NSA Has Massive Database of Americans' Phone Calls

[Hitchhiker]

I hope they're using Gmail, or they may run out of storage space quickly!

Yet again, I'm glad I live in Canada--the land where our intelligence agencies are too dysfunctional to violate our privacy.

It's a violation of privacy. The entire idea that one's conversation is being recorded is, frankly, unacceptable. I'm aware of the "national security" reasons behind such actions, but that doesn't make them any more tolerable or any better. One may also claim "national security" for other unfair (and perhaps unlawful) actions taken--it is all about how one markets the fear to one's advantage.

The problem with this loss of freedom is that it's so gradual and minute that each individual blow to the principles we used to hold dear seems so innocuous on its own. That's why there'll be no revolution--freedom will be lost not with a bang, but with a whimper, because no one will notice.

Even in the case of international communication, doing it without a warrant means that they apparently see their actions as above the law. Warrants are a check and balance for precisely this type of situation.

I also blame the phone companies, though. I mean, if they had refused to hand over the information (like Qwest), then this would not happen in the first place. It's perfectly true that we have no privacy anyway, even if the government wasn't doing this--there's no guarantee that our phone company would not sell our information to someone else. But having the government do it is still quite shocking.

Terrorists are smarter than this anyway. How many television shows show people meeting in person to have conversations rather than on the phone? I doubt the effectiveness of these operations, because even if a terrorist cannot meet in person, they will find their way to convey their message cryptically. Meanwhile, even if the government's intentions are pure (which I doubt), they are causing discord and discontent amongst their own people.

And no amount of McDonalds' commercials can change that.

[webtaz99]

Be realistic. They don't even have enough people to look for the terrorists. There's no way they can be "tapping" lots of people's phones. What they are doing is looking for patterns in who calls who.

Besides that, so what if they are listening in? What are you gonna do? They got stuff that lets them see and hear through brick walls. Privacy is an out-moded concept. Get used to it. Otherwise excercise your rights and restructure the US government.

[PrankishSmart]

I'm a bit doubtful about the NSA's success in finding terrorists through phone tapping. For starters I don't think terrorists within the USA would conduct their business through the phone with the knowledge of the phones possibly being tapped. Also the NSA has to inspect or filter through billions of phone calls to find that handful that might originate from terrorists. I'm sure they have their fair share farm of super computers but I think to do this would require a phenomenal amount of computing power and storage space almost unimaginable.

[webtaz99]

[Founder]

I don't mind them tapping the phones and e-mails and whatever else of SUSPECTED terrorists. But anyone else? I don't like that at all. Way too excesive. Not to mention, since this is all over the news do they think terrorists will talk about this on the phone?

"Praise be to Allah! We will a great party with many fireworks and the smoke will eradicate the life within all bodies!"-Phone Call

"Dear God Johnson did you hear that!? They are praying to Allah, so that means they are terrorist. They said they will go to a party with fireworks. The party obviously is a specific place, possibly the White House! The fireworks is an explosion, possibly dirty bomb! They spoke of smoke that would terminate people's lives! Thank God we tapped people's phones huh!?"-Idiot tapping our phones

"Wait a minute Frank, maybe it just means they are Muslims that are going to a Fourth of July part with fireworks and they're gonna get high, which tends to eradicate a lot within the body. Believe me, I know."-Slightly smarter idiot

"........................................................."-Idiot again

[Republican_Man]

The untold story, however, is this: The Clinton Administration instituted a far more intrusive program than the one the Bush administration has in place with regards to terrorists.
It's called the Eschilon program, though I doubt I spelt it right. There was, and still is (as I believe it's still in existence), far more intrusion with that program than with the NSA program we're all apprised about.
Keep that in perspective when considering who protected your civil liberties more--Bush or Clinton. Not only that, but also consider the fact that Janet Reno, Clinton's attorney general, just as Bush did, argued that the President did have the inherited right to commence such a program under the Constitution. This is also something that the New York Times, which opposes the Bush program, argued back in the 90s.
Perspective people, perspective. This is nothing compared to that.

[TrekkieMage]

[Republican_Man]

First, ask most Constitutional scholars and they will agree: it is entirely Constitutional and within the President's juristiction to do something like this.
Second, are you excusing Clinton's actions, but not Bush's, citing the idea that "even if we think it's wrong now, it apparently wasn't an issue then?" That doesn't seem very fair. If anything it's more necessary to have it now than under the Clinton Administration. The issue should have been bigger then than now, because there's a far greater reason for this. Besides, such a program would most definitely have prevented 9/11, numerous analysts say.

With regards to the tapping of phones, those are of international calls, and international calls only. If we don't allow such a program, then we could have one hell of a crisis on our hands. The process to go through FISA is long and cumbersome, and say we're monitoring a high-profile terrorist's calls and one of the numbers he calls is American. Do we stop then? I don't think so. We definitely shouldn't. And that's exactly what that program does.
This one, however, does NOT go into content or anything. This only has data mining, and it's hardly intrusive at all. There is nothing wrong with it.

[La Forge]

Let me throw this out there. I am a Bush-hater. Although, Bush's dog is awesome. I'm a big Democrat. Still, I try to stay out of arguments like this.

I would like to say one thing...I don't like this. I have never trusted the American government and I probably never will. We don't know if the gov. isn't really listening in on these conversations. We aren't really sure WHAT they are doing. I can't trust the gov. I don't think that the government gives a damn about this country. I can't trust them with stuff like this. Although, because I know CM is gonna say this, the gov. COULD be telling the truth, as well. I'm not sure...

*shrug*

Anyhoo...I just don't like it. And, lastly, I don't think a program like this would have prevented 9/11...but, y'know...it could have. It doesn't matter. What has happened has happened. There is nothing we can do about that, is there?

Lastly, I was just expressing my thoughts on the matter. Please don't respond to this post...heh...I'm not in the mood for a debate about my rather rude thoughts towards the government of the United States. I believe that it is corrupt and has been corrupt since the beginning.

[TrekkieMage]

[Ziona]

I figure, I'm not saying anything that I should be worried about so I don't really care.