It's not Facebook's call. The USA PATRIOT Act allows for National Security Letters, or NSLs, that legally function like warrants but require no judicial review. The US government uses them over 60,000 times per year. The law allowing them turns ten years old next month.
Precisely. If you want to place blame, it goes squarely on the Bush Administration. (And yes, I'm sure I'll be down-voted for saying that, but it's still unquestionably, uncontroversially, non-debatably true.) If you want this fixed, it has to be fixed politically at a federal level.
> Precisely. If you want to place blame, it goes squarely on the Bush Administration. (And yes, I'm sure I'll be down-voted for saying that, but it's still unquestionably, uncontroversially, non-debatably true.)
Wasn't the Patriot Act recently renewed, where "recently" means "post-Bush"?
> If you want this fixed, it has to be fixed politically at a federal level.
And Dems, who voted for the initial version overwhelmingly, were uninterested in doing so when they held all three elected branches and that didn't change when they lost one.
So, yes, it's true that it was passed under Bush, but no one is interested in fixing it. (Yes, I'm ignoring Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich.)
It'd be interesting to know if that covers 100% of data releases to the state. Does Facebook release data to law enforcement in cases other than either: 1) pursuant to a warrant; or 2) compelled by a National Security Letter? I would guess yes, but I'd be interested in a solid statement either way.
It's not like the telecomm corps in the US haven't been caught handing over info to cops/FBI without warrants or NSL letters (or handing over more than required when presented with a warrant or NSL).
