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November 13, 2007

Privacy Redefined

The government says it's time citizens redefine privacy rights in the United States. This is true, in part. Many Internet users don't fully understand that anything broadcast on the Internet can't really be considered "private" in terms of anonymity anymore. The vast majority of communication done online, such as email, is broadcast over the Internet in cleartext, which is text readable by any human being without any decryption software.

But unlike what Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence, suggests, this is not an open invitation for the government to step in to help protect financial and other personal information. The same idea that we want to keep this information secret from everyone, including the government, is still just the same.

"Our job now is to engage in a productive debate, which focuses on privacy as a component of appropriate levels of security and public safety,'' Kerr said at a recent intelligence conference in October. "I think all of us have to really take stock of what we already are willing to give up, in terms of anonymity, but (also) what safeguards we want in place to be sure that giving that doesn't empty our bank account or do something equally bad elsewhere.''

Kerr's comments come at an interesting time, as that Congress is looking to finish up amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Privacy advocacy groups like the Electronic Freedom Foundation say the amendments being discussed would give unprecedented power to the government to spy on the communications of U.S. citizens. A power for which people like Kerr desire.

"There is something fundamentally different from the government having information about you than private parties,'' Kurt Opsahl, a senior staff lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told the Guardian Unlimited this past week. "We shouldn't have to give people the choice between taking advantage of modern communication tools and sacrificing their privacy.''

Opsahl brings up a good point: The government is to whom most people want to remain the most private, not advertising corporations and other Internet-based data mining companies. Of course, it is preferred private data not be shared with third-parties like these companies, but when it comes down to who scares people the most with private information, it's always going to be the government.

The reason is that private companies can't put people in jail. And in a post-9/11 society where the law becomes ambiguous when relating to what the government determines to be a "national security" issue, the less information the government has on people, the better things are.

It does appear however that the United States is heading in the direction of the omnipresence of government in day-to-day communications of every citizen. While it may not be in the form of a "telescreen" built into the apartment wall as it was in Orwell's 1984, it is no less sinister.

Take for instance the confession of retired AT&T technician Mark Klein, who exposed a National Security Administration data-mining program at AT&T that sent a copy of all Internet traffic and voice calls to the government. Unlike what FISA specified, the vast majority of these transmissions were domestic, and the government received a copy of them without a warrant. In essence, the government could potentially sift through any search-engine query, email or text message sent through AT&T--domestic or foreign.

Congress is now debating whether or not telecommunication companies who assisted the government with this type of spying should be given immunity from prosecution by citizens seeking compensation for this breech of trust.

It should be fairly obvious for what the Bush administration is pushing. A show of trust between the government and these companies would mark the beginning of a relationship disastrous to American privacy rights unlike the U.S. has ever seen. Nixon would be pleased.

But people like Kerr are calling for more power and more trust when it comes to government and privacy. Should the amendments to FISA be passed, and should telecommunication companies get off for assisting the government in illegal domestic spying, there won't be much stopping the government from getting its way. After that, there won't be any question to whether or not Internet communications are private.

The only question that will remain will be if one says is determined to be a vague threat to national security. Just think: One little joke sent in an email could land a person on the no-fly list without trial, notice or warning.

You just have to trust the government to have a sense of humor when reading your email.

Posted by Andrew Davis at 12:52 PM | Comments (29)

November 06, 2007

Election Day Thoughts

As Libertarians head to the polls today, we must not forget that every vote cast for the Libertarian Party is not only a vote for a Libertarian candidate, but is one vote that adds to the hundreds and thousands of others that aren't going to Republicans or Democrats.

This election year is a special year for Libertarians, despite being an "off-year" election. We have several strong incumbents running today, as well as two incumbents who are running unopposed. It is a great sign for the Libertarian Party when our members who have faithfully served their constituents are given the honor of running again--and running without an opponent for that matter!

Today, 93 Libertarian candidates will be on the ballot across the United States increasing our yearly total to 156. This may fall short of the number we ran in 2006; however, it is important that every election we do all that we can to support our candidates and add to the vote totals.

Historically, third parties have been integral in social and political change. This is the role of the Libertarian Party. While we certainly can't win every election, and we're years away from becoming a formidable polarity in American politics, but even small off-year elections can show the main two parties that libertarians are not to be taken for granted. Our influence will grow as more libertarian-defectors join the party after leaving the Republicans and Democrats.

From Election Day 2007 to Election Day 2008, the Libertarian Party encourages you to think about running for an office as a Libertarian, and continue to support the party. The Libertarian Party is only as strong as our candidates and our members' supports. The power of the party is in the individual Libertarian.

Posted by Andrew Davis at 01:37 PM | Comments (42)