A Union judgehas estimatedthat at least 30,000 secret electronic surveillance orders are made every year in the US , and those who are found to be innocent will probably never know that they ’ve been the prey of such snooping .
Ars Technica reportsthat US Magistrate Judge Stephen Smith has save up his estimates in a newspaper called “ Gagged , Sealed & Delivered “ . While phsyical lookup require a warrant , many digital searches — to , say , access put in e - mail , wiretap an Internet connection , or to chase after a cellular phone telephone — are stay fresh secret .
Judge Smith explains that the aggregate of 30,000 secret surveillance order “ is greater than the combined yearly total of all antitrust , usage discrimination , environmental , copyright , patent , earmark , and security system cases charge in Union court . ” So , umm , that ’s quite a lot then .
While Smith is n’t after anything as radical as cast out such secret surveillance , he does feel there should be a small more transparency in the process , as it “ would enable meaningful oversight not only by appellate courts but also by Congress and the worldwide public . ” That probably requires some subtle insurance policy tweaks — or , estimable , a major redevelopment of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act ( ECPA ) of 1986 .
The Ars Technica clause is actually well worth a read if you ’re interested in a run - down on the policy behind surveillance gild . Even if it does put you on some sort of watchlist . [ Ars Technica ]
Image bycharbel.akhrasunder Creative Commons license
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