New rule lets feds hack your computer anywhere, anytime

A proposal that Washington bureaucrats be given nearly unfettered permission to hack into private computers, which WND reported earlier was being described as the ultimate “Big Brother” move, is drawing strong opposition from privacy activists and members of Congress.

 

“We’re in the midst right now of one of the biggest battles in the privacy world that we have faced,” said U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, on a website mobilizing opposition. “If we keep down this path, we’re going to wake up in a few years in George Orwell’s 1984. This is why, as we fight for security, any intrusion on privacy needs to be narrowly tailored and aggressively overseen.”

 

WND reported last month when the alarm was raised by the Rutherford Institute, which offered its assistance to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who is opposing the rule change.

 

At issue is a proposed change to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41, which addresses search warrants.

 

If the change is adopted, Rutherford warned, it would “erode individual privacy” by granting vast new authority to investigators.

 

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