I agree with this response and would add that people are getting upset about the government storing copies of data that the phone companies have and keep as a routine part of business. I assume that the only difference is the government plans to retain the data longer than the phone companies would have. Just because the data is in a database does not mean anyone is looking at it. It would not be possible to have people routinely monitoring all of the data. There is simply too much of it. So the gripe is simply that the data is in a government database instead of a private companies database. Would people be happier if the government just required the phone companies to retain the data for a specified period of time in case they needed to check a terrorists past activities as well as those he interacted with? I might agree with that since I think private companies try to find the lowest costs of doing things where the government does not.
Originally Posted by Laz
What about the half million non-vetted civilian contractors that have access to this same data? They also have your email history and your internet history and the capability of using this data to harm you, it's not just phone records and it's not all government employees. Is it that far fetched to believe that another one of these dropout contractors will not do something devious with this data?
My favorite is that the same people that think this is no problem whatsoever are the first to scream bloody murder when a police officer, boots on the ground, life in possible danger is standing face-to-face with a possible terrorist in this country illegally, and wants to ask for that person to prove he is an American. Oh no, how dare we even think of asking a foreign looking muslim to prove he is here legally. But go ahead spy on us Americans, nothing wrong with trampling on our rights as long as we are protecting the illegal muslims with no rights at all. On principle, I disagree with spying on us, but it might taste a little better if they actually did everything that was needed to stop muslim attacks as well.