Have YOU been wiretapped? I think I might have been.

[NinetySix]

Is it just paranoia, or have you recently had disturbing indications of something not quite right? Is there some little thing that's happened that got you suspicious even before this "SnoopGate" story broke? I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours.

I live in Canada, but I grew up in the States, and my parents still live there. Ever since I got caller ID, my parents' number would come up whenever they would call me, as you would expect, until about one year ago. One evening when the phone rang, a strange number came up on the caller ID, one with an area code I didn't recognize. I picked up, only to find that it was my father calling. I asked him where he was, and he told me he was at home. I told him about the odd area code, and we both just sort of shrugged it off as odd. The next time he called, same thing. And the next, and the next. We talked about what might cause something like that, neither of us understanding why my parents' home number wasn't showing up. I looked up the area code of the new number that kept continually appearing on the caller ID, and it was a Vancouver number. Strange. Now, the unfortunate thing is that my mother has a tendency to be a bit paranoid, which typically works to make the rest of us more skeptical to compensate, so we were particularly hesitant to try to draw any conclusions about the situation. Even so, my father called the phone company to ask why this was happening, and they told him they didn't know what the hell he was talking about. It doesn't happen anymore, but it went on for about five or six months before their home number began to show up when they called.

Another oddity is the strange occurrence of a barely audible click or pop during the second ring whenever I'm calling anyone in the States. I don't know whether this signifies anything, but ever since I've become aware of it, I listen for it every time, and every time, it's there.

So now the story comes out about domestic wiretapping outside the boundaries of judicial oversight. Even my sister is now convinced that there is a fair possibility that we were being snooped on. No more, "Aw Mom, come on, you don't really think that, do you?" Now it's, "Do you suppose it's really possible they were spying to see if we said anything seditious?" I'm not fully convinced that WE were listened in on, but the fact that the Administration admitted to using extra-judicial wiretaps indicates to me that the real number not being disclosed may be significantly higher, and that perhaps, just maybe, we were.

Please post if any of this sounds familiar, or if something similarly odd has happened to you.

[NVMojo]

1. hmmm, wonder if we can all file a lawsuit or something to find out if

we have been wronged by the Bush administration??

[Oceansaway]

2. did he use as calling card ?

[NinetySix]

3. No, he always direct dials from home.

My folks have a calling plan that charges something like 5 cents a minute to Canada.

[Skink]

5. 1-800 wire tap.

Theat's my home number.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

4. Yes. I am pretty sure I have

My phone keeps fucking up. No apparent reason.
The phone company can't figure it out. They have been here several times.
Each time they "refer" the trouble call up to splicers.
The splicers come and can't find any problem.

Every now and then the phone will ring, and at the same time it calls 911.

On two occasions police officers have come to my door and warned me about calling 911 and hanging up. I did not call 911... the phone did.

Yeah.

Explain that to patrol cops.

What do you think?

On edit... I forgot to mention.

I am involved with a group which pickets military recruiting stations.


Odd, no?

[lonestarnot]

6. cute... know any operators? dated any recently? LOL

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

7. Nope, not a one

I worry that if my 911 hangups continue and I am not home, it will give the PD PC to kick the door and investigate. My dogs might not take that well, and well, I am not a baby, I know what happens to dogs which threaten officers when they think they are "doing right"

I spoke to the LT at my local PD, he made a note of the address, and said he would enter something into our 911 database for our address.

Don't that beat all.

[lonestarnot]

8. Yep pretty strange phone alright. I'd just disconnect it and get a cell.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

10. Did that.

It still calls 911 when it rains sometimes.

We are cleary cross connected with an alarm wire somewhere. But, as yet, no one can find where.

Oh, probably where the fucking klutz from DOD did the tap, I would guess.

[lonestarnot]

15. Unplug it from the wall. You're in the fucking twilight zone. Maybe you

ought to move. LOL

[Silverhair]

87. Cell phone track and report your location within 100 yards, 24/7.

That's right. All new cell phones have tracking capability. It is due to the phone companies wanting to save electricity and tight beam you conversation to you. Old cell phones had your conversation broadcasted to the entire cell and that takes a lot of power. By knowing your location they can send your conversation in a tight beam that saves them power and that saves them money. As a side benefit, if you dial 9-11, the police can find you more easily.

