How Charter and NebuAD are violating the U.S. Constitution
June 20, 2008 10:49 am LegalEvery American has heard of the concept we call “Freedom of Speech.” It is specifically listed in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and is the cornerstone of the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment actually covers five specific freedoms, those being:
- The freedom of religion
- Freedom of speech
- Freedom of the press
- Freedom of assembly
- Freedom to petition the government for redress of grievances
All five of these are important because they lay the groundwork for all of our other freedoms. Without the right to speak our minds there is no debate. Without the right to gather together to address issues nothing can be changed. The Supreme Court has also repeatedly upheld another “freedom” not specifically enumerated in the Constitution, the “freedom of association.”
Freedom of association is mandatory to the function of free speech because in many cases people can only exercise their freedom of speech when in groups or otherwise associating with others. It is similar to the freedom of assembly, but different in that “freedom of association” does not necessarily require individuals to actually meet physically or even gather to discuss a matter. When you order a book from Amazon.com you are exercising your freedom of association with the seller of the product you buy. When you consult WebMD you are associating yourself with the people who run the site. When you chat online you are associating with those other individuals interested in a shared topic.
You and I have a right to conduct ourselves however we want online, and we have a basic right to privacy in the process. Our associations are our own, and any negative repercussions stemming from those associations are in violation of our Constitution and human rights.
We all live in the real world, though, and we all know that our associations can be a cause for concern to many people. Some companies won’t hire individuals who have known medical conditions. Government agencies might be interested in people who seek out information on corruption and civil rights infractions. Prosecutors regularly submit search terms and emails as evidence in everything from fraud to murder cases. Our associations online are of great interest to many people and organizations, and if monitored or recorded are of even greater interest.
It is the responsibility of the federal government, and of companies operating in the United States, to protect our freedom, especially those enumerated in the Bill of Rights, without which no freedom is possible. For a company like Charter to take active steps to the contrary which will clearly make it easier for our associations to become public knowledge is not only a violation of the public trust, but also flies in the face of the basic human right to free speech and the enumerated right to such in the First Amendment.
A recent study in Germany found that retention laws and monitoring in that country changed the behavior of its citizens in more than 50% of respondents. More than half of the people questioned said that “they probably would not use telecommunication for contacts like drug counselors, psychotherapists or marriage counselors because of data retention.” People are the same around the world. If a person knows they’re being watched, then they’ll change their behavior so as not to raise any degree of suspicion, even if their business is legitimate. For Charter users that means that we may not visit a chatroom about suicide prevention or abortion. We might not order Ron Paul’s new book because its title “The Revolution: A Manifesto” might send the wrong message. We won’t conduct banking or brokerage transactions online. We might not even send pictures of our kids to the grandparents.
And we would have good reason not to do any of those things. Our future may be affected by our associations, despite those associations being Constitutionally protected.
This chilling effect is what the First Amendment specifically protects us against. We have a right to call our doctor when we need help without worrying about losing our job or our insurance if our condition becomes public knowledge. We have a right to chat about topics which might be cause for alarm to people with alternate beliefs. We have the right to order and read any material we want without fear of that transaction being turned over to any individual, company, or oversight body. We have the right to freely associate ourselves with whatever and whoever we like, and Charter has teamed up with NebuAD to absolutely trample on this right.
I have been very reluctant to carry out some actions that I might have prior to learning about Charter’s new wiretapping program. There are websites I won’t visit anymore, people I won’t email without strong encryption anymore, and even books I will never order as long as my packets are being read while in transit. In a very real and very tangible way Charter has already committed a civil rights violation against me and indeed against every one of its customers, and at some point in the future they will be made to stand accountable for that.
You either stand for the rights and freedoms that we as Americans enjoy, or you don’t. Charter and NebuAD most obviously don’t, so today I’d like to introduce another word to the debate over their spying program:
Unamerican.