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In reply to the discussion: Snowden: NSA employees routinely pass around intercepted nude photos [View all]JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)the password permits to be seen is private.
Why do we use passwords if the information that we see only when we use the password is in the public domain?
I go to the website of a company that sells yarn. They have a public page that is in the public domain. They may also choose to have a page on which I can see the history of my transactions, my purchases, my credit card number that is on their file. I use a password to reach my private information on that page. Once I use a password, I expect the company and those who process the information I hand over to the company to keep it private for me. I do not want a zillion other companies to find out that I like, say, chartreuse and wear a size 10 sock. (I don't. It's just an example.)
My medical information is sent to me via an internet website. There is a very strict law that protects that information from public view. It is most definitely not intended to be in the public domain. There is a lot of very personal information that is on the internet. If my doctors thought that the government could access the information they place on my personal healthcare website, they would not put it there. They are obligated by the HIPAA to protect my privacy with regard to my healthcare information.
http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/summary/
The internet is not entirely in the public domain. The government needs to get a warrant based on probable cause.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fourth_amendment
The FISA courts issued warrants or orders that did not comply with the portions of the Fourth Amendment that are in bold above.
The British use of the general warrant to harass and steal and enforce tax laws was one of the major reasons for our American Revolution.
Before the American Revolution, Hancock was one of the wealthiest men in the Thirteen Colonies, having inherited a profitable mercantile business from his uncle. Hancock began his political career in Boston as a protégé of Samuel Adams, an influential local politician, though the two men later became estranged. As tensions between colonists and Great Britain increased in the 1760s, Hancock used his wealth to support the colonial cause. He became very popular in Massachusetts, especially after British officials seized his sloop Liberty in 1768 and charged him with smuggling. Although the charges against Hancock were eventually dropped, he has often been described as a smuggler in historical accounts, but the accuracy of this characterization has been questioned.
Hancock was one of Boston's leaders during the crisis that led to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775. He served more than two years in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, and as president of Congress, was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence. Hancock returned to Massachusetts and was elected governor of the Commonwealth, serving in that role for most of his remaining years. He used his influence to ensure that Massachusetts ratified the United States Constitution in 1788.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hancock
Hands off the internet. End the general warrants issued by the FISA court.
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