> This is a problem with law enforcement in general: they are lazy and seek to have automated solutions to so much of what used to be called police work. This applies to warrant-less wiretaps, pulling information on people from 3rd party data brokers to side-step warrant and FOIA requirements, and more.
The flaw with this line of reasoning is that behaviors have changed. In the past, when the police did "police work", people had no choice but to meet in person to discuss their criminal enterprises. You could follow them, and listen in. Many illicit schemes also left a trail of paper that needed to be stored in physical space.
It's not that the police have gotten lazy, it's that if you expect criminals to hang out in a shady dockside speakeasy like they did when Al Capone ran the town, you're simply not going to find anything.
This is a real tricky problem to which I'm not sure there are good solutions. There's a mounting conflict of interest upholding the law on the one hand, and the interests of law-abiding citizens on the other.
The flaw with this line of reasoning is that behaviors have changed. In the past, when the police did "police work", people had no choice but to meet in person to discuss their criminal enterprises. You could follow them, and listen in. Many illicit schemes also left a trail of paper that needed to be stored in physical space.
It's not that the police have gotten lazy, it's that if you expect criminals to hang out in a shady dockside speakeasy like they did when Al Capone ran the town, you're simply not going to find anything.
This is a real tricky problem to which I'm not sure there are good solutions. There's a mounting conflict of interest upholding the law on the one hand, and the interests of law-abiding citizens on the other.