Lone Star Panopticon

It's unnerving enough, that the governor of Texas and his homeland security department are building a massive database to snoop local citizens. But now, the Texas Senate has approved a broad homeland security bill "that expands wiretapping authorities to include cellular telephones and... allows police to use photos and videos taken by cameras at toll booths to prosecute any crime."

Some of the provisions actually seem to be fairly sensible:

Current law limits wiretaps to investigations of murder, drug-related crimes and child pornography, Carona said. It also limits surveillance to facilities, such as a suspect's home, that are listed in an application to a judge.

The new bill would let the wiretap follow the suspect, capturing information from any number of land lines, cell phones or Internet services. Police would still have to ask for permission to conduct the surveillance, and the broader standards would only apply if the judge determines the suspect is likely to change communication devices repeatedly or if there are "exigent circumstances."

Others, not so much:

The section allowing police to use toll booth photos and videos to prosecute crimes was tucked into a section on vehicles used by disaster relief organizations. It would repeal a provision in the state's
Transportation Code that bars authorities from using the images to prosecute anything other than toll absconders and capital offenders.

(High five: Kris)