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NSA taps in to user data of Facebook, Apple, Google and others

QueSi

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Cachook said:
Since you are comfortable posting about your former security clearances, perhaps you will also disclose the reason for which you applied and received that clearance.

I served as a 1N5X1 in the Air Force for six years. My job required constant access to systems with Top Secret information.
 
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Cachook

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I served as a 1N5X1 in the Air Force for six years. My job required constant access to systems with Top Secret information.

Thanks for your service and that explains quite a bit..... I have a friend in the AF with similar clearances, among others which shall not be named. We all oppose it. This effectively destroys the Fourth.
 
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QueSi

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Cachook said:
Thanks for your service and that explains quite a bit..... I have a friend in the AF with similar clearances, among others which shall not be named. We all oppose it. This effectively destroys the Fourth.

I don't oppose it, I fully support anything that prevents killing/murder/terrorism.
 
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C-Man

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Except that that sort of spying on honest citizens is a crime in and of itself. It takes a whiz on the Fourth Amendment. No group of people can be truly trusted with this level of power.

It's the first step on a very slippery slope. The logical conclusion is quite simple. If it's left unchecked, there will one day be prisons and camps where "enemies of the state" go. Honest people will quietly disappear on a daily basis, and those who question it will be threatened or disappear right along with them. It's happened throughout history, again and again. To assume it can't happen here is to pull the wool down over one's own eyes.

Freedom is being eroded more and more in the name of "security", and you're okay with this. That scares me. I guarantee you, if anybody were to try and make me or my family quietly disappear, they'd have a fight for the ages on their hands.

Abiding by the law is a good thing, but at what point does the law become unjust? When does the government become not an entity that's designed to serve the people, but something that, under the original laws of this country, must be replaced by the people?

Listening to phone calls and reading emails/snail mail has prevented many crimes over the years.
Yes, tapping the phone lines of someone who is legitimately suspected of a crime, after going through the proper channels and getting a warrant. They don't have the moral right to listen in on everyone willy-nilly.
 
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contango

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The only people who are complaining about this are the ones with something to hide...

Or people who think that their "nothing to hide" approach now could cost them dearly later.

I don't suppose Jews in Germany around, oh, say 1932 thought they had anything to fear from the state knowing they were Jews.

My stance is pretty simple - if you suspect me of something I'd like to know what I'm suspected of. If you don't suspect me of anything you don't need to watch my every move.

The government exists to serve the people, not the other way around.
 
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QueSi

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C-Man said:
Except that that sort of spying on honest citizens is a crime in and of itself. It takes a whiz on the Fourth Amendment.

How can the government differentiate between "honest citizens" and people who intend to cause harm to others? The government has been "spying on honest citizens" for as long as they had the ability, be it mail, phones, Internet, physically (like police), etc.
 
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QueSi

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contango said:
Or people who think that their "nothing to hide" approach now could cost them dearly later.

I don't suppose Jews in Germany around, oh, say 1932 thought they had anything to fear from the state knowing they were Jews.

My stance is pretty simple - if you suspect me of something I'd like to know what I'm suspected of. If you don't suspect me of anything you don't need to watch my every move.

The government exists to serve the people, not the other way around.

If you really think they are watching your every move, I think that might be classified as paranoid. There are clearly not enough government employees to watch all of the non-government employees.
 
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C-Man

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How can the government differentiate between "honest citizens" and people who intend to cause harm to others? The government has been "spying on honest citizens" for as long as they had the ability, be it mail, phones, Internet, physically (like police), etc.

Legitimate spying is one thing. Going after someone suspected of murder, or espionage, or racketeering is right and just.

But to have someone reading Joe Average's e-mail, mail, and tapping his phone lines "just in case" is a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
 
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QueSi

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C-Man said:
Legitimate spying is one thing. Going after someone suspected of murder, or espionage, or racketeering is right and just.

But to have someone reading Joe Average's e-mail, mail, and tapping his phone lines "just in case" is a violation of the Fourth Amendment.

And how are they supposed to know who to suspect? Joe Average might be planning a massive bomb/ shooting.
 
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QueSi

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C-Man said:
But do you want to spy on them, "just in case"?

I'm not spying on anyone, nor do I want to, but if our government can prevent even just one death by spying on them, I'm in full support of it because I have nothing to hide and support saving lives. It doesn't change how free I am.
 
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C-Man

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And what makes them trustworthy with that sort of power? History has proven over and over that this sort of authority doesn't result in peace, or happiness. Our government is no different. It's composed of men and women who are just as sinful as anyone else.
 
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QueSi

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C-Man said:
And what makes them trustworthy with that sort of power? History has proven over and over that this sort of authority doesn't result in peace, or happiness. Our government is no different. It's composed of men and women who are just as sinful as anyone else.

I don't know how to answer that because I don't understand the power you ask about. What sort of power? Do you consider listening to other peoples phone calls, reading their emails, and status updates some sort of major power over people? If so then I feel very powerful because I've heard many phone calls, seen many emails over people's shoulders and can look up plenty of status updates anytime I want.
 
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