The United States has a lot of problems, but hey, at least we have that wonderful thing called the Fourth Amendment.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

I’m not too terribly convinced that the U.S. government abides by it, though. But at least we do HAVE it.

Far as I know, there’s nothing like it in the United Kingdom, is there? Which is why it is so easy for the wicked government there to do things like this:

State to ‘spy’ on every phone call, email and web search
Every phone call, text message, email and website visit made by private citizens is to be stored for a year and will be available for monitoring by government bodies.

All telecoms companies and internet service providers will be required by law to keep a record of every customer’s personal communications, showing who they have contacted, when and where, as well as the websites they have visited.

Despite widespread opposition to the increasing amount of surveillance in Britain, 653 public bodies will be given access to the information, including police, local councils, the Financial Services Authority, the ambulance service, fire authorities and even prison governors.

They will not require the permission of a judge or a magistrate to obtain the information, but simply the authorisation of a senior police officer or the equivalent of a deputy head of department at a local authority.

Ministers had originally wanted to store the information on a single government-run database, but chose not to because of privacy concerns.

However the Government announced yesterday it was pressing ahead with privately held “Big Brother” databases that opposition leaders said amounted to “state-spying” and a form of “covert surveillance” on the public.

It is doing so despite its own consultation showing that it has little public support.

Yow! And please don’t any trolls come here and complain, “Well, you have nothing to worry about if you aren’t doing anything wrong.” That reason is so inept and milquetoast that it makes minds meld into scrambled eggs when hearing it. It doesn’t MATTER if you are doing nothing wrong. It is the PRINCIPLE of the matter. We have the right– the God-given right as endowed by our Creator– to be secure in our persons and personal effects. Government has NO RIGHT to spy on us, especially when there is nothing for which to suspect us.

Is it any wonder that George Orwell was from Britain?