Of course, the price of that benefit is that if your cell is on, "they" know where you are.

[adolfo]

88. Cell phone tap

It is possible to enable a cell phone's microphone as a listening device even when not in use. The OnStar system in cars has the same capability. Don't ask me how I know. ;)

[parhelion]

65. Similar 911 experience here...

About 4 years ago I was awakened by someone pounding at my door and was shocked to see a cop, who asked if I called 911. I said no, I was asleep, my wife wasn't home. He asked to come in and search the house! It was obvious he didn't believe me even though I swore I didn't call 911 and he had quite an attitude, and I didn't help when I made a smart-ass comment about my dog dialing the phone (I was really irritated at this point.) At first we thought it was a nasty prank by a neighbor, but my wife called the phone company the next day and sure enough, 911 had been dialed. The woman she spoke with asked if we had a cordless phone (we did.) She explained that others had the same thing happen when the battery begins to get low on the phone. I replaced the battery (and have long since replaced the phone) and it never happened again. We also sent a letter to the police department explaining what had happened (you'd think it would be their job to stay on top of things like this) but we never got a reply. The battery might not have anything to do with what's happening with your phone, but it might be worth looking into. I shared your fear about it happening when no one was home and our dogs getting shot. Now I get worried when my 1-year old daughter starts plying with the phone!

[lady raven]

56. It could be your phone...?

I saw on snopes not too long ago that some cordless phones were having that problem- calling 911 on their own. Is your phone a cordless?

http://www.snopes.com/crime/safety/lowbattery.asp

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

71. Yeah, that was my first thought... same thing

corded or wireless...

I am pretty sure, based on a conversation I had with someone today, that whatever program they are using to monitor calls is messing up here and there, leaving a trail.

With this bunch of dolts, and the levels they appear to be doing this, it will come out.

[FreedomAngel82]

9. Interesting

Why would you be spied on though?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

11. I added an edit

because I forgot to say I have been pretty active in protesting at recruiting offices.

and, well, I am ex-military, and they may be concerned about certain skills I may retain?

[NinetySix]

16. I have no idea, honestly.

I've never belonged to any organizations, subversive or otherwise. My family are something of an anomaly, though: all of us liberals from the deep Confederate South. It's no secret that we dislike Bush, his old man, and even Reagan back in the day (both of my folks voted for MONDALE!)

The only thing I can figure is, assuming it's true, our calls are international, and we are extremely prone to talk politics almost every time we speak to each other. None of us has ever uttered any kind of threat, either on the phone or off.

It would just be nice to be able to expect privacy when innocently speaking to one's family in AMERICA.

[Warpy]

12. This isn't your daddy's wiretap

and suspicious pops and clicks are a thing of the past, a flaw of mechanical systems. These days, it's all done electronically without a second pickup that engages the tape recorder. Now it's recorded digitally, voice activated.

I sincerely doubt small fish like us are targets. He could have gotten FISA approval to tap our phones as disloyal, unpatriotic, antiwar DU posters. No, his targets for these wiretaps would have outraged even the tame FISA judges and likely included Congressmen, Dem party bosses, judges, and all major media people. It's also likely he's bugging his own party, looking for dirt for Fat Karl to threaten them wish when they balk at outrageous legislation.

When those old boys start to figure that one out, we'll see his ass handed to him over this. It's what really took Nixon down. Watergate was what they could prove.

[shance]

17. Everyone who opposes the Bush Adminsitrations policies are targets.

The more important issue is that we don't have a way to know if we are having our Civil Liberties violated and if there are people monitoring us and watching our daily activities.

I know Ive been monitored, but it hasn't been due to phone tapping or email surveillance. That is an easy way for our privacy to be invaded because it is so difficult to track accountability. It leaves alot of room for abuse.

