Now see, you mentioned something useful and informative in specifying the cell phone locator system, although it is technologically feasible and is coming.
There are certain restrictions, mostly dating to the 1970s, which were imposed on the FBI, the NYPD, and other law enforcement groups regarding surveillance of political groups, not on the basis of privacy rights, but on the basis of an alleged "chilling effect", dampening attendance for fear of being photographed, for example. It is a restriction waiting to be amended, since we are not investigating crimes, but engaged in intelligence work. Similarly, you ask for a court order when developing a criminal case, not when trying to develop broad intelligence relevant to preventing terrorist attacks. The National Security Agency does not monitor phones and radios that have been authorized for tapping, it gets signal intelligence on a broad basis, and tries to separate the wheat from the chaff.
I am perfectly happy to have all of this subjected to Supreme Court review and to see what it says. But I am not alarmed, insofar as this is material for domestic intelligence related to searching out terrorists, and not just a free for all of information to use against us....... |
