-By Warner Todd Huston

A new law that was originally meant to strengthen the privacy of your email was recently re-written to allow government more access to your private emails and other digital files.

When H.R. 2471 went to the Senate, Democrat Senator Pat Leahy quickly rewrote the whole thing to allow federal policing agencies to have the power to search your digital files without a warrant.

As CNET reports it,

Leahy’s rewritten bill would allow more than 22 agencies — including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission — to access Americans’ e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant. It also would give the FBI and Homeland Security more authority, in some circumstances, to gain full access to Internet accounts without notifying either the owner or a judge.

This is, of course, an example of the government going too far for security. And you know the old saying so often attributed to Ben Franklin, “Those who would trade in their freedom for their protection deserve neither.”

Also, I can’t stress more, here, that is the Democrats doing this. This is not a GOP effort.



FreedomWorks has an action item on this:

On November 29th, the Senate Judiciary Committee will be holding a vote to amend language on a new cyber security measure (H.R. 2471) that would give law enforcement unprecedented access to private electronic communication. The new language, written by Senator Patrick Leahy, would allow for over 22 federal government agencies to look at emails, Facebook wall posts, and Google Doc files without a search warrant. The revision would also allow for the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to have full access to Internet accounts without ever informing a judge or the owner. Government should protect the right to privacy; not trample it. Tell your representatives to keep the government out of your email. Tell them to vote no on Sen. Leahy’s federal power grab.

Judge Napolitano touched on these issues at a recent event in Chicago.

What Others Are Saying

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“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”

–Samuel Johnson

Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that he wrote articles on U.S. history for several small American magazines. His political columns are featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com, and BigJournalism.com, as well as RightWingNews.com, RightPundits.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, AmericanDaily.com, among many, many others. Mr. Huston is also endlessly amused that one of his articles formed the basis of an article in Germany’s Der Spiegel Magazine in 2008.

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