PRIVACY: OK for the government to read your E-mail? [ POLL ]

[VBboy]

Should the government be able to read your E-mail even without having any evidence of your connection to terrorism or to anything illegal in general?

Sure, you guys vote NO now, but then you'll go and vote for a law to authorize them to do it!

Example: you are sending an E-mail to your wife or girlfriend. Should the government be allowed to go ahead and read that message? This is one of the many scenarios I can think of. I do NOT think they should be allowed to do it. But is that invasion of privacy or just playing it safe and keeping everyone "in check"?

 

[Len]

Due to the fact that I know VBboy personally I do know that he's hiding something. A lot of somethings. Other than that, I can say No unless they have a court order or a warrant (or whatever. i'm not a lawyer) but there are serious implications to our privacy if ANY branch of the govt. can go and snoop around all 20 of my hotmail accounts ;-).

 

[imported_Tomato]

Is it legal for the gov. to open and read your snail mail?

 

[VBboy]

Originally posted by: Len
Due to the fact that I know VBboy personally I do know that he's hiding something. A lot of somethings. Other than that, I can say No unless they have a court order or a warrant (or whatever. i'm not a lawyer) but there are serious implications to our privacy if ANY branch of the govt. can go and snoop around all 20 of my hotmail accounts ;-).

He is full of it. Don't read my E-mail, or you'll be sorry! :X

 

[yoda291]

I imagine it'd be the same thing as them reading your regular mail. It's prolly not legal, but could you really tell if they were?

 

[MemnochtheDevil]

Originally posted by: yoda291
I imagine it'd be the same thing as them reading your regular mail. It's prolly not legal, but could you really tell if they were?

They should be forced to get a search warrant demonstrating that there is a very good reason they need to invade my privacy.

 

[VBboy]

Originally posted by: yoda291
I imagine it'd be the same thing as them reading your regular mail. It's prolly not legal, but could you really tell if they were?

It's not about being able to tell, it's about the principle of the thing. Of course we can't find out if they are, but they still have to obey the law.

 

[mpitts]

I'm pretty sure no one here is going to say yes.

 

[VBboy]

Originally posted by: mpitts
I'm pretty sure no one here is going to say yes.

So then how did they manage to pass that Patriot Act or whatever? Isn't it even more serious than this? I believe that allows them to actually do things to your own PC!

 

[ProviaFan]

The quote from Benjamin Franklin about those who give up some of their freedoms for a little safety would be very appropriate here.

 

[Evadman]

Originally posted by: VBboy

Originally posted by: mpitts
I'm pretty sure no one here is going to say yes.

So then how did they manage to pass that Patriot Act or whatever? Isn't it even more serious than this? I believe that allows them to actually do things to your own PC!

because the people in the US were acting like little children yelling to daddy to protect them. they would accept anything. The patriot act is one of the biggest pieces of bull to ever pass congress.

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: Evadman

Originally posted by: VBboy

Originally posted by: mpitts
I'm pretty sure no one here is going to say yes.

So then how did they manage to pass that Patriot Act or whatever? Isn't it even more serious than this? I believe that allows them to actually do things to your own PC!

because the people in the US were acting like little children yelling to daddy to protect them. they would accept anything. The patriot act is one of the biggest pieces of bull to ever pass congress.

Ditto.

On an unrelated note, mpitts, every time I see your nick, I think "armpits?"

 

[Electric Amish]

Should be treated just like normal USPS mail.

amish

 

[Pastore]

I voted wrong, I wanted to put yes but I screwed it up. The first time they read some gay porno chat dialogues they'll stop checking out my email.

 

[VBboy]

Originally posted by: Beast1284
I voted wrong, I wanted to put yes but I screwed it up. The first time they read some gay porno chat dialogues they'll stop checking out my email.

