Living Under a National Security Letter Sucks

The ISP operator who, via the ACLU, challenged the FBI’s national security letter authority in 2004, before it was cool, is still legally forbidden from revealing himself to even his family and closest friends. He has a rare anonymous op-ed in the Washington Post this morning describing life under a Patriot Act gag order. Living […]

Gag
The ISP operator who, via the ACLU, challenged the FBI's national security letter authority in 2004, before it was cool, is still legally forbidden from revealing himself to even his family and closest friends. He has a rare anonymous op-ed in the Washington Post this morning describing life under a Patriot Act gag order.

Living under the gag order has been stressful and surreal. Under the threat of criminal prosecution, I must hide all aspects of my involvement in the case -- including the mere fact that I received an NSL -- from my colleagues, my family and my friends. When I meet with my attorneys I cannot tell my girlfriend where I am going or where I have been. I hide any papers related to the case in a place where she will not look. When clients and friends ask me whether I am the one challenging the constitutionality of the NSL statute, I have no choice but to look them in the eye and lie.

I resent being conscripted as a secret informer for the government and being made to mislead those who are close to me, especially because I have doubts about the legitimacy of the underlying investigation.

link.

(photo: shht)