"The Houston HIDTA officials told my staff that all Hemisphere requests are sent to a single AT&T analyst located in Atlanta, Georgia, and that any law enforcement officer working for one of the federal, state, local and Tribal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. can contact the AT&T Hemisphere analyst directly to request they run a query, with varying authorization requirements. The Houston HIDTA officials confirmed that Federal and state law enforcement agencies can request a Hemisphere search with a subpoena, which is a directive that many law enforcement agencies can issue themselves (except in California and Texas, where a court order is required by state law). They also explained that Hemisphere searches are not required to be in support of drug-related investigations."
They also explained that Hemisphere searches are not required to be in support of drug-related investigations.
Why would they be?
If I had such a system, why would I waist it chasing pot dealers?
To complain about the system on that basis not only makes no sense at all, but totally misses the point of being against mass surveillance. It makes me wonder if these people are actually against mass surveillance at all?
Comments
From Wyden's letter:
https://www.wyden.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/wyden_hemisphere_...Just one poor sap with an ODBC to a DB2 database and a panache for Excel stands between law enforcement and state mass surveillance...
They also explained that Hemisphere searches are not required to be in support of drug-related investigations.
Why would they be?
If I had such a system, why would I waist it chasing pot dealers?
To complain about the system on that basis not only makes no sense at all, but totally misses the point of being against mass surveillance. It makes me wonder if these people are actually against mass surveillance at all?