FBI's New Power Grab Is A Threat To Liberty

From the ACLU:

FBI's Latest Power Grab Is a Bold and Unnecessary Move




What do the ACLU, the former director of the NSA and a tech industry lawyer all have in common? They believe that the government's recent request to let the FBI get Americans' internet use records in national security investigations without going to court—and without any suspicion of wrongdoing—is a huge expansion of authority that would open floodgates of sensitive information to the FBI.



National security letters (NSLs) are rather informal requests for records the FBI can use to obtain people's communication, financial and credit information. These requests are not approved by a court, and the FBI does not have to suspect you of actually being a terrorist, spy or criminal; the only thing they have to do to get your records is certify to themselves—not a court—that you are "relevant" to an investigation.



To make matters worse, the FBI has the power to prohibit any internet service provider, bank or credit company from which it demands sensitive customer records from ever disclosing anything about the record demand. In the mid-2000s, the FBI issued upwards of 50,000 national security letters, often to get information about U.S. citizens -- and sometimes to get information on people two or three times removed from an actual suspect.



The FBI is asking that the statute that allows it to issue NSLs for phone records and a limited set of email records be expanded to allow it to demand a wide range of internet activity records, as well. The FBI isn't defining what kinds of internet records it wants. This proposal could allow them to get things like all of the websites you visit, your web search history, location information or social network activity.



Internet records are especially sensitive and need to be protected from FBI snooping by a court order and suspicion requirements. Looking at a list of websites a person visits can tell you a lot more about his or her life than a list of phone numbers. It can tell you a huge amount of information that could include a person's illness, mental health issues, financial situation, political affiliations and religious beliefs.



The administration is asking Congress to give the FBI more of your private information without even going to a judge.