Govt obtains wide AP phone records in probe

[rushmc 23]

Quote

In all, the government seized those records for more than 20 separate telephone lines assigned to AP and its journalists in April and May of 2012. The exact number of journalists who used the phone lines during that period is unknown but more than 100 journalists work in the offices whose phone records were targeted on a wide array of stories about government and other matters.

In a letter of protest sent to Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday, AP President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Pruitt said the government sought and obtained information far beyond anything that could be justified by any specific investigation. He demanded the return of the phone records and destruction of all copies.

"There can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters. These records potentially reveal communications with confidential sources across all of the newsgathering activities undertaken by the AP during a two-month period, provide a road map to AP's newsgathering operations, and disclose information about AP's activities and operations that the government has no conceivable right to know," Pruitt said.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/govt-obtains-wide-ap-phone-records-probe

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[Gravitymaster 0]

But..but.. we got free healthcare. And we got Bin Laden, so who cares?

[wmw999 2,587]

Well, actually, I care. This is no different from Patriot Act crap, and the lambasting of Bork because of his video rentals (among other things). It comes from the decreasing level of privacy available to and for just about anything, because of electronic media.

It's going to get worse. It's not just the Obama administration, it's anyone who wants records, and can define them adequately, and outline a reason for them. With computers, more and more is stored, and probably more and more is going to be required to be stored.

Best thing for everyone is to have a corporate/family/whatever policy on privacy that considers just about everything.

The thing is that if companies "circumvent" all this data collection, that's also considered to be a plot. And who thinks it's a plot depends on whose ox is being gored. Imagine if (for example), it were Warren Buffett records on political donations, vs. Rick Perry records on campaign contributions. Different people are going to scream. But it's the same thing, really.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Kennedy 0]

They don't tend to care when it's issues that apply to somebody else, but when it's their OC being gored, suddenly they're up in arms.

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[quade 4]

Quote

"There can be no possible justification..."

Says the AP. Absolute statements can frequently be proven wrong. There may, in fact, be a possible justification. Let's see what it is before jumping to conclusions.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver