Dear NSA, Can you please stop watching us viewing porn please? Yours sincerely 90% of the internet.

[Not Lord Atkin]

From what I understand, right to private family life, home and correspondence (also known as article 8 of European Convention of Human Rights) is not a part of the US constitution per se (and yet you have a provision for owning guns. Doesn't that strike you as weird?). I'm sure there are other legal provisions that more or less fix that but it also means that NSA has an easier job building a legal framework that overrides this right. I.e. they get to spy on you in a completely legal manner and you don't get to complain.

With other, less... mad countries, there's a limited amount of what agencies equivalent to NSA can do. Sure, GCHQ gets to monitor phone calss and such and such but spying on someone looking at porn would get the UK into a whole lot of trouble with Strasbourg.

So legally, no. There isn't much that you can do with NSA. Which is unfortunate and especially infuriating given the US's tendency to stick their nose outside their jurisdiction - like issuing extradition orders on British students that break US law while A> being physically located in the UK and B> not breaking UK law. Yeah. That sort of thing happens.

Now I don't mean to sound harsh and let me say that I fully sympathise with the US citizens. I just think that their government's domestic and foreign policies are in a dire need of a revision. Case in point: NSA.

 

[Candlejack000]

Yo may not think you watching porn can be linked to terrorism, but definitions are getting broader.

The below is from a speech about a proposed defense bill. I am not sure if it went through

"Someone missing fingers on their hands is a [terror] suspect according to the Department of Justice, someone who has guns, someone who has ammunition that is weather proofed, someone who has more than seven days of food in their house can be considered a potential terrorist." -Sen Rand Paul (R-KY)

and some more

http://www.xdtalk.com/forums/xdtalk-chatter-box/190061-10-ridiculous-things-make-you-terrorist-suspect.html

 

[Yoshi4102]

C-can they still see it if I'm in incognito mode??

 

[GonzoGamer]

Speak for yourself. I'm a bit of an exhibitionist so knowing they're watching turns me on a little more. I have to try and skeet my webcam next time.

 

[Parasondox]

Dear Paradox SuXcess,

Thank you for your letter! Stop making a fuss, or we'll tell everyone what crazy shit you're into.

XOXOXO
-The NSA

You can't stop me from watching my shark porn so jokes on you. And yes Sharknado and Mega Shark is a jerk fest for me. LOL

 

[RikuoAmero]

Honestly, they really don't give a damn what kind of porn you're into. As long as you aren't a terrorist/criminal they'll leave you alone.

This is the exact same tactic used by the FBI in the 50's and 60's under Hoover. The FBI had evidence of Martin Luther King Jr.'s extra-marital affairs and reported on this to political opponents of King's. They hoped to use this as blackmail in order to coerce King into doing their bidding.

 

[PainInTheAssInternet]

Yo may not think you watching porn can be linked to terrorism, but definitions are getting broader.

The below is from a speech about a proposed defense bill. I am not sure if it went through

"Someone missing fingers on their hands is a [terror] suspect according to the Department of Justice, someone who has guns, someone who has ammunition that is weather proofed, someone who has more than seven days of food in their house can be considered a potential terrorist." -Sen Rand Paul (R-KY)

and some more

http://www.xdtalk.com/forums/xdtalk-chatter-box/190061-10-ridiculous-things-make-you-terrorist-suspect.html

So basically according to the NSA, everyone's a potential terrorist.

Honestly, I don't doubt they think that. You'd have to be this paranoid to permit the NSA to exist in the first place.

 

[Muspelheim]

Welp, don't come whine at me later, secret police. Although I guess they are pretty jaded at this point, I'm an innocent newborn sheep in the greater scheme of things. I wouldn't be worth their time.

I just hope they understand that if they attempt to surpress pornography for moral reasons, it's just going to grow even stronger, even weirder than it could become on its own.

Of course, one can hope that when they do start using their knowledge of people's private playing habits for political purposes, everyone will see it for the stupidity that it is and stop making a big deal out of the fact that biological creatures have sexual needs. I'll live in hope.

 

[Dalisclock]

Honestly, they really don't give a damn what kind of porn you're into. As long as you aren't a terrorist/criminal they'll leave you alone.

They don't even have a burden of proof to put someone in a black site that doesn't follow the laws of either of a prison or a POW camp. All they have to do is dub someone an "enemy combatant", arrest someone and then toss them in Gitmo. Do you think there is really a burden of proof to spy on your porn habits?

 

[Steve the Pocket]

From what I understand, right to private family life, home and correspondence (also known as article 8 of European Convention of Human Rights) is not a part of the US constitution per se (and yet you have a provision for owning guns. Doesn't that strike you as weird?). I'm sure there are other legal provisions that more or less fix that but it also means that NSA has an easier job building a legal framework that overrides this right. I.e. they get to spy on you in a completely legal manner and you don't get to complain.

Frankly, the US needs to be dissolved as a sovereign nation and have its citizens "liberated" by the European Union. Look at the Declaration of Independence and tell me George W. Obama isn't guilty of worse things than anything the Founding Fathers were griping about. While they're at it they can shut down like 90% of our corporations too. Fuck this country.

 

[malestrithe]

Sorry, but I am not worried about the NSA monitoring my Internet activities.

Here's the thing that needs to be made clear. The NSA hoards information. They have too much information that they do not know what to do with all of it. By the time they get to figuring out my porn activities, it will be some time down the road.

No, I am not going to waste time on what they might be doing. They might be making a profile on me is not good enough to stop what I am doing online. I am not paranoid or crazy.

 

[Spacemonkey430]

After quite a lot of research on the topic, and I mean a lot for debate, I found that as it turns out the NSA is biggest into metadata collection. That is, not the content of what you do but the time, place, frequency, duration, who you call on the phone, without ever actually seeing what you're doing unless you pop up as crossing paths with somebody who is deemed a threat. But the funny thing is, that is actually more telling about who you are in some ways to the point where even your sexual orientation can be determined. So for the most part the NSA isn't actually watching your porn. Usually. I would be more worried about the SOPA-esque menaces in that regard.

From what I understand, right to private family life, home and correspondence (also known as article 8 of European Convention of Human Rights) is not a part of the US constitution per se (and yet you have a provision for owning guns. Doesn't that strike you as weird?). I'm sure there are other legal provisions that more or less fix that but it also means that NSA has an easier job building a legal framework that overrides this right. I.e. they get to spy on you in a completely legal manner and you don't get to complain.

There is a court in place. Technically. It is called the FISA court, established in the 70's I believe it was. But since then the NSA has turned them in to their lapdog, issuing very broad warrants that essentially just lend some form of legitimacy to the NSA doing whatever they want. In the last year they signed some thousands of warrants and denied none. In addition to the fact that they were merely signed by whatever judge happened to be around at the time. And there is no appeals process so people who feel like they are being spied upon i.e. lawyers representing certain "unsavory folks" can't contest it because the proof is "top secret" and therefor unavailable.

 

[Nosirrah]

Yo may not think you watching porn can be linked to terrorism, but definitions are getting broader.

The below is from a speech about a proposed defense bill. I am not sure if it went through

"Someone missing fingers on their hands is a [terror] suspect according to the Department of Justice, someone who has guns, someone who has ammunition that is weather proofed, someone who has more than seven days of food in their house can be considered a potential terrorist." -Sen Rand Paul (R-KY)

and some more

http://www.xdtalk.com/forums/xdtalk-chatter-box/190061-10-ridiculous-things-make-you-terrorist-suspect.html

I think people who have those things should be given special access to 24 hour versions of rick roll and trololol
marked in a folder named "upcoming plan" or something.

 

[Vivi22]

I wish there was a way to tell if you're being monitored. Just so I could look up the weirdest shit I can think of, look straight into my webcam and say "It only works if someone's watching"

Honestly, they're monitoring so much of the internet communications and traffic that go on that if you just did this every so often someone's bound to see it eventually and be freaked the fuck out. Even more so if everyone does this every now and then.

 

[spartan231490]

Anyone else see how fucked up this is? We've known what they've been doing for how long? By and large, we gave them a pass. Now, they're going after porn and it's completely unacceptable.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Dear NSA,
If you're reading this go fuck yourselves.
Also I'm currently planning to launch a series of terrorist attacks from the moon. You'll never see me coming!

 

[Drops a Sweet Katana]

Let them watch! I'll make sure to make extra awkward eye contact when I do.

In all seriousness, this whole thing with the NSA makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable. I don't feel as though I would be of much interest to them, but I still hate the idea of possibly being watched by some guy (or girl) in a US government basement somewhere.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

From what I understand, right to private family life, home and correspondence (also known as article 8 of European Convention of Human Rights) is not a part of the US constitution per se (and yet you have a provision for owning guns. Doesn't that strike you as weird?). I'm sure there are other legal provisions that more or less fix that but it also means that NSA has an easier job building a legal framework that overrides this right. I.e. they get to spy on you in a completely legal manner and you don't get to complain.

After quite a lot of research on the topic, and I mean a lot for debate, I found that as it turns out the NSA is biggest into metadata collection. That is, not the content of what you do but the time, place, frequency, duration, who you call on the phone, without ever actually seeing what you're doing unless you pop up as crossing paths with somebody who is deemed a threat. But the funny thing is, that is actually more telling about who you are in some ways to the point where even your sexual orientation can be determined. So for the most part the NSA isn't actually watching your porn. Usually. I would be more worried about the SOPA-esque menaces in that regard.


There is a court in place. Technically. It is called the FISA court, established in the 70's I believe it was. But since then the NSA has turned them in to their lapdog, issuing very broad warrants that essentially just lend some form of legitimacy to the NSA doing whatever they want. In the last year they signed some thousands of warrants and denied none. In addition to the fact that they were merely signed by whatever judge happened to be around at the time. And there is no appeals process so people who feel like they are being spied upon i.e. lawyers representing certain "unsavory folks" can't contest it because the proof is "top secret" and therefor unavailable.

A couple of things: one is that we actually /do/ have a constitutional right to privacy, which is implied by the fourth amendment's protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. Even ignoring the privacy issue, it's explicitly unconstitutional to spy the way the government is currently doing. Unless something has changed since the PATRIOT act was initially passed, most of this spying is being done without even the approval of the rubber stamp that is the FISA court.

As for why our government is getting away with blatantly violating the constitution? Fear. All this stuff started happening after 9/11, and it's so entrenched now that it's not going anywhere. Even the supreme court isn't willing to step up and go "uh, hey, guys? You're violating the constitution in a way any school child could point out, let alone a politician, lawyer, or judge." Which they totally are. The sad thing is this has been pretty common knowledge since somewhere around 2001. The only real "news" that broke about it recently is that private companies have been cooperating with the government. Before that anyone who had been paying attention already knew the government was spying on its own citizens, they just didn't know for sure that Microsoft et al were helping them do it. Not that it was a particularly shocking revelation.