Is Big Brother Watching You?

The Washington Post is reporting yes.

If you traveled abroad or took a trip this summer, he just might have you documented. The Department of Homeland Security has been keeping tabs on the habits of millions of American travelers. An Automated Targeting System was put in place over a decade ago to screen passengers on airlines. But post- 9/11, has caused for a wider net to be cast. Now information is gathered from people taking cruises to those traveling inside the United States borders. Civil liberty groups are saying that some of the information gathered violets the Privacy Act. Information does not just include the traveler's name, date of birth, etc., but also the personal items carried on the plane, who they are traveling with, and even the size of bed requested in the hotel room. Some deem that some of the information gathered is unnecessary. Michael Chertoff, DHS Secretary, says the system helps to cut down the "inconvenient screening of low-risk travelers", while comparing the gathered information to terrorism intelligence.

J. Edgar Hoover was the first FBI director, after he helped make it what it is today. Under the orders of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. was tracked beginning in 1961. The reason for this was the Kennedy administration apparently believed that King was a Communist. The connection was made after his lawyer Stanley Levison had been involved with the Communist Party USA. Wiretaps were placed on both King and Levison. This caused some major issues after all the tapes and transcripts were ordered to be held in the National Archives on January 31,1977. The contents of the tapes will never be known until the year 2027. But, many believe that the FBI might have had something to with assassination of Dr. King because of these wiretapping tapes and transcripts.