How the Government Spied on Me
My complaint to the FBI about a stalker was regarded as an invitation to invade my privacy.
Nov. 5, 2013 6:46 p.m. ET
It has been a full year since federal agents
snooped through the private emails of my husband and me, setting in
motion a series of events that ultimately led to the resignations of
Central Intelligence Agency Director
David Petraeus
and Gen.
John Allen,
the commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan. The anniversary
is a somber reminder of the unintended consequences and harsh realities
that can result from unrestrained government probing into Americans'
personal communications.
More recent revelations of National Security Agency
spying suggest that the government's invasion of citizens' privacy is
increasingly common. Millions of innocent Americans should be very
concerned about Washington's massive surveillance apparatus, which seems
to know no bounds.
My family's ordeal
began when my husband,
Scott,
and I were haunted by multiple, threatening email messages from
an apparent Internet stalker. Fearing for the safety of our family, as
well as the safety of U.S. officials named in the threatening emails, we
took the advice of military leaders and reported the messages to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Getty Images
We authorized the FBI to look at one threatening email we received, and only
that email, so that the FBI could identify the stalker. However, the
FBI ignored our request and violated our trust by unlawfully searching
our private emails and turning us into the targets of an intrusive
investigation without any just cause—all the while without informing us
that they had identified the email stalker as
Paula Broadwell,
who was having an affair with Mr. Petraeus. (I have never
understood why she was stalking me and my family. In any event, she was
not charged with a crime.)
Adding insult
to injury, the FBI then leaked our identities to the media and
distorted the contents of the emails it had illegally obtained, throwing
my family into a destructive media vortex.
As
a result of the government's breach of our privacy and trust, camera
crews showed up at our door and camped outside our home to question us
about false and misleading information leaked to the media from
"unnamed" government sources. Reckless speculation and innuendo about an
inappropriate relationship with Gen. Allen spread throughout the news
media, sullying my reputation and honor, to the great distress of my
family. To this day the government has not apologized for its
indefensible conduct.
I hope that my
family's story is a case study about the damage that can be caused by
the government's electronic overreach. It appears from the NSA's leaks
that the government may be trying to collect everything about everyone
and everywhere—including America's closest friends and allies—with or
without the knowledge of the White House. Unaccountable individuals
given free rein to invade people's privacy—and a government that
maintains the tools that permit them to do so—are a prescription for a
privacy disaster.
With all the current
economic, political, social and diplomatic issues facing the country, it
is understandable that many Americans seem relatively unconcerned about
intrusions on individual privacy. They shouldn't be. The unauthorized
search of my family's emails was triggered when we appealed to law
enforcement for protection. But who knows what else might set off
governmental invasion of privacy—politics or some other improper
motivation might suffice. If this could happen to us, it could happen to
you.
As painful as my experience has
been, it has motivated me to be an advocate against unwarranted spying
on personal communications, and to push for new legislation and better
enforcement of existing privacy laws. Congress should strengthen the
Privacy Act, update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.
Americans' Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and
seizures should be extended to personal communications. My husband and I
have filed a lawsuit that seeks to hold the federal government
accountable for its flagrant violation of our rights.
The
country is not safer after reading my emails. The humiliation of and
damage to my family should never have occurred. By raising public
awareness and holding the government accountable, my husband and I hope
we will help protect other innocent families from intrusive government
snooping.
The invasion of privacy that my family endured from the federal government is not unique. Nevertheless, it is un-American.
Mrs. Kelley
lives in Tampa, Fla