Would You Like To Keep The Government From Spying On You? Speak Up Now

from the do-you-have-a-secret? dept

We’ve been talking about the Senate debate over cybersecurity all week, and it appears that it’s moving into the endgame process. Last night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called for cloture — basically the process to end the debate and move to a vote. In doing so, he also set it up such that he’s basically blocking most amendments from being discussed. However, the important Franken/Paul amendment that increases privacy protections will be voted on. In fact, it will be the first amendment to be considered. Whether or not the overall bill passes (and there’s some skepticism about whether the votes exist), it is important that the Franken/Paul amendment pass, and Congress get the message that protecting the public from government snooping is an issue the public cares about. Senate staffers have been saying that they’ve been getting calls on this issue, but more would certainly help.

The folks at Fight for the Future have set up the excellent Do you have a secret? site to highlight why government snooping is a serious problem. Similarly, the EFF has set up a useful site with an embedded Tweet tool (and, yes, tweeting about this also helps — staffers are paying attention to this, though calling is always best).

The Franken/Paul amendment does have some support, including from Senator Chuck Schumer who made an impassioned speech last night for protecting our privacy rights within this bill, and how important such privacy protections were to the future of the internet.
Either way, today and tomorrow are important days for letting your Senators know that stopping the government from snooping on your private info online is important to you, so speak up.

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Comments on “Would You Like To Keep The Government From Spying On You? Speak Up Now”

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18 Comments
Ninja (profile) says:

Re: Re:

I believe that snooping regular citizens will probably inflict serious mental damage in the employees in charge of checking all the data. Tranny p0rn is actually quite soft. I invite you to board the disturbing and fertile world of Japanese p0rn. I’ve had my share of mental damage (many that were completely unexpected) already =D

I do think it hasn’t affected my ability to live in society and make coherent and well based comments. Yet.

If there’s supply there’s demand so I will infer that there are all sorts of weirdos with even weirder tastes out there. And stop looking me as if I’m a freak. /lol

Michael says:

Re: Re:

“Is it just me, or does anyone else feel that a government agency, like the NSA or FBI, will get a hold of that information and use it to build a list of people they need to keep an eye on.”

Yes, obviously, and since the NSA is actively spying on Americans anyway, all this bill would really do is give them legal impunity for stepping on our rights.

Here’s the $64,000 question: what does the government stand to gain by spying on American citizens? What, did the government wake up one day and decide that we’re the enemy? What are they going to use all this information for?

Unanimous Cow Herd says:

Feedback Fail

Upon submitting a message regarding the new CyberSEcurity legislation.

“Sorry, the web page you have requested is experiencing technical difficulties. The Webmaster has been alerted.

You will be automatically redirected to the http://www.senate.gov home page after 10 seconds.

If this problem persists, please contact the Office of the Secretary Webmaster at webmaster@sec.senate.gov.”

Seems that either they’re getting too many emails or they’re stuffing their fingers in their ears. Anyone for a guess?

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