Russion FSB Can Read Postal Mail, No Rights Violation
I saw this news tidbit in the Vancouver Sun yesterday morning on the plane back to DC.
The Russian FSB now has the power to open postal mail without a warrant. [ Update: similar shenanigans by the UAE for cell phones. Thanks to Apu K. for the link. -Ed.]
It really doesn’t matter which government or what medium…if there is data of value for either security or economic reasons, laws will be bent or broken to get at it.
“It reminds one of Soviet times. And the worst thing is, the people don’t care.”
The communications ministry, which issued the decree, denied it violated the constitutional right to privacy.
“This document carries a technical character,” a ministry spokesman said, denying that security services would see their powers broadened with the decree.
Observations:
- very curious phrase “a technical character” … meaning “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” You simply shouldn’t be concerned because this is a very technical topic and it doesn’t actually mean that you’ve lost rights even though that seems like exactly what we’re doing.
- cognitive dissonance caused by that last sentence: either the security services already have this power, or the decree is meaningless b/c it doesn’t broaden powers, but on the face, that is what it seems *exactly* to do. Big lies are more easily believed, I suppose, particularly without any counterbalance in views.
Update:
The cognitive dissonance was nicely described as a Jedi Mind Trick. In addition, it was pointed out to me that it is likely that people actually do care, but in the absence of a free media, this sort of thing receives either no attention or only positive attention, and that dissenting opinions are only confined to venues with a purposefully ridiculous nature.
