Other AT&T wiretapping suit dismissed

Last week, the Judge in the EFF case against AT&T overruled the government’s use of the state secrets priviledge. This week a Chicago court threw out a similar case brought against the company by the ACLU. While this might seem contradictory, it’s not. The ACLU had no hard evidence that their clients rights had actually been violated. The EFF case has physical evidence in the form of documents to support their case as well as at least one eye witness. In all likelihood, the case will eventually be dismissed on the basis of National Security, however it is good to see that the judge is willing to explore this case rather than dismiss it outright.

With the revelation of yet another secret government spy program, it should be more obvious than ever that we are living in a surveilance society on the edge of becoming a police state. Last month USA Today ran a front page story on the NSA, revealing the agency was sifting through phone logs and internet traffic of millions of American citizens. This latest revelation by the New York Times has equally troubling constitutional implications. At the same time, it has been reported (here and here) that local police and the federal government (including the FBI, DHS and DOJ) have sidestepped legal warrants in favor of private data brokers, many of which use pretexting to illegally obtain personal information. Congress has had hearings on all of these issues with little to no actual progress. This has been due to the administration and their supporters blocking attempts to pry into the details of these programs. The one exception to this has been the use of data brokers, to which most of those interviewed have been fairly forthcoming. Even so, I can’t help but feel that one day soon, we may here the words “papers, please” on our way to work. Alles klar, herr komisar?