During the Bush years, liberal voters, celebrities and politicians decried the villainous acts of the federal government spying on the American people. The Patriot Act was generally disliked by many throughout the presidency of George W. Bush. When President Barack Obama renewed and expanded the surveillance of the American people, the left suddenly became quiet – similar to the wars under the incumbent president.
Now that Donald Trump is president will there be a sudden uprising and opposition to being spied upon? Let’s hope so.
According to a new report from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (HOGR), the U.S. government extracted nearly $100 million from the taxpayers so the government could spy on those same taxpayers. The report found that more than $95 million was spent on 434 devices across the country in order to clandestinely transform their mobile devices into real-time tracking devices.
Between 2010 and 2014, the Department of Justice (DOJ) spent roughly $71 million on 310 cell-site simulators, which are also identified as Stingrays, devices that impersonate a cellphone tower. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spent close to $25 million on 124 Stingrays.
With this information in hand, the report urges Congress to adopt laws that restricts use of the Stingray, citing the First and Fourth Amendment.
“While law enforcement agencies should be able to utilize technology as a tool to help officers be safe and accomplish their missions, absent proper oversight and safeguards, the domestic use of cell-site simulators may well infringe upon the constitutional rights of citizens to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as the right to free association,” the report said.
For years, officials at the DOJ and DHS say they don’t collect the content of phone calls and text messages. However, the authors of the recent report say that Stingrays can actually perform this task if the right software is implemented.
“Transparency and accountability are therefore critical to ensuring that when domestic law enforcement decide to use these devices on American citizens, the devices are used in a manner that meets the requirements and protections of the Constitution,” the report said.
Simply put: the government is stealing your money so it can spy on you.
And we are surprised, Why?