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In reply to the discussion: I COMPLETELY support Snowden. [View all]Bonobo
(29,257 posts)From what I have heard, the FISA court basically gives access to a wide net (read tens of millions) of data searches anytime they are asked.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2358098/How-judge-presides-secret-FISA-intelligence-courts-approve-indiscriminate-spying-indiscriminately-arrested-1960s-just-black.html
"Nonetheless, the court's judicial history shows a perpetual willingness to side with government. Out of 1,800 requests for surveillance orders that the court received last year, it did not reject a single one.
The court has been accusing of being a 'rubber stamp' for government security agencies, though judges sharply deny such charges and say they carefully weigh each request for spying.
Programs like PRISM and the cell phone data collection scheme - both of which were revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden last month - cast an exceptionally wide net, civil libertarians say.
They reportedly allow the government to capture data from everyone indiscriminately - even though the vast majority are innocent of any terrorism-related activity.