Personal Privacy
We recommend the repeal of the Patriot Act. The American government must respect the privacy of all American citizens and obey the 4th amendment.
Should the NSA (National Security Agency) be allowed to collect basic metadata of citizen’s phone calls such as numbers, timestamps, and call durations?
We agree with the 2012 Constitutional Party Platform:
The 4th Amendment states:
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
The Fifth Amendment further protects property, by stating: "No person shall be ... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."
We affirm the Fourth Amendment right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, including arbitrary or de facto registration, general and unwarranted electronic surveillance, national computer databases, and national identification cards. We also reaffirm that civil governments must be strictly limited in their powers to intrude upon the persons and private property of individual citizens, in particular, that no place be searched and no thing be seized, except upon proof of probable cause that a crime has been committed and the proper judicial warrant issued.
We further reaffirm the common-law rule that protects the people from any search or seizure whatsoever when that search or seizure violates the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
We deplore and oppose vigorously legislation and executive action that deprive the people of their Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights under claims of necessity to "combat terrorism" or to "protect national security."
We oppose legislation and administrative action utilizing asset forfeiture laws which enable the confiscation of the private property of persons not involved in the crime. Forfeiture of assets can only be enforced after conviction of the property owner as a penalty for the crime. Such forfeitures must follow full due process of law under criminal prosecution standards.
We oppose the monitoring and controlling of the financial transactions of the people through such proposed laws as "Know Your Customer." Banks should be repositories of treasure and fiduciaries for the people, not enforcers for the State. Any information regarding customer transactions the State obtains from banks must be subject to the traditional Fourth Amendment safeguards.
We support privacy legislation that prohibits private parties from discriminating against individuals who refuse to disclose or obtain a Social Security number. We also call for legislation prohibiting all governmental entities from requiring the use of the Social Security number except for Social Security transactions. Additionally, we call for the repeal of all laws, regulations and statutes that require the use of the Social Security number for any purpose other than Social Security transactions."
"Terrorism and Personal Liberty
Article 1, Section 9, Clause 2: “The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”
The threat of Terrorism has not been claimed to be a rebellion or an invasion.
America is engaged in an undeclared war with an ill-defined enemy (terrorism), a war which threatens to be never ending and which is being used to vastly expand government power, particularly that of the executive branch, at the expense of the individual liberties of the American people.
The "war on terrorism" is serving as an excuse for the government to spend beyond its income, expand the Federal bureaucracy and socialize the nation through taxpayer bailouts of the airlines, subsidies to the giant insurance corporations and other Federal programs.
We deplore and vigorously oppose legislation and executive action that deprive the people of their rights secured under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments under the guise of "combating terrorism" or "protecting national security." Examples of such legislation are the National Security Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, the proposed Domestic Securities Enhancement Act (colloquially known as "Patriot II"), the Military Commissions Act, the National Defense Authorization Act and especially the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. We further oppose any other governmental action that would deprive persons of life, liberty or property without due process of law.
• The National Security Act is used by the federal government as a shroud to prevent the American people and our elected officials from knowing how much and where our tax dollars are spent from covert operations around the world. The National Security Act prevents the release of Executive Orders and Presidential Decision Directives, e.g., PDD 25, to the American people and our elected representatives. Not only are many of these used to thwart justice in the name of national security but some of the operations under this act may threaten our very national sovereignty.
• The USA PATRIOT Act permits arrests without warrants and secret detention without counsel, wiretaps without court supervision, searches and seizures without notification to the individual whose property is invaded and a host of other violations of the legal safeguards our nation has historically developed according to principles descending from the Fourth and Fifth Amendments. Since we will no longer have a free nation while the federal government (or the governments of the several states, as the federal government may authorize) can violate our historic rights under such laws, we call for the rejection of all such laws and the ceasing of any such further proposals including
The aforementioned Domestic Securities Enhancement Act.
• The National Defense Authorization Act gives authority to the President of the United States to have persons arrested, including U.S. citizens, without a warrant, without a trial, indefinitely.
The Constitution Party opposes all violent acts of sedition, treason and covert guerilla warfare conducted on U.S. soil. Individuals responsible for these acts must be punished for their crimes including the infliction of capital punishment where appropriate. In responding to terrorism, however, the United States must avoid acts of retaliation abroad which destroy innocent human lives, creating enmity toward the United States and its people; and in accord with the views of our Founding Fathers, we must disengage this nation from the international entanglements which generate foreign hatred of the United States, and are used as the excuse for terrorist attacks on America and its people. The 'war on terrorism" is not a proper excuse for perpetual U.S. occupation of foreign lands, military assaults on countries which have not injured us, or perpetual commitment of taxpayer dollars to finance foreign governments."
We agree with the 2012 Constitutional Party Platform:
"We support privacy legislation that prohibits private parties from discriminating against individuals who refuse to disclose or obtain a Social Security number. We also call for legislation prohibiting all governmental entities from requiring the use of the Social Security number except for Social Security transactions. Additionally, we call for the repeal of all laws, regulations and statutes that require the use of the Social Security number for any purpose other than Social Security transactions."
In today's world, data is valuable.
Whenever an individual's personal information is obtained by another party, the individual should be informed, offered the first right of refusal to have their personal information remain private, or be compensated for the value of their personal data.
Whenever an individual's personal information is obtained by another party, the individual should be informed, offered the first right of refusal to have their personal information remain private, or be compensated for the value of their personal data.
We agree with the 2016 Libertarian Party Platform:
"Libertarians advocate individual privacy and government transparency. We are committed to ending government’s practice of spying on everyone. Protection from unreasonable search and seizure should include records held by third parties, such as email, medical, and library records."
