What are the disadvantages of the patriot act?

Answer 1

From: http://w2.eff.org/Censorship/Terrorism_militias/patriot-act-II-analysis.php

# Privacy Invasions. USAPA II dramatically widens the powers of government to invade the privacy of Americans and others living here. This includes: #* Broad new authority to compel information from ISPs, friends, relatives, businesses and others, all without informing you. #* Immunity for businesses that voluntarily turn over your information to law enforcement. #* Extra punishment for use of cryptography-- no connection to terrorism needed. #* Instant police access to your credit reports upon certification that they are sought "in connection with their duties" -- again, with no connection to terrorism needed. #* Relaxed requirement of specificity for warrants for multi-use devices like PDAs and computers with telephonic capabilities. #* DNA collected from all terrorism suspects/DNA database information open to all law enforcement. #* Less judicial oversight of surveillance. # More "End Runs" Around Limitations on Surveillance and Information Sharing. Federal, state and local officials can now freely share information, regardless of the original reason for gathering it. This includes information in your credit reports, educational records and visa records. It also includes information obtained by administrative subpoenas of any business, from your ISP to your credit card company to your grocer. It also includes DNA database information and information obtained through the secret court processes of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Much of this sharing need not have any relationship to terrorism investigation. # Gag Orders and Increased Governmental Secrecy. The "sunshine of public review" is a key check on abuses of governmental power. But USAPA II makes it even harder for the public to evaluate what the government is doing with its broad new powers. USAPA II allows gag orders for subpoenas that force third parties to turn over information about their friends, loved ones or customers while making it unlawful for them to tell anyone except their lawyers about the subpoena. In a similar vein, the law creates broad new exceptions to the Freedom of Information Act for terrorism detainee information, prevents the Environmental Protection Agency from warning the public about environmental dangers from chemical releases and reduces the ability of judges to force the government to present its evidence in open court. # Expanded Reach of Powers under the Control of Secret Courts. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was enacted more than 20 years ago to handle the special problem of non-criminal investigation of foreign intelligence activities in the United States. For this limited purpose, Congress established an unprecedented secret court system. USAPA expanded the reach of FISA and the secret court dramatically, and USAPA II goes even further. Under USAPA II, the secret court will be able to authorize searches of individuals with no connection to foreign governments or even terrorist organizations. It will increase the length of surveillance and decrease court oversight from the already low levels set by USAPA. # Not Targeted to Terrorism. As with its predecessor, USAPA II contains many provisions that appear to be nothing more than an opportunistic attempt to increase governmental powers in areas unrelated to terrorism. In other areas, while terrorism is included, the provisions are not limited to terrorism-related investigations. These include government access to credit reports, sentence enhancements for using encryption, and sharing of some FISA-obtained information.