Sunday, April 22, 2012

U.S. Intelligence is storing your information longer

U.S. Intelligence is storing your information longer


Anyone else find this completely creepy?



You may be completely innocent. “Terrorism” may be just a word you've heard on television. But new guidelines have just been approved by the Obama administration that will allow the U.S. intelligence community to store your information for up to five years, even if you have no clear ties to terrorism.

"I don't want other people knowing my business,” said Kathleen Aten.

Under the old guidelines, the National Counter terrorism Center (NCTC) had to destroy your information promptly, generally within 180 days, if there was no connection to terrorism found.

The new rules are making a lot of you uncomfortable.

"Get rid of my information. Don't keep it in a database. It doesn't need to be there,” said Aten.

Many are asking, does this go too far?

We took that question to retired FBI agent Dale Carson. He says more checks and balances are needed in the system.

"This is preemptive. This is investigating people beforehand. It needs to be reviewed by an independent magistrate or and independent party.”

Carson says it's unclear what type of information they have and where they're getting it from. He also brought up the possibility of the system being hacked.

"Does your banker have access to this information? Does your employer have access to this information? What about your neighbor down the street who does not like you,” Carson asked.

The Obama administration said the new rules do come with strong safeguards for privacy and civil liberties. They say before the NCTC can obtain data, there is a high-level review to assure that it is “likely to contain significant terrorism information.”

But Aten can’t help but feel concerned.

“The less places my information is the better it is for me.”

The new guidelines have been in the works for more than a year. On Thursday, Attorney General Eric Holder gave them the seal of approval.

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