"No Digital Communications Are Secure"

The title of this post is a quote from former FBI counterterrorism agent Tim Clemente, who made some eye-opening statements on CNN last week. According to columnist Glenn Greenwald, Clemente's statements indicate that all of our digital communications - including telephone calls, emails, online chats, etc. - are automatically recorded and stored and accessible to the government after the fact.

According to Clemente, “All of that stuff is being captured as we speak whether we know it or like it or not."

As Greenwald reiterated in his stunning article: "'All of that stuff' - meaning every telephone conversation Americans have with one another on US soil, with or without a search warrant -  'is being captured as we speak'".

Greenwald goes on to explain that there have been previous indications that this is true:

• Former AT&T engineer Mark Klein revealed "that the NSA set up a system that vacuumed up Internet and phone-call data from ordinary Americans with the cooperation of AT&T" and that "contrary to the government's depiction of its surveillance program as aimed at overseas terrorists . . . much of the data sent through AT&T to the NSA was purely domestic."
• In 2010 the Washington Post revealed that “Every day, collection systems at the National Security Agency intercept and store 1.7 billion e-mails, phone calls and other types of communications.”
• And Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall have been warning for years that Americans would be "stunned" to learn what the US government is doing in terms of secret surveillance.

Somehow, still, this extraordinary claim has mostly been swept under the rug. With last week’s claims by the reputable Clemente, though, America may not be able to ignore them after all.

If you’re uncomfortable with the fact that EVERY SINGLE PIECE of your communications, right down to your phone calls, could be hoovered up and saved, take action now. Tell the Maine legislature that it MUST put privacy protections in place. The information about us is out there, but what happens to it is still being decided. Be a part of the decision.