[NinetySix]

18. If the Gov't were engaging in broad surveillance,

they could be routinely listening in on all of us electronically. I take your point about stray pops and clicks, but all the same, voice recognition technology could make it possible for a large number of conversations to be monitored for certain key words, like for instance the 'A' word (think Pat Robertson and Hugo Chavez). Who knows how widely and often such monitoring might have been employed? Perhaps not at all, perhaps.... It's ALL speculation right now.

I'm making no claims, though; just expressing concern over unusual happenings and what they might mean in the light of new information.

[crispini]

21. Ooooo. You get the gold star.

That smells right to me. Probably Kerry campaign staff as well, eh?

[SmokingJacket]

64. I would doubt that someone like me is a target...

(more talk than action, sadly) but I wouldn't be surprised if the more activist of us are being watched. Those protest organizers freak the Bushies out!

I also heard a rumor that there might be massive internet spying, cued to keywords rather than to specific people. So, if you type something like "hate Bush" a little spybot will track you down...

Just a thought...

[Bjornsdotter]

13. Actually yes

We did go through a period when we thought our phone was tapped.....The best thing about it was that when I would talk to various family members I would always say something like "to the people listening in...Bush sucks", then I would go back to my conversation. The best part of the whole thing...I have a teenage daughter who was on the phone all the time (encouraged by me) and I figured if the poor saps had to listen to her conversations they would go crazy.

Cheers!

[blonndee]

14. Well, the pictures the dude in the suit was taking

bothered me at the World Can't Wait-organized protest on campus. The local police were really cool, but when I asked them who that guy with the zoom lens was, they said he was with them, "just keeping records, making sure we know who's who in case anything goes wrong."

Not to sound all paranoid, but I've also noticed strange, white vehicles in my RVM for long periods of time a couple or three times in the last few months, even when I've taken small streets or parked in big parking lots of big box stores. This could be due to the fact that I made some phone calls to other countries, or maybe I *am* just paranoid.

I just assume that I *am* being listened to. I even made a comment today out loud to Chimpy's news conference and freaked out when I realized what I'd said. (I said, "Fuck you motherfucker, I wish someone would....) and I won't say the rest here.

What I ***SAID*** was in the privacy of my own home, but I was totally AWARE of how it would be perceived elsewhere and even feared that someone else had heard it. It's totally in keeping with Foucault so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

[NinetySix]

19. Foucault -- EXACTLY!!

Panopticism doesn't entail that every individual is always under scrutiny, just that they COULD be at any time. It's insidious, and it changes who we are and how we behave. Great point.

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
Step out of line, the man come and take you away

[blonndee]

24. Yeah, the panopticon...totally affects all of us, even those of us who

are aware of what it is and how it functions. I totally thought about that today...it freaked me out that I was freaked out about what I had said. But I'm still scared, because it's no longer ONLY theoretical.

It's even scarier that my freshman comp students are starting to EMBRACE that ideology. "If you don't have something to hide..." Some of them are reluctant to write about things that criticize the government, or even the university, and have specifically said, "I don't think I should write this." Without getting into specifics about my students' concerns, I really think they think that "everyone" knows about what they write and that they are in danger because of it.

But it's really amazing, if you can make them aware of how they're being exploited, even the reddest of them CAN come around. A good way to introduce them to it is through an analysis of advertising, amazingly enough. They HATE being taken advantage of, and my female students (without any prodding from me) HATE their media.

Doing what I can.

[Rich Hunt]

63. Yeah, well tell them THIS!

Remember all of the crap about Martin Luther King and his alleged 'affairs'?

People can gather information on you and distort it beyond recognition. Like, say,
you had a conversation with a member of the opposite sex who is not your spouse...
then you find you're being blackmailed for 'adultery'. Check out library books on
a range of topics...they'll single out the ones that are most likely to cast you in
a 'subversive' light, etc.

It doesn't matter how 'innocent' and law-abiding you are - invasions of privacy
are meant to intimidate 'we're watching you' AND harass. The real message :

'We own you.'

[renate]

72. it breaks my heart that what you're writing about is happening in America

Not so much the "if you don't have something to hide" thinking. They're young and most are probably still in the black-and-white phase of moral judgment.

