>If they’re not suing to stop it, that means it’s likely legal.
Pre-9/11, I would totally agree with you. The last 20 years, all that is necessary is the law enforcement agency needs a lawyer that has a somewhat convincing argument or technicality that they could argue is legal. Think "enhanced interrogation techniques," which has been argued is not torture, which would be illegal.
It helps if there is a technique that keeps it out of courts altogether, like civil forfeiture which charges the property with a crime and not the person. To get back property, the owner must prove their innocence rather than the state proving their guilt.
9-11 taught us many things. One of which was that we don't need to crack all encryption on the planet. The "suspects" who did this were exactly that. Previously been identified as potential baddies, with the intent to do bad things. Authorities knew them/about them. Authorities failed to track/monitor/<other verbs> them, and 9-11 happened (and it was a horrible horrible event).
Now, for the solution. Get authorities to get their shit straight, remove their heads from their asses, operate properly.
The solution that "if nothing is a secret we would have prevented that".. imho doesn't stand. One shouldn't go about messing up with EVERYONE's privacy (and defined rights) because 100/1000 people in the world are baddies. The world shouldn't create next one Stasi in every country because of 9-11 or Bataclan or London Bridge.
And lack of transparency is a pure characteristic of a "Stasi".
Anyone with power, funding, combined with no transparency or accountability will become a dictator in their own domain.
Humanity is not yet mature 'enough' ('enough' varies - eye of the beholder thingie)(btw this is not a threat, it's dissapointment/acceptance).
It's supposed to be us via the people who represent us in the government. The news is supposed to inform us of what the government is doing that they don't want us to know. That's how the system is supposed to work and was designed. That entire system has broken down or been coopted by the very people we are supposed to be watching at multiple levels.
Pre-9/11, I would totally agree with you. The last 20 years, all that is necessary is the law enforcement agency needs a lawyer that has a somewhat convincing argument or technicality that they could argue is legal. Think "enhanced interrogation techniques," which has been argued is not torture, which would be illegal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_interrogation_techniq...
It helps if there is a technique that keeps it out of courts altogether, like civil forfeiture which charges the property with a crime and not the person. To get back property, the owner must prove their innocence rather than the state proving their guilt.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_United...