Thaw America is a non-partisan group dedicated to changing the law around mass surveillance. We want to maximize First and Fourth Amendment rights while maintaining or improving the institutions that keep us safe.
No. The 9/11 commission's report focused on a failure to share information as the largest failure of the intelligence community. In other words, law enforcement didn't stop 9/11 because they didn'tshare information well.
In fact, the new powers granted under the PATRIOT Act and the mass surveillance that followed have hurt law enforcement's ability to protect us. The agencies are flooded with so much information they can't find the information that matters. We've even seen whistleblowers come forth to say the NSA is choosing expensive, ineffective programs over cheaper programs that work.
Finally, independent examination of foiled terror plots revealed that the most controversial and widespread new powers were not key to preventing any attacks whatsoever.
Our primary focus right now is a case named FISCR 16-01. This case came from the secret Foreign Intelligence Court of Review (FISCR or FICoR). In short, it allows law enforcement to record phone calls without a warrant, but doesn't allow them to use them in court.
The case centers on pen registers, which are legal tools to capture telephone metadata. Pen registers can be used without getting a warrant.
We don't know - it's classified. It could be you. It could be me. No matter who the actual subject of the investigation is, this is about fundamental rights - and that's why we need to fight it.
They're after something called "Post Cut-Through Dialing Digits". PCTDD is a form of telephone metadata, sent after the call connects. Thus, from the point of view of the telephone company, it's content and they don't track it.
Law enforcement claims they need this to discover the ultimate destination of telephone calls placed through a redialing service. They also claim there is no technology available to let them capture only the metadata.
Yes. If the government really wants PCTDD from redialing services, they've got options. They could ask the redialing services nicely. After all, many would help, not wanting to be soft on terrorism. They could use administrative warrants. Depending on your interpretation of the law, they could even use pen registers installed at the redialing service to do so. PCTDD leaves a record and law enforcement has not clarified how they are being denied the existing records.
Additionally, we've written software showing that filtering out phone numbers is a relatively simple task. We can, in better-than-realtime filter out phone numbers - meaning no recording whatsoever is necessary.
First, it "pierces the veil" of Fourth Amendment protected information. The Fourth Amendment states:
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.
In short: searches and seizures cannot happen unless a law enforcement officer can show a reason they should. The amendment is very deliberately written this way. One of the original provocations to the American revolution was the use of searches by the British government to harass dissidents. The searchers fully knew they wouldn't find anything, but that searches are intrusive and disorienting. They hoped the threat of a search would be enough to silence critics. Becasue of this, the founding fathers wrote the 4th amendment to ensure the government had a reason before interfering with the lives of citizens.
Second, it can cause a chilling effect on speech. The chilling effect happens when the threat of some extra-judicial punishment causes people not to speak their minds.
In this case, the chilling effect is caused by law enforcement's ability to listen to any call without getting a warrant. If they heard anything they didn't like, they might decide to start an investigation into the person.
That's true - if they tell the truth. Unfortunately, they don't always do that. The best example of law enforcement lying to prosecutors and judges about the investigative process is the DEA's use of parallel construction. In parallel construction, agents create a fake chain of evidence to cover up the original source. In the DEA's case, this was illicit use of information gathered by the NSA. However, it's easy enough to see how these same methods could be transferred to calls law enforcement never should have heard.
No. This is a power that didn't exist before this case. If we win, there will be no change in law enforcement's capabilities. And, as we discussed before, there are ways law enforcement could get to this information.
Stalled, unfortunately. We've been illegally blocked by a clerk at the Supreme Court. We're working on several ways to overcome this barrier. We'll be sure to let you know when we need your help and when we succeed.
Thaw America is dedicated to fighting the chilling effect brought about by mass surveillance. Our name is a sort of mission statement. We want to thaw the exercise of 1st and 4th amendment rights.
Two lawyers and a technologist. Mssrs. John and Michael Walsh of Walsh & Walsh LLP make up the legal team, while Steven Presser acts as technical expert.
Nope. We're not formally incorporated at all.
No, we don't take donations. However, we would encourage you to donate to the ACLU, EFF, EPIC or FIRE. Each of these organizations has a different focus, but all are critical to protecting civil liberties.
Our time is given pro bono and our expenses are out of pocket.
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