Guys I am very sorry after looking thoroughly at both sides of the issue I now believe the Patriot Act is an infringement on our rights. My apologies to COG, Budman, Dirty Dog, IB and others - the way I look at it if we have to alter our freedom to protect us from another attack than the terrorist have already won. I was unaware of the IRS being involved in places where they don't need to be ditto goes to the CIA.
Originally Posted by wellendowed1911
If you follow what Snowden has said ... you will see that it needs way more overhauling than it is getting.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...rights-workers
Others who fell under its purview included people who accidentally followed a wrong link, downloaded the wrong file, or "simply visited an internet sex forum". French citizens who logged on to a suspected network were also targeted, he said.
The XKeyscore program amounted to an egregious form of mass surveillance, Snowden suggested, because it hoovered up data from "entire populations". Anyone using non-encrypted communications might be targeted on the basis of their "religious beliefs, sexual or political affiliations, transactions with certain businesses" and even "gun ownership", he claimed.
Snowden said he did not believe the NSA was engaged in "nightmare scenarios", such as the active compilation of a list of homosexuals "to round them up and send them into camps". But he said that the infrastructure allowing this to happen had been built. The NSA, its allies, authoritarian governments and even private organisations could all abuse this technology, he said, adding that mass surveillance was a "global problem". It led to "less liberal and safe societies", he told the council.
