Like George H.W. Bush (41), John McCain is distrusted by the religious right. What does that mean?  Not what a gay friend just told me--that a President McCain will not advance the agenda of so-called "Christians" who are obsessed with homosexuals and abortion.

In the past, Senator McCain had been open-minded about gay rights and even abortion.  (Somewhere out there, McCain is on video about how if his daughter got pregnant, it would be a "family decision" about what to do.  And he praised one of the heroes of 9-11-01, a gay man who helped on Filght 93.)

That was McCain eight years ago, when he should have switched parties after being trashed by Bush in South Carolina.

Now, like Bush 41, a President McCain, even if he is not planning on running for re-election, will be under immense pressure to appoint judges like Alito, Roberts, Scalia, and Thomas.  Activist judges with agendas.

These include overruling Roe v. Wade and implicitly, Lawrence v. Texas, both decisions based on a right to privacy that so-called "conservatives" claim is not in the Constitution--so it does not exist.  So abortion rights and gay rights are on the ballot this year because it's likely that at least three Supreme Court justices will retire in the next four years.

I almost feel guilty writing this:  it won't get Obama elected, assist recruitment of progressive Democrats, or put Dubya in suspended animation for the rest of his term. It won't cure cancer, retire the world's nuclear arsenal, or put a damper on government corruption.

Instead I'm talking about getting mailed a speeding ticket for going 46 mph in a 35 mph zone discovered by a fixed-mounted speed camera I didn't know even existed.

I know, some of you (if you even bothered to read this far) are getting ready to comment about the world's smallest violin.  Can't say I really blame you.

There is a political dimension, however, actually more than one.

The United Kingdom government has shown an approach to security over freedom rivaling or surpassing that of even the Republicans. Already they've proposed national ID cards for all British citizens, expanded detainment periods without trial to 42 days, they've helped install an EU plan to fingerprint every visiting foreigner, and now they are expressing a desire to track all websites visited, e-mails exchanged, and messages typed by British citizens.

How does this affect Americans? Well, for one, there's a loophole that the British can look at conversations involving Americans, and the Bush administration would track the British citizens in exchange for their data on Americans. Since the Bush administration claims the Fourth Amendment doesn't apply if the person on the other end isn't an American citizen, Bush only needs knock on Brownie's door for a transcript. Also, there's that thing involving servers located there your text could travel through en route to its destination elsewhere in Europe.

ConsumerAffairs.com:

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has suspended its "Clear" registered airline traveler program after a laptop containing personal data on 33,000 pre-enrolled members of the program was stolen from San Francisco International Airport.

The laptop was discovered missing from a locked office at the airport on July 26. The computer, which was password-protected but not encrypted, contained data such as names, addresses, dates of birth, driver's license numbers, and other information.

Verified Identity Pass, Inc (VIP)., the company running the "Clear" program, minimized the risk of identity theft from the stolen data. "There is no reason to believe this is anything other than the simple burglary of a laptop, which the local police are investigating," said (VIP) founder CEO Steven Brill. "For it to be more than that, the thief would have to hack into two different passwords—and even then would not get what identity thieves want most—a Social Security number and/or credit card information."

The hollowed-out Bush contractor "government" has just lost control of the  detailed personal information of what amounts to this country's top business travelers. And although the laptop was later found, nobody knows who might have the data, or what they're doing with it. The company says it thought it was just a "simple burglary of a laptop," of course. But this sounds a little suspicious, don't you think?

But just hours after that TSA announcement, the company found the laptop, which normally fits in an enrollment kiosk, in a filing cabinet in the same room it was thought to have been stolen from, according to spokeswoman Allison Beer. The TSA, the airport police and the San Mateo county police are still investigating, according to Beer.

From fitting in an enrollment kiosk to a filing cabinet in the same room?

Really.

Many questions remain, to be sure. But one issue has been rather clearly defined. Remember all those cocksure conservatives who declared they had no worries about the program (or any other program, for that matter), because they "had nothing to hide"?

Well, they're right. Not anymore they don't.

If you've read aerojad's disquieting diary about border crossing in the Surveillance Society, you might be wondering just what to do about the fact that what's left of the 4th Amendment is in pretty serious tatters. Probable cause is so 20th Century.

Just a reminder, the Washington Post highlighted the latest news on the surveillance front on Friday in a front page article.

Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop computer or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.

Also, officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement....

Civil liberties and business travel groups have pressed the government to disclose its procedures as an increasing number of international travelers have reported that their laptops, cellphones and other digital devices had been taken -- for months, in at least one case -- and their contents examined.

The policies state that officers may "detain" laptops "for a reasonable period of time" to "review and analyze information." This may take place "absent individualized suspicion."

It's of course not just laptops, but any electronic device that can store information (pretty much any popular electronic device these days--transistor radios might just make a big come-back), and "all papers and other written documentation," including those little scraps of paper at the bottom of your pocket or bag. Maybe the latest terrorist code takes the disguise of grocery lists. As Ryan Singel points out, though, your first class mail is safe. Agents still can't open sealed first class mail.

Now how to do something about it, Think Progress guest blogger Peter Swire (senior fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund and the Clinton administration’s Chief Counselor for Privacy)
has a suggestion.

...The Post reports that Senator Russ Feingold, who called the recent hearing, intends to introduce legislation to require reasonable suspicion and bar racial profiling for laptop searches. In addition, join the "Hands Off My Laptop" online campaign, which has already sent over 20,000 messages to CBP about the need for privacy protections for laptops.

We can rally support around Feingold's upcoming legislation, and signing onto the "Hands Off My Laptop" campaign is a good way to start.

Update: in the comments, Lisa Lockwood points to EFF's action page on this issue. Go help them.

