Unsurprising yet still sickening.
When governments force companies, private citizens, to keep secrets from the public, you know you're on the road to communism or worse.
There is a reason we have a court system with judicial oversight. The reason is to allow the subject...er suspect, a reasonable defense on government overreach.
When the citizens of a country are required to be complicit, yet must also remain quiet about their actions in support of government, that itself is a crime against the people.
Kudos to the whistle blower. Hopefully there will be some congressional hearings on this behavior.
Added Note: I have no issue with a hidden warrant. That is a tool used for criminal investigation. My problem is prohibiting companies from acknowledging what is being asked of them, even without disclosing whom the suspect(s) may be.
Furthermore, the worse crime, in this case, is blanket surveillance without evidence a crime was committed. In the US, the constitution prohibits such arbitrary abuse of law enforcement. Our judicial system allows for criminal investigation, the key word being criminal, as in a crime has been committed and therefore government must investigate the crime and prosecute the offenders. It prohibits personal investigation where the government investigates an individual, often for less than ethical reasons (such a political opponent of the investigator or investigating agency) looking to find, or, more often, looking to charge someone of anything that they can convince the public was a crime.
