Is it wrong to be a peeping Tom or a stalker? Is spying on american citizens in the same catagory?
111041
No its completely different. Peeping Tom's and stalkers have bad intentions where as wrong or right spying on american citizens is meant for safety.
1030162
I am totally against it.\n\nIt is spying on the American people. One less civil right. It is absplute cowardice and unpatriotic to give up ANY civil liberties for ANY reason.
425684
I speak from across the fence on this matter, but I will let you know what I hear most often. The Patriot Act that has broadened the government's ability to seek information from it's fellow citizens has left some more liberal voters upset. They feel that the government's noose of power has grown a bit tighter, and I assume they foresee a future government domination over the people of this nation. I do not know of any firsthand accounts where someone's privacy rights have been infringed upon, or violated. Not that I wish there was, but there doesn't seem to be anyone personally hurt by the Act. Personally, I've felt that as long as man would uphold his responsibilites to treat his fellow man with love, and respect there would be no need for government at all. But we both know that we fail to do this, therefore creating a need for government. So if the privilages we enjoy so dearly seem in danger, I believe it is because of our own faults. I hope that this has been helpful.
900108
Yeeehah for the American way! It's only free speech if they say it is. OK? Other than that, you must be content with the illusion of free speech and make sure they don't realise who you are through your ISP. Have you ever watched Spooks?
953509
You've lost the "right" to have friendly phone chats with Osama.\n\nYou've lost the "right" to expose covert agents and secret programs while defending your terrorist activities.\n\n[Oh, and "Sneak & Peek" searches are done by warrant - it's just that you are not alerted. Don't these people know even the simplest thing?]
1010259
i am a pretty paranoid person, so yes i do feel like i'm being watched. some people watch others because they want to know if there life is more interesting than theres perhaps. other people are paranoid because they feel insecure about themselves.
1001947
The government, especially all spy and security agencies, is going to do what it wants when it wants.  I think it is just a  fluke that we know they have been listening in on us this time.\n\nAs for me, I don't plan on doing anything to harm the government so I don't really care.  We are already being watched over by Big Brother, why should listening in matter?
66377
Good point.\n\nMost of our lives are too boring to warrant the attention of government intelligence agencies.\n\nYes, I value my privacy, but am in more fear of losing it to marketing agencies than spy networks.
8907
no! it makes me feel less safe in my own daily environment, and i know a lot of people that feel the same way. not only are the nsa's domestic spying operations illegal, but they are irrelevant, if not counterproductive, to achieving a real sense of security for the average american.
310846
To those above, all because we've been wiretapping before doesn't make it any more 'right'.  Slavery went on for hundreds of years, and it still wasn't 'right'.  Besides, according to the 4th Amendment of the Constitution: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause".\n\nFor those of you who have 'nothing to hide', you'd be surprised about how quickly the tide can turn.  During the McCarthy era, merely saying some thing remotely related to communism to the wrong person was enough to get you under the eye of the FBI.
111566
I think this is misunderstood. Please have this irrational fear of "Big Brother" Which is crazy. Why would the government want to listen to everyones conversations anyway? It is ridiculous that people get all worked up over this. I say people who have nothing to hide hide nothing. I just want to be safe like you. If you are more interested in this topic you should check out the book "Shadow War" It really explains a lot of the secretive things Bush has done to keep this country safe.
153456
As private citizens, you'd have to use the same methods of locating any other citizen.  Hire a PI if you are that adamant about it.  Otherwise, they are free to go wherever they want and enjoy the same right to privacy that you do.
611255
I feel that its totally against everything that is American. How about everyone straps a GPS system to their legs so the government knows where everyone is, oops that's right cell phones i almost forgot. Besides this the government is saying its all in public safety, but i dont kno how safe i feel if i know someone is listening to my phone calls. Give me a break if i wanted to blow some shit up I wouldn't talk on the phone to make plans for it anyway.
30688
The current controversy really boils down to how much evidence & authorization agencies like the CIA need in order to justify spying on someone.\n\nHistorically (in recent decades, anyway), it has never been 'official' policy to authorize spying without probably cause (evidence & good reason to believe someone is engaged in illegal activity), and approval from a judge - this is all part of the USA's system of checks & balances on our government.\n\nCurrent laws & policy statements circumvent these balances of power, and could allow the 'secret' agencies of our law enforcement system to spy on innocent citizen without justification.\n\nThe most disturbing developments have been recent claims from the White House which imply that the current administration considers itself above the law - saying that it does not need to seek approval from the legislative & judicial branches to carry out such activities (even though our Constitution, laws, and legal precendence say that it does).
221418
Not at all.\n\nThere are millions of people screaming, "Unfair! You are violating my rights!" Yet, how many people can actually say the have been a subject of the so-called "domesticy spying" program? How many people have actually had their phones tapped and conversations recorded?\n\nFor that matter, how many people have been the subject of a Patriot Act investigation? How many have had their library records looked at? How many have had their information spread across every intelligence agency in the nation?\n\nMy point is this: The only people who are being targeted are being targeted for a REASON. The government does not just indiscriminately say, "Let's listen in on John Q. Public's conversation for sh!ts and giggles today." Uncle Sam does not just pick phone numbers at random to listen to. There is a REASON they investigate who they do. And I, for one, WANT them investigated. If they are doing no wrong, the investigation will clear them. But if they ARE doing wrong, I sure as hell hope we are doing EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to stop them. The next attack could cost hundreds of thousands of American lives.\n\n"When NSA goes after the content of a communication under this authorization from the president, the NSA has already established its reasons for being interested in that specific communication. I've said in other places this isn't a drift net over Lackawanna or Freemont or Dearborn, grabbing all communications and then sifting them out."\n\n-- Gen. Michael Hayden (Deputy Director of National Intelligence)\n\nBottom line: If your phone hasn't been tapped, your rights have not been violated. If you are not engaging in any illegal activity, chances are 99.999% that you phone hasn't been tapped.
89597
You might be a stalker if...
143022
WHy?...stalker (just kidding)... or not