But that people are scared to write things that criticize the government, in a country FOUNDED on free speech....
:scared:

[the_real_38]

57. Good point ....

.... the panopticon forces the individual to 'internalize the forms of discipline', so that they're being exerted by himself instead of externally.

[Hekate]

80. I told my tv that God should strike * dead for his lies, but I don't think

...anyone really heard me -- except my husband who reminded me that it was God who appointed Bush in the first place.

Oh darn.

Hekate

[verdalaven]

20. This is going to sound strange

but for the last month my own home number calls me, shows up on the caller ID, and when we answer no one is there. I know that sounds made up. It isn't. I called the phone company and had to explain the situation twice before the woman got it.....yes, I was at home when my HOME number called me. Impossible, even with two phones in the house. Pick up the phone and call your own number, you get a busy signal, not a ring through, much less something showing up on caller ID.

Anyone else have this happen? I am not so worried about wiretapping as I am baffled by this anomaly.

[LynzM]

22. That's absurd.

Damn. No wonder you had to explain it twice. I almost had to read it twice! Good luck getting that figured out!

[NinetySix]

25. I wonder whether there are always such strange phone anomalies,

or whether more oddities are showing up than usual. There's no way to ever know, but it's frightening to think that they may be indicative of some sort of despotic Big Brother looking over our collective shoulders.

I know what you mean when you say "I know that sounds made up." Strains of conspiracy theory "facts" or "the calls are coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE!!" urban legend. But the fact that SOMEONE has been wiretapped illegally is no conspiracy theory or urban legend, it is a fact acknowledged even by the perpetrators. It's not paranoia if someone is really out to get you.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

31. I don't buy it. I am a phone phreak (reformed)

honest... I am reformed!

I have never seen anything like this crazy shit.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

30. I have seen that too

And also upon picking up the phone, no dial tone, but like the old days of party line noise and static.

[verdalaven]

47. I did find an article on Star38

but why would a person trying to circumvent caller ID use my telephone number to do so? That's just weird.

[Tactical Progressive]

35. I think you are illegally wiretapping yourself

That's a federal offense. Report yourself to the authorities.

Then again, just tell them you were 'protecting America' and you'll be okay.

[verdalaven]

46. Yes sir!

I'll get right on that! :patriot:

[Javaman]

49. is that the same as talking to yourself? or hearing voices? n/t

[RebelOne]

79. It's happened to me, too.

But I know who it is. It's a collection agency.

[verdalaven]

85. It can't be a collection agency, because it is christmas

a collection agency would never call right before christmas! :sarcasm:

If that is who it is, they are still making it easy to ignore them. They never leave a message or pipe up when I answer the phone.

Did your number come up on the caller id, or another familiar to you?

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. I have and when we have noticed

we just go FUCK HOOVER, the boys usually leave the tap... and by the way, I have assumed such from word go...

[Horse with no Name]

26. No wiretaps

Just strange phone calls. I swear people are driving by my house. Messages on IM's that tell me to be careful.
However, I am more afraid of the crazy Right Wingnuts than I am the Secret Service or the government.

[helderheid]

27. my husband is Dutch. I am a member of DU. Yes.

[donheld]

28. That is why you need to say "kiss my ass" into the phone quite frequently

No matter who you're talking to just blurt out "kiss my ass" or other "go Cheney yourself." No matter who you are talking to say it. You can explain to the party you are talking to why you say it. This way the other party plus the eavesdroppers will know exactly why you are saying these things.

[donheld]

29. I swear I only hit enter once

Goddess must have liked it.

[MrSlayer]

32. I doubt it.

I don't see any reason why they would bother with me. I write the occasional LTTE and contribute to the DNC and WesPAC but nothing worthy of government surveillance. They'd just be wasting even more money and resources. But hey if they want to throw me in Gitmo for sponsoring terrorism by buying domestic weed, I suppose they can.