Update II: Rep. Eliot Engel has introduced H.R. 6702, the Securing our Borders and our Data Act. Contact your representative, and ask them to cosponsor.

As many others in the Buffalo/Niagara region of New York (as well as the millions that live along our northern border) would agree, we consider the ability to pass freely to Canada something close to a birthright.

It looks like Americans' 4th Amendment rights stop at the border. The Washington Post's Ellen Nakashima has a report today that a wide range of electronic devices may be seized by customs and immigration, searched, kept indefinitely, and shared with other government agencies.

William Worthy isn't worthy to enter our door
Went down to Cuba, he's not American anymore
But somehow it is strange to hear the State Department say
You are living in the free world, in the free world you must stay

The words above are from the chorus of a song entitled Ballad of William Worthy by the late, great protest singer Phil Ochs, about a journalist who lost his passport because he visited Cuba after that became illegal.

And while there is no firm policy quite like that today, even for Cuba, in as sense we are now all trapped, at least if we wish to maintain any privacy.  And for those of us who use technology it is especially frightening to consider the implications of how the 4th Amendment has been erased, especially by the Department of Homeland Security, an abomination whose creation needs to be erased, and whose accumulation of powers without oversight needs to be rolled back as much as do the assertions of the unlimited power of the unitary executive.  And on this subject, I think even Russ Feingold is too deferential.

UPDATE Message from Patient Privacy Rights 8/1/08:

We are making progress!  

Although the Senate is still in session, the Wired Act has not passed.  Senators Coburn (R-OK) and Snowe (R-ME) have objected to consideration of the bill without debate; this effectively stops it from moving unless floor time is agreed and allotted.  

We believe that "who" can see, share or buy our most sensitive health information is a policy deserving public debate and a roll call vote.

cont'd  

There's a new kid in town. It's call Cuil (pronounced cool) which was created by former Google engineers Tom Costello and his wife Ann Patterson and Danny Sullivan, also joined by Russell Power and Louis Monier. (Monier of eBay search, AltaVista and BabelFish fame)

It claims to provide much faster lookups than the usual search services.

But what got me was their privacy policy.

More below the fold.

                                      Cross posted at Raising Kaine

Despite all the media we have in this country/world, all the technology, all the websites galore where every person under the sun is setting up and posting his or her opinion........despite all this, it should remain true that we also have a right to privacy......

Okay, the Bushco meme "Be afraid, Be Very Afraid" got me, I admit it. I'm collaborating on a project with someone traveling in Europe, so we made plans to speak several days in a row for about a hour each time. I ordered Verizon's International Calling feature in advance of this. As we're talking, Obama is in the Middle East, then Germany and so on. We talk politics as per usual and trash the current villains, but then I get nervous that maybe They are listening in. Don't be silly, my colleague says.

More below the fold

You may have read about the case for invasion of privacy brought by Max Moseley against a British newspaper. Mosley is the head of the  FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) which governs world motor racing. He is also the son of the leader of the British fascist party, Sir Oswald Mosley.

The case surrounded a sado-masochistic orgy which was filmed by a dominatrix who has now given an interview to Sky News. The interview was quite wide ranging in which "Michelle", who was referred to in the case as "Woman E" but not called to give evidence, also discussed the effects on her and Mosley's family. Her husband has had to resign his job as a surveillance officer for MI5! The punchline tho is what she recommended Moseley to do and it had me rolling with laughter. Whether it was intended or not, I am unsure. More details and that line below the fold.

I think the view that we should not publish Obama's prayer is wrong.  It has already been overexposed.  This is not a question of what is right or wrong.  That cat is already out of the bag.

What we can do is SING IT TO THE HEAVENS!  I am not a religious man.  I respect the importance of religion in people's lives though and I understand the outrage in reaction to the unbeleivable inappropriateness of someone taking and publishing a note from a man to his God, especially from such a sacred place.

It (taking the note) is not something I would do.  I do not condone it.

This is going to be short and to the point. There are some things that should not be violated. Yesterday morning, Senator Obama visited the Western Wall and observed the tradition of writing a prayer and sticking it in the wall. Well a yeshiva student took the note OUT of the wall, and gave it to a newspaper.

I realize that by making this diary I too am sort of invading Obama's privacy, but I am outraged by this. Is NOTHING sacred around here? It's not bad enough that the media is sniffing around Obama 24/7 like he's Angelina Jolie in her last week of pregnancy. It's not bad enough that Obama can't even attending his daughter's soccer game without the pool reporters counting the number of times he yawns. It's not bad enough that his every little move is dissected and analyzed (and the analysis usually isn't that great). But the man can't even leave a prayer in a wall without someone going and taking something that is very private and making it public.

Some backstory, for those of you not in Vermont: Brooke Bennett is a young girl in Vermont who disappeared a short while ago.  During the search for her, it was discovered that she'd had some cyber contact with a major creep.  For more details on that horrible story, a simple google search will yield you all sorts of stuff to fill in the gaps.

But this story isn't about Brooke Bennett.  It's about a tiny (literally: she's 4' 10") librarian who stood up to the Vermont state police when they tried to intimidate her into handing over the computers without the requisite warrant.

The story, after the jump.

A tiny Librarian took it to the wall to protect your privacy a few days ago.

Children's librarian Judith Flint was getting ready for the monthly book discussion group for 8- and 9-year-olds on "Love That Dog" when police showed up.

They weren't kidding around: Five state police detectives wanted to seize Kimball Public Library's public access computers as they frantically searched for a 12-year-old girl, acting on a tip that she sometimes used the terminals.

Flint demanded a search warrant, touching off a confrontation that pitted the privacy rights of library patrons against the rights of police on official business.

Ms. Flint asked to see a warrant.

I'm still scratching my head...