We agree with the 2016 Democratic Party Platform:
"[We] reject the false choice between privacy interests and keeping Americans safe. We need liberty and security, and each makes the other possible. We will protect the privacy and civil liberties of the American people--standing firm against ... warrantless surveillance of American citizens... We support recent reforms to government bulk data collection programs so the government is not collecting and holding millions of files on innocent Americans."
We agree with the 2016 Green Party Platform:
"Our government is already engaged in illegal spying and surveillance of its own citizens. It is already invading our privacy. A national ID card system is one of the hallmarks of a totalitarian government or police state. We need to repeal the Real ID Act and resist the establishment of any system that would suppress freedom to travel and require citizens and non-citizens alike to “show their papers” and reveal their private information to government monitors at every turn."
We agree with the 2016 Republican Party Platform:
"We will ensure that personal data receives full constitutional protection from government overreach."
"Affirming the Fourth Amendment “right of the people to be secure in their houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,” we call for strict limitations on the use of aerial surveillance on U.S. soil, with the exception of patrolling our national borders for illegal entry and activity. We oppose any attempts by government to require surveillance devices in our daily lives, including tracking devices in motor vehicles."
"In recent years, technology companies have responded to market demand for products and services that protect the privacy of customers through increasingly sophisticated encryption technology. These increased privacy protections have become crucial to the digital economy."
"No matter the medium, citizens must retain the right to communicate with one another free from unlawful government intrusion."
"Like all other sectors of our society, agriculture is directly impacted by the constant advance in technology. Agriculture now faces a revolution in the generation of “Big Data” — information produced not only through public oversight of regulations and programs, but also from private business records of farming and ranching operations. In the interest of protecting the safety of our farmers and ranchers, we will advance policies to protect the security, privacy, and most of all, the private ownership of individual farmers’ and ranchers’ data."
"The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the Foreign Bank and Asset Reporting Requirements result in government’s warrantless seizure of personal financial information without reasonable suspicion or probable cause. Americans overseas should enjoy the same rights as Americans residing in the United States, whose private financial information is not subject to disclosure to the government except as to interest earned. The requirement for all banks around the world to provide detailed information to the IRS about American account holders outside the United States has resulted in banks refusing service to them. Thus, FATCA not only allows “unreasonable search and seizures” but also threatens the ability of overseas Americans to lead normal lives. We call for its repeal and for a change to residency-based taxation for U.S. citizens overseas."
We agree with the 2014 Vermont Progressive Party Platform:
• Protect the confidentiality of commercial transactions and medical information.
• Restrict the ability of the state, cities, and towns to eavesdrop on private citizens.
• Protect the privacy of individuals from commercial interests.
We agree with the For a People's Party Platform:
"Americans are the most surveilled people in human history. Studies have shown that mass surveillance suppresses our freedom of speech and freedom of thought, undermining the fabric of a free society. By preemptively subjecting everyone to surveillance without a warrant, these programs presume guilt instead of innocence, reversing the foundation of our legal system."
- "Reassert the human right to privacy and the Fourth Amendment.
- Repeal the Patriot Act
- Abolish mass surveillance.
- Affirm the right to free speech and free assembly.
- Strengthen protections and rewards for government and corporate whistleblowers, and increase penalties for those who conceal government crimes and negligence.
- Abolish government torture, indefinite detention and extrajudicial assassination.
- Defend habeas corpus.
- Protect the Freedom of Information Act and mandate a higher government response rate. Without transparency there is no accountability."
We agree with Our Revolution:
"We must rein in the National Security Agency and end the bulk collection of phone records, internet history, and email data of virtually all Americans. Our intelligence and law enforcement agencies must have the tools they need to protect the American people, but there must be legal oversight and they must go about their work in a way that does not sacrifice our basic freedoms."
We agree with the Pirate Party Platform:
"We stand for individual privacy. The amount of oppression in a society is inversely proportional to its privacy protections. Individuals must be free to make personal decisions that do not harm another person."
"Whether it was the PATRIOT ACT, illegal NSA wiretapping or local surveillance cameras, our government has used 9/11 to increase its surveillance and control over us. Corporations have increased their spying on employees in order to get more work out of them. The arguments for each step on the road to a surveillance state may sound convincing, but that road leads to less control by people and more by government and corporate elites. [We] will prevent that from happening."
We agree with the Justice Democrats:
"Ban the NSA from bulk data-collection and warrantless spying."
We agree with the Tea Party Patriots:
"Americans from all political persuasions believe that security from threats, foreign and domestic, is not a valid reason for giving up their basic rights – like the right to privacy – with a plurality of Americans suggesting that the Government regulates more of their daily lives than it did when their parents were their same age.
Revelations about the National Security Agency (NSA) spying on American citizens [5] run counter to the ideals of freedom-loving Americans. The NSA has taken its vast capabilities and broadened them from spying on America’s enemies to spying on its allies abroad and law abiding Americans.
The NSA can eavesdrop on a cell phone conversation between you and your friends, read private emails between you and your spouse, even read text messages between you and your children.
Washington’s abuse of power threatens to destroy the checks and balances established in the Constitution to protect your freedom and your rights."
ORGANIZATIONS:
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC)
Works to raise consumers’ awareness of how technology affects personal privacy, responds to specific privacy-related complaints from consumers, and advocates for consumers’ privacy rights in local, state, and federal public policy proceedings.
Works to raise consumers’ awareness of how technology affects personal privacy, responds to specific privacy-related complaints from consumers, and advocates for consumers’ privacy rights in local, state, and federal public policy proceedings.
ARTICLES:
