Today an article was written up on CNN.com http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/16/news/companies/verizon/index.htm?cnn=yes
Basically it's about how Verizon denies giving the NSA any phone records without a court order. So now I have a few questions to ask to Verizon and to the Adminstration.
1) If the phone companies deny cooperating with the NSA, then how the heck did the NSA get phone records in the first place?
2) Why would Verizon give the phone records of their coustmers out, when this could potentially cost them a fortune (and it looks like it just might)?
3) Does the NSA have the ability to get phone records without permission from the phone companies, and if so, who thought that this would be a good idea?
4) Is the national security of our country worth giving up our personal freedoms?
Also, another issue I find with this, is the fact that there is a civil law-suit against Verizon for "providing" the government with phone records. Okay, so say that Verizon did give the gov't phone records... would it not be reasonable to think that they had just cause. Also, shouldn't be be using the gov't for SPYING on AMERICAN CITIZENS! Why are we punshing a phone company, that probably if they had any choice in the matter would've NOT given out phone records?
Just some thoughts...
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I do not see the big deal of handing out phone records. It is not like anyone who see's them will personally know you or who you are talking to. The only thing that would upset me is having the conversation recorded and handed to the government. How is the government knowing how much we talk on the phone or who we talk to going to hurt us.
I agree to an extent. Personally I have nothing to hide so if they want to take a look at MY personal phone records go for it. But, as a principle, and an ideal we tend to take for granted, this can not be allowed to happen. We have the right to know when someone is investigating us, and they should have Just cause. The bigger problem about this whole issue is that Bush did not go through the legal system. A system set up to check the President's power in order to keep us from developing a dictatorship. It's a slippery slope, and I feel like we're heading down the wrong path.