spying vs. justice?
We have lots and lots of secret communication, far more privacy than at any era in history. There's so much of it. At the beginning of the telephone age, there was no agreed-upon standard on wiretapping. Police did it all the time. Then somebody said, "Uh, fourth amendment?" And the whole thing was reviewed. Need a warrant to tap a phone, needs to be passed through a judge, probable cause, all that. The modern system began later on. For the FBI, it was somewhat looser. They dealt with counterintelligence and interstate crime or federal law. And Hoover was entrenched.
I don't like the way Snowden keeps making no difference between a lawful warrant, based on the proper procedures, and spying. It's not done by the same people for the same reasons, or in the same places. If anybody thinks that we're the only country that spies needs to do some reading. The rights of American 'persons' under reasonable suspicion can override the right to privacy if there are reasonable grounds. "It is likely there is criminal activity going on on this phone." Some spy in town, though, or somebody with a reasonable chance of setting off a bomb, I don't really care if my privacy is theoretically violated.
iPhone shots caught Tsarnaev after the store cams showed fuzzy photos.
Those who would completely undo all spying by all government agencies in the world are welcome to explain how they will go about that.
