<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;display:inline"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2"><b>We knew that - didn't we?</b><br></font><font size="2">
But most people are simply too lazy or too afraid to stand up
against the aggressor or at least to change their own internet
behaviour, but often believe they could bigmouth about "Nothing to
hide ..." and get away with it.</font><font size="2"><br></font></span>
<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2"><br></font><font size="2">
In all times the dictators could trust in the laziness, ignorance
and fear of their sheeple.</font></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2"><br></font><font size="2">
While in Fortress Europe now martial law, </font><font size="2"><span>kin
liability and arrest for thought or free speech have been imposed
like under Nazi Germany, the USofAmerica are leading us all into
WWIII.</span></font><font size="2"><br></font></span>
<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2"><br></font></span>
<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2"><b>Revealed: </b></font><font size="2"><br></font></span>
<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2"><b>FBI can demand web
history, phone location data without a warrant</b></font><font size="2"><br></font></span>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2">The
FBI can use national security letters (NSLs) to force companies
to turn over sensitive user data without a warrant, according to
filings. <br></font></span></p>
<div>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"> By <span><a rel="author" href="http://www.zdnet.com/meet-the-team/us/zack-whittaker/" target="_blank">Zack Whittaker</a></span> for
<a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/" target="_blank">Zero Day</a> | November
30, 2015 -- 16:35 GMT (08:35 PST) | Topic: <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/topic/security/" target="_blank">Security</a></span> </p>
</div>
<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2"><span></span></font><font size="2"> </font><font size="2"><span></span></font></span>
<div> </div>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2"> The FBI can compel companies and individuals to turn over vast
sums of personal data without a warrant, it has been revealed for
the first time.</font></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2"> In a case that's lasted more than a decade, a </font><a href="https://yale.app.box.com/Nicholas-Merrill-SDNY-Decision" target="_blank">court
filing released Monday</a><font size="2"> showed how the FBI used secret
interpretations to determine the scope of national security
letters (NSLs).</font></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2"> Nicholas Merrill, founder of internet provider Calyx Internet
Access, who brought the 11-year-old case to court after his
company was served a national security letter, won the case
earlier this year.</font></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2"> National security letters are almost always bundled with a gag
order, preventing Merrill from speaking freely about the letter he
received.</font></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2">While it was known that national security letters can demand
customer and user data, it wasn't known exactly what. </font></span></p>
<div> </div>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2"> In a statement on Monday, Merrill revealed the FBI has used its
authority to force companies and individuals to turn over complete
web browsing history; the IP addresses of everyone a person has
corresponded with; online purchase information, and also cell-site
location information, which he said can be used to turn a person's
phone into a "location tracking device."</font></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2"> According </font><a href="https://yale.app.box.com/NSL-Attachment-Unredacted" target="_blank">to a
release</a><font size="2">, the FBI can also force a company to release postal
addresses, email addresses, and "any other information which [is]
considered to be an electronic communication transactional
record."</font></span></p>
<div> </div>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2"> Merrill said in remarks: "The FBI has interpreted its NSL
authority to encompass the websites we read, the web searches we
conduct, the people we contact, and the places we go. This kind of
data reveals the most intimate details of our lives, including our
political activities, religious affiliations, private
relationships, and even our private thoughts and beliefs."</font></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2">Federal district judge Victor Marrero described in his decision
that the FBI's position was "extreme and overly broad."</font></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2">He also found that the FBI's overbroad gag order on Mr. Merrill
"implicates serious issues, both with respect to the First
Amendment and accountability of the government to the people."</font></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2"> Merrill is the first person who has succeeded in completely
lifting a national security letter gag order.</font></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2"> The Patriot Act expanded the reach of national security letters
when it was signed into law a month after the September 11 attacks
in 2001.</font></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2">More than ten thousand national security letters are issued by
the FBI every year, without a warrant or judicial oversight.</font></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2">These letters have been surrounded with controversy for years,
leading to many unsuccessful attempts to litigate against them.
Major companies, including </font><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/article/google-fails-to-strike-down-fbis-unconstitutional-secret-gagging-orders/" target="_blank">Google</a><font size="2">,
have challenged national security letters, with little luck.
Microsoft recently challenged an order, which led to </font><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-challenged-an-fbi-national-security-letter-and-won/" target="_blank">the
FBI to withdraw the demand</a><font size="2">.</font></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2">In 2008, a US court found the National Security Letter statute,
amended by the Patriot Act in 2001, was unconstitutional.</font></span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font size="2">In a separate case in 2013, the gag order provision was found to
be </font><a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/03/gagging-recipients-of-national-security-letters-found-unconstitutional/" target="_blank">in
breach of the First Amendment</a><font size="2">. The government appealed the
ruling.</font></span></p></div></div>