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Yet another assault on privacy and freedom of movement

It won't be long before other governments around the world follow suit, but the USA - that supposed bastion of freedoms of all sorts - has extended the time during which information may be held on citizens even if there is no known connection to anything to connect that person with terrorism.    And this under a so-called liberal President.   Just imagine a Republican regime in office!

"The Obama administration has approved guidelines that allow counterterrorism officials to lengthen the period of time they retain information about U.S. residents, even if they have no known connection to terrorism.

The changes allow the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), the intelligence community’s clearinghouse for terrorism data, to keep information for up to five years. Previously, the center was required to promptly destroy — generally within 180 days — any information about U.S. citizens or residents unless a connection to terrorism was evident.

The new guidelines, which were approved Thursday by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., have been in the works for more than a year, officials said.

The guidelines have prompted concern from civil liberties advocates."

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