What if they ARE into gay pr0n chat dialogs? Then you'll have nowhere to hide

 

[compudog]

Get a warrant, then read whatever you like.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I believe these are some of the echelon trigger words, feel free to use them:

1984, ACTIVE, AEC, AFSATCOM, AGCY, AIRFORCE, ALDERGROVE, ALERT, ALGORITHM, ALPHA, AMU, ANONYMOUS, ANTI, AREA51, ARPA, ASSASSINATION, BASE, BI, BIRD DOG, BLACKLIST, BLACK-OPS, BLOCKS, BLUEBIRD, BND, BRONZE, BUGS BUNNY, CAMOUFLAGE, CAPRICORN, CARBON, CBOT, CDC, CELL, CHAINING, CIA, CLASSIFIED, CLEARANCE, CLONE, CODE, COLD, COLLAT, COMPSEC, CONSPIRACY, CONTROL, COUNTER, CROSS, CRYPTO, CYPHER, DATA, DEATH, DEBUGGING, DEFCON, DEFENSE, DEVICE, DIRECT, DNA, DOA, DOD, DOOR, DUPLEX, E-BOMB, EBE, ECHO, EHF, ELECTRONIC, ENCRYPTION, ENERGY, ENIGMA, EPIDEMIC, ERROR, ESPIONAGE, ETERNITY SERVER, EUROFED, FACE, FACTOR, FBI, FIELD, FILES, FILTER, FIREFLY, FLU, FOREIGN, FOX, FREQ, FUSION, G-MAN, GATE, GENETIC, GOVERNMENT, GP, GROUND, GRAY DATA, GROOM, GROUP, GSG-9, GUARD, H, HACKERS, HALCON, HALO, HITWORD, HOUSE, HUMINT, HYPER, ICBM, INDIGO, INFORMATION, INFOSEC, INFOWAR, INFRASOUND, INSERT, INTEGRATE, INTELLIGENCE, IRBM, JASON, JET, JPL, JUPITER, KEY, LABLINK, LAW, LD, LETHAL, LEVEL, LF, LIQUID, LOCK, LOG, MAILBOMB, MAJIC, MAL, MAPLE, MASER, MASS, MECHANICS, MERCURY, MERLIN, MEV, MI, MICRO, MIL, MILITARY, MILSATCOM, MINUTE, MISSILE, MIT, MJ-12, MOBILE, MOLE, MONITOR, MOSAIC, NAS, NASA, NATIONAL, NATO, NAVELEXSYSSECENGCEN, NAVWAN, NEVADA, NEWTON, NOISE, NORAD, NSA, NSC, NUCLEAR, NUMBER, OBJECTIVE, OBSERVE, OIL, ORDER, OSS, OVERKILL, PASSWORD, PATENT, PENTAGON, PERL-RSA, PGP, PI, PINE GAP, PING, PLUTONIUM, PRESIDENT, PRIVACY, PROOF, PROPAGANDA, PROPULSION, PROTON, PSYOPS, QUANTUM, R00T, RADINT, RADIO, RECORD, REGISTER, REMAILER, RETINAL, ROSWELL, RSA, RSP, S/KEY, SAC, SAM, SASCOM, SATELLITE, SCAN, SCREENING, SECDEF, SECOPS, SECRET, SECURE, SEQUENCE, SHAPE, SHF, SIG, SIGDEV, SIGNATURE, SNIPER, SOP, SP4, SPECIAL, SPHINX, SPIES, STANFORD, STEALTH, STP, STRATEGIC, SUPERCOMPUTER, SUPRA, SURVEILLANCE, SYSTEM, T BRANCH, TACTICS, TECHNOLOGY, TI, TOP, TRACE, TRANSFER, TRANSMIT, TRAP, TRINITY, TROJAN, UHF, ULTRASOUND, UMBRELLA, UNDERCOVER, UNIT, US, USAF, VACCINE, VIRUS, VLF, WARFARE, WHITE, WIRE, WORM, XI, ZERO, ZETA, ZONE

 

[VBboy]

Pliablemoose,

I would quote you but I'm too scared

 

[BeauJangles]

Originally posted by: VBboy

Originally posted by: mpitts
I'm pretty sure no one here is going to say yes.

So then how did they manage to pass that Patriot Act or whatever? Isn't it even more serious than this? I believe that allows them to actually do things to your own PC!

The Patriot Act was passed for two reasons. First, look at its name. If you're a politician and oppose it, you are opposing the Patriot Act (you must not be a patriot). Second, nobody wants to appear 'soft' on terrorism. Third, it was the only legislation to come out after sept 11th (legislation that delt with security) and many didn't read it closely.