A Project of Sage Steppe Wild
Obama Administration: Constitution Does Not Protect Cell-Site Records. By David Kravets. Wired Magazine.
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Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
Comments
I knew there was a good reason that I never got a cell phone.
change?
So–which party is going to protect citizen’s rights? I am watching as Obama is becoming Obusha. Who is pulling his strings?
Didn’t I argue during the Bush years a number of times on this blog that the Office of the President had inherently become the biggest threat to democracy in the government?
Ralph, you are correct, but by no means forget state and local politicians. MANY are in the pockets of big business. Both sad and sorry for our country!
jimbob,
You’re right. They are not forgotten. There’s the old saying, “Hide your family and lock up your property, the state legislature is in session.”
Ralph I totally agree with you. The legislators are all too willing to give their constitutional power and I’m afraid that with a president as popular as Obama, the People themselves are all too willing, perhaps unknowingly, to give up their constitutional rights as well.
I thought Obama would try and reverse the trends of past presidents to usurp power, being a Con Law prof and all, but I guess I was wrong. I’m gonna start lobbying for Dr. Adler to get put into the OLC 🙂
The only guarantee with politicans is when there lips are moving there most likely lieing. Obama needs to get rid of some of the provisions put in by Bushco instead of expanding on them.
I delving into foil hat area here 🙂 , but an unarmed society with no rights is a very scary prospect. (look at Germany under the Nazis)
Oh Ryan how can you say that about our wounderful elected congress ;). I got the funniest email about the bail out today, was a clip from southpark and basically had a big wheel where the higher ups would cut off the head of a chicken and let it run around untill it finally stoped on a square then they would try that idea, I don’t know about all of you but I’m getting really sick of Pres Obomas town hall meetings, and his do nothing admin. Congresss is spending trillions of OUR money, and yet they seem to want to complain about AIG bouness that they voted for give me a break, I think I’m going to just hole up and wait it all out.
hee hee hee hee hee!!!!!
It seems to me like anyone who uses a cell phone or wireless device of any kind should know that not only the government but anyone from any country can access their information. You on “on the air” and your email is not safe either. . . so don’t do anything you don’t want people to know about. This seems like a minor issue and a two edged sword. If you want to keep American’s ideals of freedom and privacy you have to give up the idea of the government being able to solve some of the crimes around the border, say with Mexico or not be able to completely protect us from attacks. It takes common sense to know where to draw the line and with new technology it is an ongoing process. I would have been very surprised if this went the other way.
Linda,
Thanks for bringing this back to the subject.
Cell phones, GPS devices, ATM machines, and many other devices can be used to track you.
Americans can complain about the government, but we can blame ourselves for not insisting on our privacy.
I never liked cell phones, and I am strongly thinking about giving mine up since I lost it the other day anyway.
Wow, interesting to see the spin factory at work! I’m not sure what “right” granted under the constitution is being infringed upon here? Did the framers intend for every citizen to be able to plot in anonymity from anywhere within our nation’s boundaries? If so, I suppose we should all be appalled. Still, last time I checked, every American had the “right” to freely decide whether or not to purchase and use a cell phone. 🙂
Gee, we are sounding a bit Christian fanatical. Worried about a bar code on your inner arm? It has been done…tattoos on the Jews in concentration camps. The world didn’t end there.
The simple ruth is, the more you rely upon a system, the more you belong to it. You use a bank, someone will know your monetary worth. You use a phone (land or cell) and someone can trace your every step.
Have you googled your address? Most of us are able to access a picture of our front door and a view of our street online …uncle sam didn’t do that, a computer geek who is highly paid did.
You have the right to privacy, but how you maintain it is up to you. If you don’t want people knowing your every move prevent it. Don’t integrate into the tech craze. Send letters, spend cash, and don’t buy things on credit. Walk fifty yards to your neighbor’s house to talk about how your day was…hey, protecting your privacy requires carful choices (and may just get us a lot healthier in the prcoess).
Seriously, most people are not a concern for the government, and the government will give a hoot about them. But the same people griping about their lost privacy will be complaining that the president should have done more to protect them (via intellegence) when we get attacked at home.
I recall a certain day in september that spurred all kinds of controversy about what the government should be doing to track down terrorists and prevent harm to it’s citizens. How do you suppose they accomplish that without being able to access this type of info?
Privacy and security isn’t an either or scenario. The authorities can have access to necessary information without compromising privacy rights. Requiring a judge to rule on requests for phone records or other private information can go a long way to protecting privacy and will not hinder law enforcement/national security needs.
As to Obama, is anyone really surprised? The history of the presidency is one of expansion of its powers. No president has ever voluntarily curtailed the power of the executive branch.
Tim McVeigh was wildly paranoid, but the same kind the thinking (computer chip in his butt) ten years from now may simply be a reasonable assumption, given the current trend.
Today many children are being raised and routinely monitored 24 hours a day by video cameras at school and by their parents. Are they going to stand up for freedom?
Of course it’s for their good, just as it is for our wildlife. You can intervene easier if someone causes “depredations.” That’s why I posted this on a wildlife blog.
And that’s why I’ll never own a cell phone 😉