Should the NSA look at your International Calling Card Phone Records?

The National Security Agency has been collecting information on millions of domestic phone calls, according to a report this week in USA Today.

Source:
www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-05-10-nsa_x.htm

CNN.com asked readers whether they think it is appropriate for the government to monitor telephone records. Here is a selection of the responses, some of which have been edited:
If I had to choose between a one in ten thousand chance that I or someone I love might be killed by a terrorist in any given year or living in a police state, I'd take the former. The goal of terrorism is to make us live in fear and to destroy our way of life. If we become a nation of secret laws, pervasive surveillance, and midnight justice (Guantanamo and secret prisons, anybody?), then the terrorists have *won*, even if there is never another attack on US soil.
by: Loren Davidson, California

I believe it is the old saying that applies to this: "If you have nothing to hide, what is the problem?" I am a Democrat, but you will rarely find me any[where] but middle on the spectrum. If the NSA wants to collect data about calling patterns, without monitoring them, that is fine. And if they find that there is a particular household or geographic area that is placing calls to known terrorists or less than peaceful or stable countries, they should be able to monitor those calls, with the proper authority giving them that permission. I think this is a compromise to this intelligence impasse that will please both sides. Whether I like Bush or not (Which I DO NOT, he is the silliest man I have ever seen) we are at war, and it is nice to see that we are doing something to protect ourselves on the home front, rather than only sending troops to foreign sand pits on primitive lands.
by: Bryan, St. Petersburg, Florida

[Should the government monitor phone records?} Absolutely not. They should have to uphold the Constitution. Who is Bush to be above the law? He and the NSA should get a court order. There is no privacy with him in office. Shame on the Congress and Senate.
by: Peggy, Haworth, New Jersey

Large amount of resources to track and analyze a huge volume of calls, with a tiny minority of them used by terrorists. Besides privacy, resource usage, and agreed-upon patterns to be used issues, since this information is public, all terrorists have to do is use public phone boxes and telephone cards to ensure anonymity and bypass the database searches.
by: Richard Millham, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

I am not sure where to direct my outrage. Should it be at the NSA, the Bush Administration and my soon-to-be ex-phone company for spying on me without a warrant? Should it be Congress for claiming it might be legal and doing nothing to pass laws that would make it illegal? Or should it be my fellow Americans which, some polls say, don't care if they are spied upon?
by: Jeannine Meyers, Lebanon, Tennessee

More and more our intelligence services are taking on the characteristics of the former KGB. It is exceedingly difficult to understand what my calls to Home Depot, Spiegel, Macy's, and my doctor could possibly do to enhance our national security. Next it will be necessary to monitor our credit card purchases. Billions are being spent on new database technology -- for what? It's time we woke up and let our government know that they have to do more than play the terrorism card whenever they want to erode our way of life. No, the government should not monitor domestic telephone call records -- not unless they have a specific target, approved by our judicial branch.
by: Stephen Evans, Reno, Nevada

Unless your phone call is to a suspicious person, I wouldn't worry about being eavesdropped on. And if it a suspicious call at first, it is likely they will stop listening after awhile because I doubt the government cares to hear about your cousin's gastric bypass surgery.
by: Jason, Plant City, Florida

As well-intentioned as the the call records database and eavesdropping programs may be, they're taking us down a very dark path. It's these types of gradual encroachments that will inevitably smother the freedoms that are so fundamental to the American way of life. "Secrecy, being an instrument of conspiracy, ought never to be the system of a regular government." -Jeremy Bentham, jurist and philosopher (1748-1832)
by: Jared Pace, Durham, North Carolina

NO!!! I do not think the government should monitor domestic telephone call records!!! This country has always held dear the tradition that our personal lives should be free of Governmental intrusion absent probable cause to intrude. If we step back and take a look, our right to privacy has been pirated away bit by bit over the last several years under the guise of 9-11. Our government must find ways to conduct our intelligence without using it as an excuse to intrude in to the private lives of it's citizens. Personally, I believe that if we knew the full story, we would find that much more than "benign" compiling of phone numbers is and has been going on. Do I trust the Bush administration? NO!!! Do I trust my government in general? NOT ANY MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!Penny Hoffman, Omak, Washington
From my understanding, what's being archived is basically "who called who" and not the contents of the conversation (e.g., tapping of the phone lines). Putting such archiving in the context of the post 9/11 U.S.A., it seems logical to do such a thing. However, I doubt that's the real cause for all the ruckus. What's really going on here is anti-Bush citizens and those naive souls unwilling/unable to critically approach these activities jumping on a bandwagon of popular rhetoric. Grow up, people.
by: Chionesu George, Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina

Would you believe a thief who robs you and tells you it's for your own good???
by: Mark Roberts, Birmingham, Alabama

Everybody has the right to have a secret even if it is as a stupid as a cooking recipe.
by: Alex, Atlanta, Georgia

I highly value my privacy; however, to protect the security and safety of the people of the U.S. and their interests, it does not at all bother me that NSA monitors my phone records. This is, I believe, a legitimate invasion of my privacy. I think it is a travesty that this information has been leaked to the press. The fact that NSA is doing this does not need to be public knowledge.
by: Matt Rodatus, Frederick, Maryland

The issue is not whether or not the government should monitor domestic telephone call records. The issue is whether or not the Executive branch should be able to do this without oversight. One of the major elements of the Constitution is the system of checks and balances. To say the Executive branch can do whatever it deems necessary, in secrecy and without oversight by the other two branches of government, seems a mockery of not only the words, but also the spirit of the Constitution. The Framers were well aware of consequences of an unchecked and unquestioned executive (another George, in fact, King George III). We, apparently, have forgotten.
by: K. Kono, Boston, Massachusetts

Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/12/feedback.phone.records/index.html

Its Your International Phone Card Call: Should the NSA look at your International Calling Card Phone Records?