Wiretaps in U.S. jump 19% in 2004

Reading the following makes me feel real good about my freedom and trust of people into each other – and yes, I AM sarcastic, just in case it didn’t show. Big brother IS watching you, just the bad thing is you don’t know for sure. Brazil, here we come. Police state? Nah, think police COUNTRY:

USATODAY.com – Wiretaps in U.S. jump 19% in 2004: “Wiretaps in U.S. jump 19% in 2004 WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of secret court-authorized wiretaps across the country surged by 19% last year, records show. As law enforcement authorities scurried to keep apace of improving technology favored by criminals, not a single application was denied.

State and federal judges approved 1,710 applications for wiretaps of wire, oral or electronic communications last year, and four states — New York, California, New Jersey and Florida — accounted for three out of every four surveillance orders, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. That agency is required to collect the figures and report them to Congress.

The numbers, released Thursday, do not include court orders for terror-related investigations under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA, which reached a record 1,754 warrants last year, according to the Justice Department. [...]“