> A Justice Department official would neither confirm nor deny the existence of such a program. The official said discussion of such matters would allow criminal suspects or foreign powers to determine U.S. surveillance capabilities.
This is the go-to defense for surveillance secrecy. However, not discussing such matters allows criminal officials to abuse these powers without repercussion.
>The official said discussion of such matters would allow criminal suspects or foreign powers to determine U.S. surveillance capabilities.
Not to mention U.S. citizens!
I mean, if they want to use that argument, then they should actually limit their surveillance to "criminal suspects" and "foreign powers".
>This is the go-to defense for surveillance secrecy.
Indeed. And note how it used to be terrorism that provided the tidy justification for sweeping up large numbers of random U.S. citizens in these operations. Now, just plain ol' criminal suspects and foreign powers provide enough justification for domestic spying.
The goalposts are moving. We will all be accustomed to the surveillance state soon enough. Nothing to see here.
This is the go-to defense for surveillance secrecy. However, not discussing such matters allows criminal officials to abuse these powers without repercussion.