Restore the Fourth

FAQ

Who is Restore the Fourth?

Restore the Fourth is a grassroots, non-partisan advocacy and protest movement demanding an end to the unconstitutional surveillance methods employed by the US government.

Did Restore the Fourth originate from the Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street or some other group?

No.

What are you trying to accomplish?

Restore the Fourth aims to end all forms of unconstitutional surveillance of digital communications by the U.S. government. One specific program Restore the Fourth seeks to discontinue is known as PRISM, which is run by the National Security Agency.

How are you going to do this?

Restore the Fourth facilitates local non-violent protests around the country, such as those that were held on July 4, 2013. The purpose of the rallies is to spread awareness of and spur political action against unconstitutional surveillance by the U.S. government.

How do you know that the U.S. government has been spying on electronic communications without valid warrants?

According to the Washington Post, Nine major Internet companies allegedly opened their servers to government surveillance: Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Facebook, PalTalk, YouTube, Skype, AOL, and Apple. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a timeline detailing the NSA domestic spying over the past decade. The leaks provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden have provided further evidence for severe overreach by the National Security Agency. His leaks were corroborated by three other NSA whistleblowers, as laid out by The Atlantic.

What happens as a result of unconstitutional government spying on electronic communications?

The NSA has the authority to indiscriminately record the electronic communications of all American citizens. Although it sounds illegal, the legality is not so clear. Various pieces of legislation, including the USA PATRIOT Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, allow abuse of ambiguously defined constraints on government power. The laws enable the government to record anyone's communications without a warrant if it does not target specific persons. Then, the NSA requests a warrant from secret, non-adversarial court when it decides someone may have committed a crime. In order to retroactively find evidence against the person, the NSA accesses the stored surveillance data. The defendant may not use the same surveillance data stored by the NSA to argue his or her innocence, since it is classified information.

I haven't done anything wrong; why should I care if the government spies on me?

Privacy is not an admission of guilt. To be secure in their persons is a default privilege of all people. The average person expects privacy in many situations, including but not limited to using the bathroom, writing a diary, or going on a date with a spouse. A reasonable expectation of privacy exists in such situations because the events occurring are personal, intimate, and not the business of any other party, government or otherwise.

Restore the Fourth expects, and asserts that the government acknowledge, privacy with respect to digital communications data. Indeed, the movement to Restore the Fourth is more about principle than the direct impact of spying on the average citizen. It is about maintaining the Fourth Amendment, which America's forefathers carefully wrote for the express purpose of limiting the government's ability to violate the deserved privacy of its law-abiding constituents.

If the surveillance has been stopping terrorists, isn't that worth giving up some privacy?

It hasn't stopped all of them, and there is little to no evidence of any terrorist attacks that have directly been foiled as a result of PRISM. Several domestic terrorist attacks have occurred in the United States since the beginning of PRISM in 2007. There is a diminishing return in security for every bit of privacy lost by the average American.

How can I get involved?

Restore the Fourth welcomes any help that you would like to offer. There are many things that need to be done, with varying requirements. Email organizing@restorethefourth.net with information on your relevant skills and interests, the region that you're in, and what kind of time commitment you can make.

Fight For the Future, another pro-Fourth-Amendment organization, offers a phone number through which local congressmen can be contacted and urged to strengthen the Fourth Amendment: 1-STOP-323-NSA. You can also go to their webpage and email your representatives.

Are you taking donations?

We are running an indiegogo campaign ending Monday, July 8th, with the intention of raising the $10 000 necessary to launch a permanent organization. Currently our staff is entirely volunteer and we intend to keep it that way as long as possible, but we still incur expenses and we can't pay them out of pocket indefinitely. The expenses that the contributions may be used for include: the legal and filing fees necessary to register as a legal entity; website hosting and upkeep; dissemination of materials and information; assisting organizers of local protests; and advertisements across various sites. Visit the indiegogo campaign page to learn more.

What is your position on "the NDAA"?

We oppose section 1021 of the 2012 NDAA because we believe its provisions for "indefinite detainment" violate the Fourth Amendment. We focus on search and surveillance, however, so the NDAA is not currently the subject of our protests. If you are interested in participating in an organization that does focus on the NDAA, consider PANDA.

Home page:
www.restorethefourth.net

CC Editor's note:
Some or all of the links on this page may not connect. Please try the homepage and click on FAQ's.

Special Needs Doctrine:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/07/us/in-secret-court-vastly-broadens-powers-of-nsa.html?hp&_r=0

Legal Battle Over NSA Surveillance:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/legal-battle-over-nsa-surveillance-grows/2013/07/08/6be1ad94-e808-11e2-aa9f-c03a72e2d342_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines

FISA Court Missing Checks and Balances:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-09/fisa-court-missing-checks-and-balances.html