By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The Senate on Tuesday ended the NSA’s controversial bulk phone-records program but reauthorized most of the Patriot Act that expired over the weekend. President Obama signed the measure, which passed the Senate with a 67-32 vote, the Wall Street Journal reports. The FBI warned that the move would hamper agents who…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The DEA’s use of wiretaps and other electronic surveillance more than tripled in the past decade, often bypassing courts and federal prosecutors, according to newly obtained records, the USA Today reports. The DEA used electronic surveillance 11,681 times in the last fiscal year, compared to just 3,394 a decade ago. The…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI has been operating a fleet of small planes equipped with video and occasionally cell phone surveillance technology, concealing the information from the public by registering the aircraft under fictitious company names, the Associated Press has found. What’s more, the surveillance is often used without a judge’s approval. The AP…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Two Congressmen with computer science degrees said the FBI is making Americans vulnerable to hackers, and any suggestion otherwise is ignorant, CNN reports. U.S. Reps. Will Hurd of Texas and Ted Lieu of California are criticizing FBI Director James Comey’s insistence that cell phone companies allow a “backdoor” for the bureau…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The U.S. government has fewer tools to fight terrorism after key provisions of the Patriot Act expired late Sunday despite a last-minute push by some Senators. CNN reports that the expiration ends the NSA’s controversial bulk data collection program. The NSA had been collecting phone metadata on millions of Americans. Law enforcement…
Maddie Stone Gizmodo Oh, good. A Department of Justice-proposed rule change that would make it way easier for FBI agents to obtain warrants to hack a computer from basically anywhere was just approved by a US Court committee. Which is to say, we’re one step closer to having our digital privacy rights eviscerated in the name of…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Federal investigators are worried they are about to lose surveillance tools that have been valuable in the fight against terrorism. The Associated Press reports that the surveillance is part of the controversial Patriot Act that offered more investigative tools. But those tools are at risk because they are set to expire…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI planned to invest in license-plate readers that are becoming more popular among local and state law enforcement but didn’t follow through with a purchase order after lawyers expressed concerns about the technology invading people’s privacy, the Associated Press reports. The AP received records that indicate the FBI has been…