[sweetheart]

33. Domestic spying since the 60's

I've been photographed by the FBI spying on our religious group since the 80's, and i'm frankly not moved much
that bush is doing anything different, just this time i hope the american people would get pissed off enough
about it, to realize that all domestic spying is a form of terrorism against the population.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5626439&mesg_id=5626439

[flyarm]

34. i have been convinced my phones have been tapped for over a year..

i don't want to go into details but i called certain senators today to report it...and may i suggest if you feel you have been tapped or had any suspicious cars around your home..you let them know asap...they are taking names and circumstances...

take this seriously..and report anything you think is out of the ordinary!!

fly

[Silverhair]

43. Raging paranoia !! I doubt that you are that important to get...

...that kind of attention. It takes a lot of resources to stake out a person, tail them, and live monitor their calls. Modern spy technology WILL NOT give you ANY indication that you are being listened to. No indication whatsoever. NONE.

If you are important enough in a targeted network to get that kind of personal attention, then your network should have trained you in communications security, which would mean you would not post on a public internet forum. Since you are posting here, I conclude you are not important - merely egotistically paranoid. You imagine that you are important enough that the Federal gov't will devote resources to monitor you personally. If you really are that important, and you are posting here, then you have certainly made previous communications security blunders of sufficient magnitude that they have learned everything they need to know already.

[fooj]

78. You can believe whatever you wish.

Me? I'm off to a Communications Security Seminar...

[flyarm]

81. TOUCHE'...MAY I JOIN YOU??? ASSUMPTIONS ARE DANGEROUS!! N/T

[Silverhair]

86. Not an assumption. A conclusion based on facts and logic.

It is a fact that it takes a lot of manpower to continuously monitor someone, so if you aren't important, you are NOT being monitored 24/7.

[flyarm]

90. AND YOU ASSUME I AM NOT!!...N/T

[Freedom_Aflaim]

36. I suspect that most everyone here has been

The question is whether what was recorded was ever reviewed by a human and then acted upon.

I think that alot of the wiretap info is shifted through big mainframes looking for "trouble". If something suspious is said, its flagged for future processing.

[newyawker99]

48. Hi Freedom_Aflaim!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Freedom_Aflaim]

60. Thanks!

pretty cool place so far

[BurningDog]

37. Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that they AREN'T out to get you.

I can't explain the caller ID thing, but I doubt they'd use a system that would leave that blatent of a warning sign. The audible pop is probably your call connecting to another telephone system, i.e. your Canadian telco to an American one.

The best advice for anybody that's paranoid is the use encrypted Voice over IP (VOIP). Skype is free, works well, and encrypted (but closed source, so it can't be trusted 100%) and sounds better than a call over a normal telephone. Just remember that with ANY VOIP, whenever it touches an actual telephone system its no longer secure.

Then sign up for the EFF's newsletter so you can raise hell whenever they try to mandate backdoors in VOIP products (which they're already trying to do).

[TexasProgresive]

38. The don't use any thing so crude as to make a click

or change the caller id data stream. If it's the Feds you will never know that you are being tapped. Why the strange number coming up I can't tell you but have you done a reverse look up on that number or called it?

I have no doubt that they are listening in on our conversations, reading our email and internet chat but doubt we will have any indication it is going on. Telecommunication processes are extremely sophisticated now a days.

39. I'm pretty sure my father

was wiretapped in the 80s, when he was going to meetings on the contras and Nicaragua. I stayed at his home when he was away, and someone called pretending to be my boyfriend, until I realized it was a fake and called him on it, and he hung up. The only way someone could mimic my boyfriend's voice and be able to call the number would be if the phone were monitored. (Those CIA people that listen in must get extremely bored).

[tlsmith1963]

40. I Think *Everyone* at DU is

Ever since I started posting here, I've been having computer problems. Pop-up ads are showing up even though I am supposed to have them blocked. I keep having "serious system errors". Is anyone else having this problem? This is the first time in my life I have ever felt that my freedom of speech is being attacked.
I don't want people to let this thing go. I am livid.
I am *not* a terrorist, & I don't like being treated like one.

Tammy

[savemefromdumbya]

73. Keylogging

what ever happened to Magic Lantern?

They are sorely bored with the phone conversations - Cartoonnetwork, SpongeBob, soccer, the weather...

