in the employees in charge of checking all the data. Tranny p0rn is actually quite soft. I invite you to board the disturbing and fertile world of Japanese p0rn. I've had my share of mental damage (many that were completely unexpected) already =D

      I do think it hasn't affected my ability to live in society and make coherent and well based comments. Yet.

      If there's supply there's demand so I will infer that there are all sorts of weirdos with even weirder tastes out there. And stop looking me as if I'm a freak. /lol

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2012 @ 11:32am

    What, no cat signal?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Tunnen (profile), 1 Aug 2012 @ 11:50am

    Is it just me, or does anyone else feel that a government agency, like the NSA or FBI, will get a hold of that information and use it to build a list of people they need to keep an eye on.

    Or maybe it's time for me to take my tinfoil hat in for a tune up... =P

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Michael, 1 Aug 2012 @ 4:43pm

      Re:

      "Is it just me, or does anyone else feel that a government agency, like the NSA or FBI, will get a hold of that information and use it to build a list of people they need to keep an eye on."

      Yes, obviously, and since the NSA is actively spying on Americans anyway, all this bill would really do is give them legal impunity for stepping on our rights.

      Here's the $64,000 question: what does the government stand to gain by spying on American citizens? What, did the government wake up one day and decide that we're the enemy? What are they going to use all this information for?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Howard, 1 Aug 2012 @ 11:59am

    Unfortunately, McCain is one of my senators.

    Not much point in calling him.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Mesonoxian Eve (profile), 1 Aug 2012 @ 12:00pm

    All this does is create another law the NSA can ignore.

    If our Constitution can't stop the abuse...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Rikuo (profile), 1 Aug 2012 @ 1:19pm

      Re:

      That is actually a very good point. It doesn't seem to matter at all these days what laws get passed, if the US government wants something, they'll violate their own laws to do it.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 1 Aug 2012 @ 2:10pm

        Re: Re:

        All the more reason for me to start looking for another country to move to...


        Also, where's the cat signal techdirt?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Unanimous Cow Herd, 1 Aug 2012 @ 12:25pm

    Feedback Fail

    Upon submitting a message regarding the new CyberSEcurity legislation.



    "Sorry, the web page you have requested is experiencing technical difficulties. The Webmaster has been alerted.

    You will be automatically redirected to the www.senate.gov home page after 10 seconds.

    If this problem persists, please contact the Office of the Secretary Webmaster at webmaster@sec.senate.gov."



    Seems that either they're getting too many emails or they're stuffing their fingers in their ears. Anyone for a guess?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 2 Aug 2012 @ 2:39am

      Re: Feedback Fail

      I am guessing slightly overloaded, having sites like Techdirt line up the children to spam bomb them.

      It's why things like this aren't effective, because even ignorant senators can tell it's just someone spam bomb.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    silverscarcat (profile), 1 Aug 2012 @ 1:15pm

    I called my senators this morning and let them know that I wanted them to vote for the amendment and to vote for anything that would increase privacy.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.