Dear Friends:
Within days -- most likely Tuesday or Wednesday -- the U.S. House and Senate will vote on the final version of the anti-terrorism bills written in the wake of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Of course, all Americans want these terrorists to be brought to justice, and it appears that the U.S. military is in the process of doing that.
Yet it also appears that here at home, Congress is on the verge of passing an omnibus anti-terrorist bill granting the government new powers that Americans have strongly opposed in the past, like the power to read your private e-mail without a search warrant and to conduct "sneak-and-peak" searches of your home or office.
As you know, the Libertarian Party has urged that the entire bill be rejected because it would massively increase government surveillance powers. But with the bill all but certain to pass, now we are focusing on getting some of the worst provisions eliminated.
This letter is an attempt to alert you to these provisions and ask you to help get them removed. The terrorists won one victory when they attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon; let's not let them have another one by making America less of a free country.
The House and Senate have each passed an anti-terrorism bill, and a conference committee has ironed out the differences between the two. Now a vote is imminent on the final bill -- the USA (Uniting and Strengthening America) Act -- which will then be presented to President Bush for his signature within days.
Now is the time for you to call your Congressional representative and two U.S. senators and express your concerns. But please hurry -- the final vote could come as early as Tuesday, October 23.
This legislation contains:
* "Sneak-and-peak" searches.
Section 213 of the USA Act contains "Authority for delayed notice of execution of a warrant."
Current law requires "contemporaneous notification" of a search, meaning police have to show the subject a warrant at the time of the search, describing the specific property that can be searched, and why.
The idea is that if the police have the wrong address, or if they attempt to go beyond the scope of the warrant, the subject can try to correct the error.
But under the new, "delayed notification" standard, the government could actually enter your house, apartment, or office with a search warrant while you were away, search your belongings, take photos, and even copy your computer files -- and not even tell you until later.
Thus there would be no way to stop a mistaken or even illegal search; in fact, the subject may never even find out that the search occurred.
* A resurrection of the "Know Your Customer" bank spying scheme.
Title III of the USA Act contains language that requires banks to "conduct enhanced scrutiny" of customer bank accounts, even where no wrongdoing is suspected. A separate measure being considered by the House, H.R. 3004, contains a similar "Know Your Customer" provision.
Know Your Customer was an attempt by the FDIC in 1999 to force every bank to profile customers' normal pattern of withdrawals and deposits and report any "unusual transactions" to the government. But the plan was quickly abandoned when more than 275,000 angry Americans flooded the government with phone calls, e-mails and faxes -- and forced the FDIC to back down.
But apparently politicians can't take NO (Your Customer) for an answer, because a global version of Know Your Customer has been quietly inserted into the anti-terrorism bill.
Not only is government-mandated bank spying an invasion of your privacy, it's also unnecessary to catch terrorists. The U.S. and other governments have managed to seize millions of dollars worth of Osama bin Laden's accounts under current law.
Like the original Know Your Customer, the global Know Your Customer isn't really directed at criminals; it's simply a way for the government to monitor the banking habits of ordinary people. That's why it should be removed from this bill.
* An expansion of the FBI's e-mail surveillance powers.
Section 216 of the USA Act allows the government to monitor "routing and addressing" information of e-mails without even getting a search warrant.
Last year, the FBI admitted it had already secretly installed its Carnivore system, which allows the government to scan millions of e-mail messages, at Internet providers around the nation. But angry Americans forced Congress to hold hearings, and the FBI agreed to limit its use.
But now the FBI wants to unleash the Carnivore again, and install it without a search warrant. Experts who have studied Carnivore say that it captures the content of e-mails, along with routing and addressing information. So if this provision goes unchallenged, your e-mail privacy could be a thing of the past.
Note that each of these "sneak attacks" on your privacy has one thing in common: They allow the government to conduct a search without a warrant, or to conduct a search without notifying you until afterwards.
That's simply incompatible with the freedom that Congress claims it's trying to protect. Perversely, this "anti-terrorist" bill would give the government more power to monitor people who are not terrorists -- like you.
WHAT TO DO:
Call your U.S. House representative and your two Senators immediately at 202-225-3121 or 202-224-3121.
WHAT TO SAY:
(1) Identify yourself and let them know you are a voter in their state and district. Leave your name, address, complete with ZIP code, and phone number. Please be brief, especially if you are leaving a message.
(2) Tell them that like all Americans, you want the terrorists brought to justice immediately. Add that unfortunately, the anti-terrorism bill contains a number of privacy invasions that simply have no place in the bill -- and that you want them removed immediately.
Specifically, ask them to:
* Remove the "sneak-and-peak" search provisions contained in Section 213 of the USA Act. Tell them that police already have the power to conduct searches -- after getting a warrant. They have no business conducting a secret search -- with or without a warrant -- and telling Americans about it after the fact.
* Get rid of the "global Know Your Customer" bank spying provisions by REMOVING Title III of the USA Act. In addition, tell your House representative to vote NO on H.R. 3004, "The Financial Anti-Terrorism Act." Inform them that you helped kill the original Know Your Customer act in 1999, and that you're opposed to this one for the same reason: the government has no business forcing banks to spy on their customers, period.
* Eliminate Section 216 of the USA Act, which allows law enforcement to monitor your e-mail without getting a search warrant.
Also ask them to vote against any other provisions that allow the government to conduct warrantless searches or otherwise violate your privacy rights.
Then ask them for a letter confirming their position on each of these three points.
Is there anything else you can do? Yes! Please forward this e-mail to several of your friends, and ask them to call their representative and two U.S. senators immediately as well.
And please hurry -- this legislation could come to a vote as early as Tuesday.