[lvx35]

75. Keylogging is not relevant unless you are using encrypted communications.

Everything online is pretty much public, unless its encrypted. Things like your credit card number when purchasing stuff are encrypted in a way that can be cracked by the government but they are unlikely to devote the computer resources to do it.

[datasuspect]

41. speak in code

"go see wally at the hat shop and let him know about that place that has the good scongili. get a reservation."

[Silverhair]

42. You are just paranoid, and ignorant of modern technology.

You are thinking in terms of old 1950's telephone technology, where wiretaps actually tapped into the phone wire directly.

What is happening now broad surveillance of everything. Almost all phone calls go by radio at some point. It is just a lot cheaper to microwave the calls from tower to tower than to lay a lot of line, even fiber-optic line. They simply listen to ALL the calls by listening to them while they are in the air. No pops, clicks, beeps, or anything else that you can hear. No redirecting of calls. The computers listen for key words, and when it gets a key word, they look more closely at that particular conversation. If it is suspicious enough, then a human will be alerted, but he will be listening to a recording, not in real time. Then the human looks at the connections history, and listens to the recording. Almost always it will be a false alarm. Occasionally, there will be one of greater interest. Then that number will be flagged for greater attention. But there will never be the old movie stuff that you can detect. No clicks, redirected calls, no tones, no pauses, none of that stuff. Modern spy technology left all that behind long ago.

Unless you are an important person in a targeted network, they aren't going to waste limited manpower and resources on you. If you really were such a person, you would NOT be posting on a public internet forum. Since you are posting here, I can reasonably conclude that it is mere paranoia. If you really are important enough for them to give you personal attention, and you are also posting here, then you have certainly made other security blunders and they have long ago learned everything about you that they need.

[Blue Diadem]

44. You won't be able to tell. I've spoken to someone on a tapped phone

and neither one of us had any auditory indication we were being listened to or taped. We had suspicion because my former Sil was extremely controlling and had been acting bizarre enough to do it. I'd often remarked to my daughter during those conversations that he was probably taping us talking about his issues. She searched her house for any type of device and found nothing.

Even though it was illegal and I wanted to press charges unfortunately with him being a cop, the police would do nothing..except laugh and ask us about our conversations.

I doubt highly there would be anything noticeable to give away a wiretap.

Edited to add: We do know for sure he was taping the calls, he played them for my daughter the night he threatened to kill her.

[Hyernel]

45. I'm sure there a little text file at the FBI...

...with all the snarky things I've posted on the Internets about that bumbling, motherfucking, traitor Chimp. (Including that right there, I suppose)

In the unlikely event I get arrested climbing over the White House fence looking to dognap Miss Beazley, so I can rename that poor pooch something less gay.

Oh wait...I think someone is at my door.

<...HOST DISCONNECTED...##>

[Cults4Bush]

50. k&r'd. n/t

[stubertmcfly]

51. Yuppers

Occasionally, when I call my parents (in-state call, mind you), my number shows up for them as something completely wacky. It used to display my correct number and now displays something different. Next time it happens, I will have them write it down.

[progressoid]

52. Holy Crap - What a coincidence

Someone just called here and there was no one on the other end. I hung up but then wasn't able to call out for almost 22 seconds.

I'm going to build a bunker now!

[AX10]

53. interesting.

You may have been wiretapped.

[longship]

54. Likely.

My company is international. My co-workers are all over the globe. I communicate with them regularly. It is likely that our conversations have been tapped into. However, we use Gnu Privacy Guard with both our Voice Over IP calls and e-mail. GnuPG is not breakable by any known method. (Note: conspiracy theorists should not doubt this. The mathematics on which public key cryptography is based is public knowledge. It's pretty much unbreakable with any current technology.)

If the NSA wants to waste horsepower trying to break the code, maybe they'll have less resources to spy on political opponents.

[babsbunny]

55. I posted here a while back about getting an email, at all 3 email

addresses, 2 at home, one at work from something like [e-mail]. This has happened twice now. Even my sibs, and Children don't know my work address, but I do get alerts from buzzflash at work.

