Attention: Law enforcement groups have asked the Senate to require wireless companies to retain your text messages for at least two years…so they can access that information later, if they so choose. These is coming on the heels of law enforcement fighting to obtain a “traceable” database of your license plate information, and, after Senators were considering a bill amendment to be able to obtain your emails without a warrant!
Over the course of the past year, Conservative Daily has documented actions taken by the Obama administration and Members of Congress that have weakened our Fourth Amendment rights. It is time to put Congress on alert and vote in candidates who believe in our Constitution and are willing to abide by its principles. It does not matter if they are Democrat, Republican or Independent. Our country is as stake more than ever before. Those in public office need to be reminded that We, the People, are watching them.
Law enforcement claims that without text retention requirements, their investigations could be hindered. This is the same claim they made when they put pressure on Senator Patrick Leahy to waive requiring a warrant before reading your emails…and, it is the same claim they made when they convinced the Justice Department that we should be tracked by our cell phone data, saying American citizens have “no privacy interest” in that realm.
Congress is considering an update to the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act, written before we had such things as cell phones cloud computing. A coalition of groups is fighting for a rewording of the law to address the freedom and privacy of all citizens, while law enforcement is fighting to keep this information completely accessible to them at any time. Groups including the ACLU, Americans for Tax Reform, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Citizens Against Government Waste, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have organized a petition to Congress urging them to defend our rights:
The government should be required to go to a judge and get a warrant before it can read our email, access private photographs and documents we store online, or track our location using our mobile phones. Please support legislation that would update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) to require warrants for this sensitive information and to require the government to report publicly on the use of its surveillance powers.
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The Justice Department is pushing for Internet providers to store data about its customers, and now they are coming for our text messages. Your text messages are stored for certain periods of time depending on your provider; it could be days, weeks, months, or years—or they may not be stored at all. But this inconsistency is worrying the feds and law enforcement as they try to gain more control of what we do wirelessly and online, and as they attempt to impose new rules on our freedoms under the Constitution and especially, the Fourth Amendment.The Department of Justice argues that they have the right to read your emails that are more than 180 days old without a warrant. That means they believe they have the authority to go back six months and pore through whatever messages you’ve sent a coworker, a friend, a family member, or a lover. The Washington Post pointed out how ridiculous this was, writing, “"If you left a letter on your desk for 180 days, you wouldn’t imagine that the police could then swoop in and read it without your permission, or a judge’s."
Is that where we are headed?
We are watching the systemic destruction of our freedoms by the U.S. government and the quiet militarization of America. Drones have taken to the skies. Facial recognition technology is becoming more prevalent. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) gives government the right to indefinitely detain any American citizen without charge or due process. The Department of Homeland Security is purchasing millions of rounds of hollow-point bullets, riot gear, and security checkpoints, without explanation. And there is a chilling video online showing the military testing a new heat ray for use with crowd control.
What is happening to the United States of America? Should we be worried about Big Brother or martial law? Or, is government just getting too big?
We are not just fighting the Executive Branch. We need to put Members of Congress on alert as they debate our rights under the Constitution. There should be no debate. We are guaranteed privacy, and we are guaranteed due process. Members of Congress and the President of the United States need to govern by the Constitution.
In essence, we are losing our privacy, and the government will always tell you that it’s “for your own good.” It’s not just drones and military exercises and riot gear and checkpoints being ordered that disturb us—though admittedly, these things sound much more like Nazi-era movie props than U.S. government acquisitions—we are also watching various internet bills roiling around in Congress.
Do you remember where you drove your car last week? What about last month? What did you say to your friend three months ago in that email? Who did you text yesterday? If we do not remain diligent, Congress is going to allow themselves access to this information and law enforcement is going to be able to come in and take a look at everything you have done, without due cause or due process. Pretty soon you won’t have to keep up with your schedule, because the government will be doing it for you.
Government and law enforcement are becoming more powerful; we the People are becoming weak. And while every President has issued Executive Orders, we are particularly concerned about the ones Obama has issued and the way he could interpret previous ones, because he is using them to impose his agenda and go around Congress. What he couldn’t get done through using our system of representatives, he just whisked into law by signing a piece of paper and doing what he wanted to, anyway.
America is headed to a dark place. This is scary stuff and it seems crazy; maybe it is. But we all need to consider all the things beginning to take shape. And we need to lean on our representatives to defend the Constitution and our rights derived from it.
Sincerely,
Tony Adkins
Conservative Daily
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