Countries ain't the only thing our guv'ment is good at invading...
...but "invasion of privacy" sounds so sordid. Let's just say "information mining."
Eavesdropping on everyone is not an invasion, says Bush
By Mark Coultan Herald Correspondent in New York
May 13, 2006
PRESIDENT George Bush has denied the US Government is invading the privacy of its citizens after reports Washington is trying to compile a database of every phone call made by Americans.
That's awesome.
"Hey, bud, just because we're eavesdropping on everybody, it don't mean we're invading your privacy."
Uh, then what is it?
"It's just monitoring your daily activities, personal habits, and regular communications with other human beings."
Oh. Thanks for clearing that up.
USA Today said on Thursday that the secret program, conducted by the National Security Agency, was the largest database ever assembled. It quoted one source as saying its goal was "to create a database of every call ever made" within US borders.
The report said the program does not listen to or record calls, but mines telephone records to look for calling patterns that could show terrorist activity.
Most identifying data, such as customers' names and addressees, have been removed from the phone records provided to the Government. But the phone numbers can easily be cross-referenced against other data to match these personal details.
Three of America's largest telecommunications companies, AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, have co-operated with the Government by handing over the data. Only one big company, Qwest, refused, saying it was uneasy about handing over its customers' private records without a court warrant.
Mr Bush did not deny the story directly, but said: "We're not mining or trawling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans. Our efforts are focused on links to al-Qaeda and their known affiliates. So far we've been very successful in preventing another attack on our soil."
Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, said there was a looming constitutional clash between the Administration and the Fourth Amendment, which guarantees protection against unreasonable search and seizure.
Arlen Specter, the Republican chairman of the judiciary committee, said he would hold hearings into the program and intended to call the heads of the three big telephone companies.
One immediate consequence will be a much more difficult confirmation process for General Michael Hayden, the former head of the National Security Agency, as Mr Bush's choice as the next head of the CIA.
He cancelled a day of meetings, and when confronted by television cameras said only that everything the NSA had done was within the law.
The story visibly annoyed Mr Bush, who said every such story "hurts our ability to defeat this enemy". He said all NSA activities were within the law, and appropriate members of Congress from both parties had been briefed.
The NSA has previously been revealed as having conducted a phone-tapping surveillance program, where one party was outside the US, without seeking warrants. But the new program goes much wider than this.
The political fallout is uncertain. Mr Bush managed to fight off criticism of the overseas eavesdropping program. Most Democrat congressman backed off their criticism of it when opinion polls showed most Americans were not concerned about the Government bugging overseas phone calls. But this program, potentially affecting all Americans, could be different.
BIG NUMBERS
* More than 200 million US telephone accounts and more than a trillion telephone calls made since late 2001 are included in the database.
* The US phone system is anchored by four companies: AT&T, Verizon Communications, BellSouth and Qwest Communications.
* BellSouth covers the south-east and is being acquired by AT&T, which has territories from Texas to Michigan, California and Nevada.
* It is the norm for phone companies and mobile phone operators to provide information to authorities if there is a proper subpoena.
