Private Security Companies more of a threat than Government Snooping

You may think that the Governments warrantless wiretapping and surveillance programs are troubling but private companies and operators are more of a threat than even the Government. Think about it this way. When Government wants to do long term surveillance they are supposed to follow CALEA and FISA rules to conduct the surveillance and they are supposed to terminate that surveillance if the collected data exonerates the targets of that investigation. At least some of the time judges and secret courts place restrictions on the surveillance authorizing the surveillance for a certain period of time.

It should also be noted that nearly all of the request that go to the FISA court are approved. Sometimes even without a very good justification. But private operators are even more dangerous than the Government because they don't have to follow any legal rules.

Just look at rules on electronic interception that fall under 18 USC as one example. There were no prosecutions under these rules last year or the year before that. Even when there are prosecutions they usually are for associated crimes and not the interception itself.

So the next time you think that the Government is your biggest threat you should really think again. The private operators collect, store and share information about targets more easily and with virtually no oversight.