Senate: 1 - Privacy: 0

In clear contempt of American civil liberties, the Senate voted today to legalize President Bush’s warrant-less wiretapping programs and shield telecoms from privacy lawsuits stemming from their cooperation.

The bill, which expires in six years, allows the government to install permanent wiretapping outposts in telephone and internet facilities inside the United States without a warrant. However, if those wiretaps are used to target Americans inside or outside of the country, the government would have to get a court order. However, if the target is a foreigner or a foreign corporation, and they call an American or an American calls them, no warrant is required.

Please, these provisions for warrants are a sham. If you allow warrant-less wiretapping outposts–which cannot select which data they intercept–you allow for warrant-less wiretapping. While these programs may not specifically target Americans–thus requiring a warrant–they intercept data of American persons, it’s unavoidable. For an administration known for interpreting laws as it sees fit, this is basically a tacit nod of approval for domestic data mining.

Former AT&T technician Mark Klein made this clear when he described one of these warrant-less wiretapping outposts. He said that “the splitter copied the entire data-stream of those internet cables into the secret room…everything that goes across the internet, and that device, the splitters [sic], is a dumb device, it doesn’t do any selection at all.”

Even though the Senate capitulated today, the bill must now pass through the House, which has already rejected telecom immunity. Sen. Russ Feingold, one of the few who voted against this legislation, sent a stern message to his colleagues in the house saying that “the Senate…is yet again giving the administration sweeping new powers – and letting it off the hook for its illegal wiretapping program. I hope that our House colleagues will hold a stronger line, and refuse to accept the deeply flawed Senate bill.”