Within days -- most likely Tuesday or Wednesday -- the U.S. House and Senate will vote on the final version of the anti-terrorism bills written in the wake of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Of course, all Americans want these terrorists to be brought to justice, and it appears that the U.S. military is in the process of doing that.
Yet it also appears that here at home, Congress is on the verge of passing an omnibus anti-terrorist bill granting the government new powers that Americans have strongly opposed in the past, like the power to read your private e-mail without a search warrant and to conduct "sneak-and-peak" searches of your home or office.
As you know, the Libertarian Party has urged that the entire bill be rejected because it would massively increase government surveillance powers. But with the bill all but certain to pass, now we are focusing on getting some of the worst provisions eliminated.
This letter is an attempt to alert you to these provisions and ask you to help get them removed. The terrorists won one victory when they attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon; let's not let them have another one by making America less of a free country.
The House and Senate have each passed an anti-terrorism bill, and a conference committee has ironed out the differences between the two. Now a vote is imminent on the final bill -- the USA (Uniting and Strengthening America) Act -- which will then be presented to President Bush for his signature within days.
Now is the time for you to call your Congressional representative and two U.S. senators and express your concerns. But please hurry -- the final vote could come as early as Tuesday, October 23.
This legislation contains:
* "Sneak-and-peak" searches.
Section 213 of the USA Act contains "Authority for delayed notice of execution of a warrant."
Current law requires "contemporaneous notification" of a search, meaning police have to show the subject a warrant at the time of the search, describing the specific property that can be searched, and why.
The idea is that if the police have the wrong address, or if they attempt to go beyond the scope of the warrant, the subject can try to correct the error.
But under the new, "delayed notification" standard, the government could actually enter your house, apartment, or office with a search warrant while you were away, search your belongings, take photos, and even copy your computer files -- and not even tell you until later.
Thus there would be no way to stop a mistaken or even illegal search; in fact, the subject may never even find out that the search occurred.
* A resurrection of the "Know Your Customer" bank spying scheme.
Title III of the USA Act contains language that requires banks to "conduct enhanced scrutiny" of customer bank accounts, even where no wrongdoing is suspected. A separate measure being considered by the House, H.R. 3004, contains a similar "Know Your Customer" provision.
Know Your Customer was an attempt by the FDIC in 1999 to force every bank to profile customers' normal pattern of withdrawals and deposits and report any "unusual transactions" to the government. But the plan was quickly abandoned when more than 275,000 angry Americans flooded the government with phone calls, e-mails and faxes -- and forced the FDIC to back down.
But apparently politicians can't take NO (Your Customer) for an answer, because a global version of Know Your Customer has been quietly inserted into the anti-terrorism bill.
Not only is government-mandated bank spying an invasion of your privacy, it's also unnecessary to catch terrorists. The U.S. and other governments have managed to seize millions of dollars worth of Osama bin Laden's accounts under current law.
Like the original Know Your Customer, the global Know Your Customer isn't really directed at criminals; it's simply a way for the government to monitor the banking habits of ordinary people. That's why it should be removed from this bill.
* An expansion of the FBI's e-mail surveillance powers.
Section 216 of the USA Act allows the government to monitor "routing and addressing" information of e-mails without even getting a search warrant.
Last year, the FBI admitted it had already secretly installed its Carnivore system, which allows the government to scan millions of e-mail messages, at Internet providers around the nation. But angry Americans forced Congress to hold hearings, and the FBI agreed to limit its use.
But now the FBI wants to unleash the Carnivore again, and install it without a search warrant. Experts who have studied Carnivore say that it captures the content of e-mails, along with routing and addressing information. So if this provision goes unchallenged, your e-mail privacy could be a thing of the past.
Note that each of these "sneak attacks" on your privacy has one thing in common: They allow the government to conduct a search without a warrant, or to conduct a search without notifying you until afterwards.
That's simply incompatible with the freedom that Congress claims it's trying to protect. Perversely, this "anti-terrorist" bill would give the government more power to monitor people who are not terrorists -- like you.
WHAT TO DO:
Call your U.S. House representative and your two Senators immediately at 202-225-3121 or 202-224-3121.
WHAT TO SAY:
(1) Identify yourself and let them know you are a voter in their state and district. Leave your name, address, complete with ZIP code, and phone number. Please be brief, especially if you are leaving a message.
(2) Tell them that like all Americans, you want the terrorists brought to justice immediately. Add that unfortunately, the anti-terrorism bill contains a number of privacy invasions that simply have no place in the bill -- and that you want them removed immediately.
Specifically, ask them to:
* Remove the "sneak-and-peak" search provisions contained in Section 213 of the USA Act. Tell them that police already have the power to conduct searches -- after getting a warrant. They have no business conducting a secret search -- with or without a warrant -- and telling Americans about it after the fact.
* Get rid of the "global Know Your Customer" bank spying provisions by REMOVING Title III of the USA Act. In addition, tell your House representative to vote NO on H.R. 3004, "The Financial Anti-Terrorism Act." Inform them that you helped kill the original Know Your Customer act in 1999, and that you're opposed to this one for the same reason: the government has no business forcing banks to spy on their customers, period.
* Eliminate Section 216 of the USA Act, which allows law enforcement to monitor your e-mail without getting a search warrant.
Also ask them to vote against any other provisions that allow the government to conduct warrantless searches or otherwise violate your privacy rights.
Then ask them for a letter confirming their position on each of these three points.
Is there anything else you can do? Yes! Please forward this e-mail to several of your friends, and ask them to call their representative and two U.S. senators immediately as well.
And please hurry -- this legislation could come to a vote as early as Tuesday.
