Patriot Act
The USA Patriot Act is a controversial law that broadly expands the ability of the U.S. government to surveil both U. S. citizens and foreign nationals around the world, passed in the immediate aftermath of the 9-11 Attack[1]. The law expands the government's power to do secret searches and wiretaps without the accountability formerly required through judicial oversight and has been shown to be used predominately to fight domestic crime and drug dealers, as well as to detain non-citizens indefinitely without a trial[2].
Described by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) as representing a significant threats to civil liberties, privacy, and democratic traditions[3], the law is still in effect today. The EFF says the Patriot Act gives
"sweeping search and surveillance to domestic law enforcement and foreign intelligence agencies and eliminates checks and balances that previously gave courts the opportunity to ensure that those powers were not abused."[3]
The Americal Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) claims that most parts of the law are unconstitutional, saying that it gives
"unchecked government power to rifle through individuals' financial records, medical histories, Internet usage, bookstore purchases, library usage, travel patterns, or any other activity that leaves a record"[4].
References
- ↑ Public Law 107–56, a.k.a. the Patriot Act, was made official on October 26, 2001.
- ↑ Wasn't the Patriot Act supposed to be about Stopping Terrorism? from the TechDirt podcast 9-8-2011
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Description of the dangers of the Patriot Act from the Electronic Frontier Foundation website, a non-profit defending civil liberties online
- ↑ How the Patriot Act may be unconstitutional from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)