Patriot Act problems.

An audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine has found that federal authorities have been abusing provisions of the Patriot Act in order "to secretly obtain personal information about people in the United States," according to the Associated Press. The abuses come through the use of National Security Letters, a form of administrative subpoena that allow the FBI to force businesses--including Internet service providers, telephone companies, and banks--to turn over customer records. Since the passage of the Patriot Act after 9/11, use of the letters has skyrocketed. According to the Associated Press, "In 2000 ... the FBI issued an estimated 8,500 letters. By 2003, however, that number jumped to 39,000. It rose again the next year, to about 56,000 letters in 2004, and dropped to approximately 47,000 in 2005."

The Justice Department audit examined 293 examples of national security letter authority during the period 2003 to 2005. In 22 of those cases (more than 7 percent of those examined), the audit found that the FBI "flouted agency regulations and might have broken the law," according to the Seattle Times. If that percentage is extended over the total number of national security letter incidents recorded from 2003 to 2005, it is conceivable that the Justice Department and the FBI may have violated the law nearly 10,000 times, potentially and unconstitutionally invading the privacy of thousands if not millions of Americans.