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FBI wants access to browser history without a warrant in terrorism, spy cases

washingtonpost.com

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Re: FBI wants access to browser history without a warrant in terrorism, spy cases

#51

Post by nitrogen »

dave2000 wrote: post #39
nitrogen wrote: post #10

Call to Firefox devs: restore the option to keep history for a specified number of days. Why was this option ever removed? It originated all the way back in Netscape. Also: make a prominent "clear last hour" option for mobile; I hate following a link from someone and finding a ton of tracking cookies have just been added.

You're surfing without noscript, ublock origin and self-destructing cookies?

I'm using ublock0 of course. I tend not to install lots of other addons because it's difficult to evaluate them without a significant time investment. What is a good self-destructing cookie addon that preserves site logins?

Edit: While I'm here, Firefox should also provide an Android URL intent that opens links in a private tab.

Re: FBI wants access to browser history without a warrant in terrorism, spy cases

#52

Post by TallGuyShort »

csense wrote: post #43

A couple decades ago when the government wanted to get civil forfeiture powers, they said it was only going to be for the worst organized crime bosses and drug lords. Then within the last few years, a black kid who takes his life savings -- $10,000 cash -- and moves across the country to start a new life is (apparently entirely legally) relieved of it by two police officers and has no means to get it back, despite ne…

Non-constitutional exceptions to the constitution are just like Darth Vader: "I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further."

Re: FBI wants access to browser history without a warrant in terrorism, spy cases

#53

Post by TallGuyShort »

maxxxxx wrote: post #41
peteboyd wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using "terrorism" as a threat is simply the new "communism" arguments from the 1950s-1980s. It's just that this new era has no foreseeable end in site. There has been, and always will be, some type of terrorists. So its a perfect opportunity to use this threat (whether real in some cases and not in some cases) to get something approved that you could not normally. At least with the end of of the USSR, most of the old…

That's the thing. "Terrorism" like "communism" previously is described as threat where regular laws are not strong enough and here needs to be an exception. Communism went away but terrorism will most likely never go away.

In fact if we end up patrolling Muslim neighborhoods as some presidential candidates have suggested, I suspect we'll only end up increasing terrorism.

Re: FBI wants access to browser history without a warrant in terrorism, spy cases

#54

Post by blackbagboys »

busterarm wrote: post #19
xviia wrote: post #15

Hey that's fine, no need for a warrant. You just have to let the judge know that you think that person is a terrorist. And also what reasons led you to think they're a terrorist. Oh, and also what it is you're looking for, and why you think you'll find it. So... basically a warrant.

Keep in mind that many judges are elected (even when they run unopposed). I can see the attack ad now: "Judge Soandso thinks that terrorists deserve a greater right to privacy than you do. Judge Soandso protects terrorists. Vote Judge Otherguy." Kinda turns this into a rubber stamp.

Federal judges are not elected

Re: FBI wants access to browser history without a warrant in terrorism, spy cases

#55

Post by Aelinsaar »

csense wrote: post #43

A couple decades ago when the government wanted to get civil forfeiture powers, they said it was only going to be for the worst organized crime bosses and drug lords. Then within the last few years, a black kid who takes his life savings -- $10,000 cash -- and moves across the country to start a new life is (apparently entirely legally) relieved of it by two police officers and has no means to get it back, despite ne…

What is to be done, when dicking us over and harshly keeping us in line is profitable, and we keep electing them to do it?!

Re: FBI wants access to browser history without a warrant in terrorism, spy cases

#57

Post by sailfast »

busterarm wrote: post #17

Is it just me or is the FBI a little out of control lately...

Every few weeks I remind myself that J. Edgar Hoover retired as director of the FBI in 1972 after running the organization for 48 years. Somebody that fundamental to the formation of an organization creates a culture.

Re: FBI wants access to browser history without a warrant in terrorism, spy cases

#58

Post by Zikes »

Aelinsaar wrote: post #55
csense wrote: post #43

A couple decades ago when the government wanted to get civil forfeiture powers, they said it was only going to be for the worst organized crime bosses and drug lords. Then within the last few years, a black kid who takes his life savings -- $10,000 cash -- and moves across the country to start a new life is (apparently entirely legally) relieved of it by two police officers and has no means to get it back, despite ne…

What is to be done, when dicking us over and harshly keeping us in line is profitable, and we keep electing them to do it ?!

This presumes the election process is fair. Gerrymandering, fraud, bribery, voter suppression, it's a wonder we even call the US a democracy anymore.

Re: FBI wants access to browser history without a warrant in terrorism, spy cases

#59

Post by dmix »

patrickg_zill wrote: post #21

"Terrorism/spy cases" is just the camel's nose under the tent. It wasn't even 2 years after the 2001 PATRIOT act that the DOJ was using the provisions for drug cases. A probably non-exhaustive list is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversial_invocations_of_t...

> Investigating copyright infringement

> Adam McGaughey, the webmaster of a fan site for the television show Stargate SG-1, was charged with copyright infringement and computer fraud. During the investigation, the FBI invoked a provision of the Act to obtain financial records from the site's Internet Service Provider.

I never heard this one before. Using terrorism laws to investigate copyright infringment on a scifi TV show fan site.

A running theme in these cases:

> Millions of phone records were harvested, fed into a database and were searched for patterns of calling to and from numbers of known terrorists. To date, there have been no announced arrests from this program. [..] Furthermore, this information is databased and maintained indefinitely by the FBI.

Re: FBI wants access to browser history without a warrant in terrorism, spy cases

#60

Post by tn13 »

csense wrote: post #43

A couple decades ago when the government wanted to get civil forfeiture powers, they said it was only going to be for the worst organized crime bosses and drug lords. Then within the last few years, a black kid who takes his life savings -- $10,000 cash -- and moves across the country to start a new life is (apparently entirely legally) relieved of it by two police officers and has no means to get it back, despite ne…

Government can not be trusted. Something that the founding fathers and understood and warned centuries ago despite their own inherent flaws.

Individual liberty is something that we need to defend actively from the government and that can not happen unless we take a diametrically opposite stance and do not concede even and inch of ground.

Example: People who supported civil forfeiture essentially thought that its okay to take things away from crime lords even if the charges are not proved. Now CF is coming after everyone.

I think the right solution here is to starve the beast. Force the government to lower taxes and leave them with substantially less money for needless wars, enforcing idiotic laws and other welfare schemes.

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