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US govt pays AT and T to let cops search Americans' phone records – 'usually' without a warrant
(www.theregister.com)
this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2023
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Hasn’t this been a thing since like the patriot act came out if not long before?
This predates cell phones. I believe there was a government wiretapping program for many non-criminal citizens back in the 80's. The program was shelved publicly when it became public knowledge, but continued in the background under different names and different areas of government since. I don't have a source offhand, but there was a lot of stuff that came to light about this around the time Edward Snowden blew the whistle. The Patriot Act just made a lot of this more legal, and was even expanded under Obama. I don't believe Trump or Biden have done anything to improve the situation for citizens since.
Wireline and wireless all have the ability to tap and trace built into the equipment. If a legal document is presented, it is a very easy thing to do.
This was the plot of the Kevin Mitnick movie