Is the Government Also Monitoring the CONTENT of Our Phone Calls?

[damnedifIknow]

"Yes, Government Spooks May Be Listening

The Obama administration has been caught spying on the Verizon phone calls of tens of millions of Americans.

But the government has sought to “reassure” us that it is only tracking “metadata” such as the time and place of the calls, and not the actual content of the calls.

That claim is patently absurd."

"The American government is in fact collecting and storing virtually every phone call, purchases, email, text message, internet searches, social media communications, health information, employment history, travel and student records, and virtually all other information of every American.

All U.S. intelligence agencies – including the CIA and NSA – are going to spy on Americans’ finances. The IRS will be spying on Americans’ shopping records, travel, social interactions, health records and files from other government investigators.

Glenn Greenwald reported in May:

A seemingly spontaneous admission this week by a former FBI counterterrorism agent provides a rather startling acknowledgment of just how vast and invasive these surveillance activities are."

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http://www.washingtonsblog.com/

[railsback]

1. Better big corps get to do this

And lucky for us, we don't have the power to vote them out of office. Data mining is big business. Who knows what they're doing with our info and who cares, right? After all, they only have our best interests at heart, while our government is out to steal our women and impose Sharia law on this helpless society.

[Tx4obama]

2. No. A judge has to sign an order for wire-taps and for obtaining content of calls here in USA.

As far as the Boston bombers - you can safely bet that there was a subpoena/order ASAP on the bomber's family in the USA,
but the dad/mom live over seas so different laws apply to them.

[quinnox]

3. I read a news article saying that could be taking place but that its unclear

whether the Patriot Act allows it. Imagine if the government gets to listen in on any American's personal phone calls at a whim.

[The Link]

4. If they are, it sure as hell isn't Obama's fault.

[NightWatcher]

5. Assume they could. Dont expect privacy over the phone

If you need to keep it private, keep it in your head. Dont put it on your computer, dont email it to someone else, dont tell anyone else over the phone. If you must tell them something private, tell it to them in person, inside a domicile where you have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Dont assume codes or encryption will work.

[damnedifIknow]

6. That's about the only solution

but that's not the way it should be in the so called "land of the free."

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. You mean what East Germans used to do in the days of the Stasi?

Oh the irony...