[Pam-Moby]

58. Last year I had to have my home line changed 5 times.

I would get a unlisted/private number and for no apparent reason within a few weeks it would be listed on the web with my name and new number. I would still get billed for unlisted number. I would call the phone company and they had no reason for it. So in turn they would change my number again and again and the same thing happened. So after 5 times it is now unlisted and private.

[AgadorSparticus]

59. You are not alone. I am positive my phone was tapped. It started

right after I posted something that put up red flags for the agent mikes on the board. I wrote, "we will not go quietly into the night". I meant it as we will not lose our voice or be apathetic. But I guess they thought it warranted further inquiry to make sure I'm not trying to illicit violence. All they have to do is ask. I'm a pascifist. I don't even like watching horror movies because I'm too sensitive to the gory violence.

But for awhile there would be an audible click on my phone. Even the person on the other end of my line could hear it. One night, I was talking to my SIL and there was that click. She's only in college and even she asked me, "is your line tapped or something? What was that?" I told her yes, I think my phone is tapped. But I told her to ignore it.

If the gov't wants to waste their time listening to my SIL's boyfriend woes and my reading to her about astrological sun signs and characteristics, then let them. I have nothing to hide. So we ignored the line and just went on with our usual conversation. Funny thing is, after I said that, not even 10 minutes later the line clicked off. I guess our conversations were just too boring for them. After several months of this, it went away. We NEVER get the clicking anymore.

Maybe there was something in the line and I'm just paranoid. But I don't think so.

[Lady President]

61. My best friend's phone was

My best friend's phone was tapped, but she received a court notice saying that it had been. We suspected it was so we had fun by starting every conversation with something random to amuse the FBI. (ie. "Funnel the money through Vandelay Industries", or "Soda Pop and Pony Boy got the good stuff and they're dropping it off at the spot.") We never were able to hear clicks or pops.

FYI, my friend was working at a law firm during college, and everyone in the firm was indicted on RICO violations. After her co-workers, found out their phones were tapped, we figured correctly that hers was too. (She didn't do anything wrong.)

[distantearlywarning]

62. If Agent Mike is listening to my phone calls, then...

...he must be bored out of his skull. The only two conversations I ever have start like this, "Honey, would you pick up milk at the grocery store?" and "Since you are such a fine customer, we are pleased to offer you..."

I wish the government the best of luck listening to my calls for interesting info. And anyway, I'm not dumb. If I did actually have any secret, important, or illegal information to impart to someone, I would not do it over the phone or the internet.

[troubleinwinter]

66. I email a friend who is a citizen of Communist China

...so I dunno. He is also gay. Pfffft.

[schrodingers_cat]

67. No phone tap but my computer gets awfully wanky sometimes

I will be sitting here reading DU, and all of a sudden I hear my CPU thinking really hard, making it's whirring noises, and I will look at the bytes received and bytes sent readout, and they are going like gangbusters - millions flowing in, millions flowing out, and all functions slowed to a crawl. When this happens, I immediately disconnect and then log back on, and eveything will run normally again.
Can anyone explain THIS? I would love to know...

[Jed Dilligan]

70. Are you sure it isn't a backgrounded software update trying to happen? nt

[emdee]

68. I have a friend whose number comes up as anywhere in the country

but she calls with a calling card. Were your parents using a calling card, perhaps? Or calling through some different calling plan? If not, that's very strange. Very.

I have had no indication of being tapped - how bored they would have to be to listen in on my calls! LOL

emdee

[Jed Dilligan]

69. My family home was wiretapped back in the eighties

Clumsy technology back then. You could clearly hear the tape recorder come on. It made me look cool to my friends when I was talking on the phone, and they would go, "What's that?" "Oh, you know, the Feds are spying on my dad. Hey guys!"

