POTUS knows who you're calling....

An Obama administration official defended the policy of gathering phone records from American citizens while neither confirming nor denying a report that the National Security Agency is collecting information regarding communications by Verizon customers.
BIG BRO IS WATCHING YOU...

This is such a breach of privacy. I know they're saying this is being done as another way to combat terrorism but I can't help to think that this data may be used for other purposes. I'm also wondering if they are receiving data from Sprint, AT&T, MetroPCS, etc.

It makes me so sad that Americans at this point are so apathetic to stuff like this. People in Turkey are taking to the streets and rioting to assure democracy on their terms, while the best we can manage over here is a miserable "Whatever".

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"A sadder legacy is that Obama hasn't put a stop to this."

I don't know which is sadder. That are all the pathetic excuses my liberal friends come up with to defend him.

I don't think it's fair to generalize the country as being apathetic. The story is still breaking. There may be plenty of outrage coming.

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In this country we take to the streets to protest the notion of providing health care to all.

It is all very disheartening. The Monsanto crap going unreported for the most part, etc. It just makes me wonder who is really in charge.

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after 9/11 people don't care, and are surprised if they AREN'T monitored. No administration will ever stop for fear of "being soft" on terrorism".

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They can listen in on my phone conversations all they want. I'm not hiding anything. And they would be bored to tears.

Hell, 99% of the conversations I hear in public are pointless blathering that makes me often think, "You people are being so loud and rude and the conversation sounds totally pointless. Please just STFU when you are in crowds of people."

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This is one of the government employees who is listening

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It's been confirmed it's not just Verizon. It's every major carrier.
The PRISM program has also been leaked. The NSA is working with Internet companies to collect email, search histories, etc. And this includes content.
"The NSA access is part of a previously undisclosed program called PRISM, which allows them to collect material including search history, the content of emails, file transfers and live chats, the document says.
Some of the world's largest internet brands are claimed to be part of the information-sharing program since its introduction in 2007. Microsoft – which is currently running an advertising campaign with the slogan "Your privacy is our priority" – was the first, with collection beginning in December 2007.
It was followed by Yahoo in 2008; Google, Facebook and PalTalk in 2009; YouTube in 2010; Skype and AOL in 2011; and finally Apple, which joined the program in 2012. The program is continuing to expand, with other providers due to come online."
It gets worse

"But I also do not believe the Obama Administration is going to unilaterally abandon a tool to root out terrorism."

It doesn't seem to be working. Just ask the people in Boston who are missing limbs and the ones who lost loved ones.

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Based on my years of watching Law & Order, I always thought the state needed a warrant to LISTEN to our phone conversations, but the details of who we called, when we called, and how long the calls lasted was never considered 'private'. I don't think the federal government is doing any more than what Stabler & Benson have been doing on TV for years.

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