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Right to Privacy: Is the NSA listening to your phone calls?

Posted January 4, 2008

“The NSA has eliminated the requirement that forces them to ask for phone records. Instead, the NSA simply builds in access to the phone carrier switches - even those that carry domestic calls. Again, no warrant or due process required.” — Mark Nestmann, The Sovereign Society.

Blogger’s note: Mark Nestmann of The Sovereign Society wrote this article on the erroding of Americans’ right to privacy in this week’s A-Letter. And I thought you would find his report interesting and elucidating. You can peruse the entire article here or read on for more information.

by Mark Nestmann

Baltimore – (TFN) Just imagine: One morning, you answer a knock at your door. The person standing there introduces himself as a federal investigator. He assures you that you’re not under arrest. You’re not even under suspicion.

Nonetheless, the agent tells you, he’s been appointed to move into your home. His mission: Listen in to all your telephone calls, read all your emails, review all your Internet browsing, and report all “suspicious activity” to the FBI.

“What’s suspicious?” you ask. “You have no right to know,” he replies. “Am I being singled out for some reason?” you ask. “No, every person in the United States is subject to this surveillance.”

Of course, there’s no way that the U.S. government could appoint a full-time investigator to eavesdrop on everything you say on the telephone, or every activity you conduct on your PC.

But, in effect, the National Security Agency, the super-secret intelligence arm of the Department of Defense, is doing something quite similar in its electronic eavesdropping programs.

Just Talking to Anyone South of the Border Makes You a Suspect

For instance, to deter narcotics trafficking, the NSA collects and analyzes Americans’ phone records if they call someone in Latin America. There’s no warrant or other due process involved. The NSA simply approaches a phone carrier, asks for the records, and analyzes them.

More recently, the NSA has eliminated the requirement that forces them to ask for phone records. Instead, the NSA simply builds in access to the phone carrier switches - even those that carry domestic calls. Again, no warrant or due process required.

According to court documents, in February 2001 - months before September 11th - the NSA asked AT&T for permission to give the agency access to all the global phone and email traffic that ran through a huge network center in New Jersey. Read on to find out how to protect yourself from prying government eyes and ears.

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