[lvx35]

74. Yes, I have been....but about those clicks.

Though one thing I should say: my phone was out at one point in time, and the phone company sent a guy to set it up. We got to talking and it turned out he was a SIGINT guy from the military before this job. He took me down and showed me the box in the basement and he showed me the (standard phone company) tools used for checking signals. one tool he had picked up on what was going through a line by electro-magnetic signals outside the wire. In other words, he could tap a line without cutting the wire or affecting the signal in any way, without any "click". So if the phone company has tools that do it, it stands to reason the government does too. If the government is putting clicks in the line, its a mindfuck. They can tap you without them.


edit: its a mindfuck or they are using really old technology to do it. Clicks were reported in the 60's by people getting bugged. ITs not off the table, I just doubt it.

[CornField]

76. Ah hell... who really knows?

If the spooks have been listening in, I wish they would have been so nice as to offer advice on my 13-yr-old not doing her homework; my 5-year-old going through a state of rebellion; and my 3-year-old's refusal to completely potty train. It's the least they could have done after hearing all the wonderful chatter and jokes shared by myself and my non-American friends. (The Bush & Cheney jokes alone should have been worth something!)

As an analogy of sorts: I left my handbag in the car during a family roller skating night. I put it in the floorboard of our old Jeep and put my coat over it. Obviously, my attempt at hiding the handbag did not work. The old cigarette window met a screwdriver and that was that. I wasn't really all upset about the bag (although it was a really great Perlina with buttery leather), but more upset about the feeling of violation -- photos, driver's license, house keys, etc. It was the thought of someone going through my things, dammit. I was the imagery of them calling folks on my cell phone... making plans to use the keys to break into my home... fingering on my spare tampon in the side pocket.

For what it's worth. The feelings of violation are the same now as they were that night. I haven't been planning any terrorist attacks and I haven't been communicating with any known terrorists. (Unless all pagans are now classified as such, but I digress.) It's just the thought of some spook listening as I ranted about my husband, talked to friends about whether I would have an abortion or not, and discussed my kids .... it's just... well... it's icky.

Now that I think about it, 'icky' mostly sums up my feelings about this entire administration. Not idiots... not intelligent... just there and icky.

Edited to fix some typos. Damn. I shouldn't be here this late, much less attempting to put thoughts to screen.

[rucky]

77. If they are, the Feds must be really bored.

I post all the juicy stuff on DU/PI

[Hubert Flottz]

82. The word is they have been watching so many of the radicals...

at FR they don't have time for anywhere else!

They are checking out all the militants that listen to FOX, Rush, dAnn the Man, Pat Robertson and anyone else who openly advocates violence, such as whacking foreign leaders, or who threaten doctors or clinics, in public. They aren't looking for people like you or Osama unless you're a registered democrat or a union member, or a republican or a judge, or a politician, or an American of any stripe besides a neocon. If you have ANY oil under your property, you will probably be looked at extra hard!

If you are a neocon, or any other kind on neoanything, or if you are now, or have ever been, a member of the nazi party...You Got It Made In The Shade!

[ComerPerro]

83. Just get in the habit of saying "Bush is an asshole" during every call

That could be your greeting, when you answer the phone, instead of "hello?"

[Hubert Flottz]

84. I've done that since I found out the fool was running in 2000!

I'll say it one more time for Mike...

BUSH IS AN ASSHOLE...NOTHING ELSE BUTT AN ASSHOLE IS THAT FULL OF SHIT...DO YOU COPY MIKE?

[insane_cratic_gal]

89. I've had something similar happen

My father in law called me from work in Nov. It came through as Arlington Department of.... (assuming defense).

I thought it was Odd because My father in law did work for the DOD in arlington Va over the summer but hasn't been there since August. I asked him. "where are you calling from?" He said work.. I said are in you VA? because your showing up as arlington dod? He was calling me from his Chicago office. His only explanation was that it might of been routed through the DOD office."

He too is a staunch Democrat, so that always struck me as odd that it would route through the DOD office and not out of Chicago IL

I blew it off has some funky connection, but I have cable phone isn't that more difficult to tap?

Edit to add: Most often I get an echo sound.. I can hear myself echo.. on their line. Some sort of latency is all I can think. When the phone gets static.. Mom and I always laugh and yell bomb it usually clears up. We just brushed it off as a joke, but with this administration it makes you wonder.