Careful, Someone Can Be Listening!

The Democrats appear to be on the verge of extending their power of wiretaps. Two months ago, Democrats promised to roll back broad eavesdropping powers won by the Bush Administration. Now, it appears that they are on the brink of extending vital powers given to the National Security Agency. Administration officials say they are confident they will have approval of the authority that they temporarily secured in August. Some Democratic officials concede that they may not come up with enough votes to stop approval. Debates over the eavesdropping powers have begun this week. Measures are now emerging that reflect the reality now facing the Democrats. A Democratic bill to be proposed on Tuesday in the House would maintain for several years the type of broad, blanket authority for N.S.A. eavesdropping that the administration secured in August for six months. The August bill, known as the Protect America Act, was approved before Congress went on its recess after heated warnings from the administration that legal loopholes in wiretapping coverage had left the country vulnerable to another terrorist attack. The bill to be proposed on Tuesday by the Democratic leaders of the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees would impose more controls over the powers of security agency. “We are giving the N.S.A. what it legitimately needs for national security but with far more limitations and protections than are in the Protect America Act,” said Brendan Daly.

The government has a long track record of abusing personal information that's gathered in the name of national security. From the Red Scare in the 1920s to illegal wiretaps during the Nixon era, Americans have struggled to find the right balance between individual rights and collective security. In 1928, the United States Supreme Court approved the practice of wiretapping for the police and other government officials, though some states have banned it. But in 1986, the U.S. government enacted the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), wiretapping regulation that protects e-mail, pagers and cell phone calls.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/washington/09nsa.html?bl&ex=1192248000&en=b698745fe9b69c4d&ei=5087%0A

http://www.courttv.com/news/2005/1104/technologylaw_ap.html