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Oregon Argus – January 22, 2004
Patriot Act II would create Pandora Box of lost freedoms
By Lisa Cromwell-Waggoner
Americans traditionally are very private people. We have guarded the right to be masters of our personal information by voice, pen and by gun.
During the 20th century, as the world transformed from industrial nations hemmed by borders to an informational society where the Internet transcends lines drawn in sand, information has become synonymous with destiny.
Excitement over technological advances overcame caution as anyone with a PC, laptop, PDA, or cell phone and an Internet Service Provider (ISP) became linked to the world in a way undreamed of by most.
Yet two enlightened writers saw in the early 20th century that the gift of global communication could contain some unforeseen surprises. Aldous Huxley envisioned a "Brave New World" where information was used to brainwash a class-based society to deny individualism.
George Orwell pictured the year "1984" in his novel as a world where "Big Brother" government eavesdropped on every facet of a person's life, attempting to control even thought.
The proposed USA Patriot Act II (USAPA) bill would help make these nightmarish visions come true. Americans and others throughout the world are already struggling against the unhampered flow of their personal information onto the Internet and into unscrupulous hands.
Building on the USA Patriot Act, hastily passed in the wake of 9/11, USAPA would give the government broad new authority to compel information about a person from nearly everyone, including those not tied to terrorist groups.
Friends, relatives, ISPs and others would have to give local, state or federal governments information about a person without informing them. Businesses turning over information on an employee would be given immunity from prosecution.
Police would be given instant access to credit reports " in connection with their duties." Requirements on privacy regarding multi-purpose devices like PDAs and computers with telephonic capabilities would be relaxed.
All local, state and federal government groups could share information about credit reports, educational records and Visas, regardless of the reason.
Those receiving subpoenas would be gagged -- prevented from telling anyone why they were summoned to court.
Other invasions of privacy would include an expansion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Searches could be conducted for reasons other than to ferret out terrorists.
The act would build upon the government policy of "disinformation" coined by the Reagan Administration in the 1980s. It would reduce government accountability to citizens.
Businesses would not be required to warn the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of chemical releases. Those seeking information on people detained for suspicion of terrorism would have no recourse through the Freedom of Information Act. Judges would not have as much authority to force the government to present information in open court.
The USAPA II bill is a veritable Pandora's Box of diminishing freedoms. Before it is passed and becomes law quietly behind the closed doors of government, there is a chance to speak out against it.
If citizens speak out against the undermining of their Constitutional Rights now, before it is too late, we can bar Big Brother from our homes and lives.
By remaining silent, we allow others, instead of ourselves, to forge our destinies.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/argus/index.ssf?/base/news/1074810670308490.xml
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