Many aspects of the Patriot Act are uncontested; in fact, Nadine Strossen of the ACLU has stated that she agrees with over 90% of the provisions of the Patriot Act.  It's only a few provisions that are hotly contested\n\nIt largely tries to unify communication among several departments and provide easier access for law enforcement officers.  Online information was difficult to obtain before 9/11; access to judges was slower and required more paperwork; and more hoops were required before action could be taken.\n\nThe Patriot Act doesn't remove the safeguards, but streamlines and simplifies them.  For the most part, the same sorts of safeguards are in place, just with different requirements that are less burdensome on government.\n\nMany provisions are loudly decried in public, but few people ever discuss specific provisions of the Patriot Act they disapprove of.  Most of it seems to be mass hysteria without any specific citation of violations.  When the biggest complaint is that someone may look at your library record, it doesn't seem to be THAT violative of privacy.\n\nI've included links to the Department of Justice's defense of the Act, as well as the ACLU's criticism.  I hope that balances the views.
what are the pros and conts of the patriot act?