NSA monitoring all Verizon users

[Thailandnotes]

Re: NSA monitoring all Verizon users

Christopher "moot" Poole: The case for anonymity online

http://www.ted.com/talks/christopher...ty_online.html

[don]

Re: NSA monitoring all Verizon users

comments from Zero Hedge . . .


Shoot The PRISM-Gate Messenger: Obama To Launch Criminal Probe Into NSA Leaks

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/07/2013 - 21:29 Suddenly embroiled in too many scandals to even list, and humiliated by a publicly-exposed (because everyone knew about the NSA superspy ambitions before, but with one major difference: it was a conspiracy theory.... now it is a conspiracy fact) surveillance scandal that makes Tricky Dick look like an amateur, earlier today, as expected, Obama came out and publicly declared "I am not a hacker" and mumbled something about "security", "privacy" and "inconvenience." He went on to explain how the government "welcomes the debate" of all three in the aftermath of the public disclosure that every form of electronic communication is intercepted and stored by the US government (now that said interception is no longer secret, of course) but more importantly how it is only the government, which is naturally here to help, that should be the ultimate arbiter in deciding what is best for all. Yet the PRISM-gate scandal which is sure to only get worse with time as Americans slowly realize they are living in a Orwellian police state, meant Obama would have to do more to appease a public so furious even the NYT issued a scathing editorial lamenting the obliteration of Obama's credibility. Sure enough, the president did. Reuters reports that the first course of action by the US government will be to... shoot the messenger.

Damage Control Time: National Intelligence Releases PRISM "Facts"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/08/2013 - 18:12 Confirming that the administration is in very hot water over this week's revelations of widespread domestic and global surveillance, moments ago this Saturday afternoon the head of National Intelligence James Clapper released "Facts on the Collection of Intelligence Pursuant to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act" in which he says that PRISM is not an undisclosed collection or data mining program. It is an internal government computer system used to facilitate the government’s... collection of foreign intelligence information." In fact, the program is so legit, it doesn't even work to collect foreign data: "We cannot target even foreign persons overseas without a valid foreign intelligence purpose." Finally, any rumors that Google Glass will be reverting to its original codename "NSA SpyCam" are greatly exaggerated: "Service providers supply information to the Government when they are lawfully required to do so." In short - please believe him. He is from the government, he is telling the truth, and the government is here to help. As for all those Verizon (and other carrier) all too domestic phone intercepts: don't you worry about that.



"You Should Use Both" - How America's Internet Companies Are Handing Over Your Data To Uncle Sam

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/08/2013 - 13:58 In the aftermath of the PRISM spying scandal, the first and logical response was an expected one: lie. The president did it, and so did the various companies implicated in the biggest US surveillance scandal ever exposed. To wit:

• Zuckerberg: "Facebook is not and has never been part of any program to give the US or any other government direct access to our servers."
• Google CEO Larry Page: "We have not joined any program that would give the US government – or any other government – direct access to our servers."
• Yahoo: "We do not provide the government with direct access to our servers, systems, or network."

One small problem: they are all lying.

[Thailandnotes]

Re: NSA monitoring all Verizon users

http://www.washingtonpost.com/video/...497_video.html

[SamAdams]

Re: NSA monitoring all Verizon users

If you are not upset by spies watching what you do online, will you be OK with giving them access to the goings on within your home and car from every machine you own?

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012...eus-tv-remote/

[don]

Re: NSA monitoring all Verizon users

two points:

1- Great Powers act like Great Powers. They will gather all the information possible on each other. It's to be expected.

2- Domestically we should be aware that absolute power corrupts absolutely . . . .

[seanm123]

Re: NSA monitoring all Verizon users

New boss same as old boss, there are intercept rooms everywhere and they have been in place for a long long time.

Just adding a slide showing Facebook feeding data directly to the spooks makes it a bit more personal I guess.If they want pics of my kids making funny faces they can have them. Heck let's make it super easy, how about everybody "Friend" Obama this way you show you have nothing to hide by pushing all of your data directly to the guardians
of our freedom.

https://www.facebook.com/barackobama

Our Supreme Court refused to accept Hepting v. AT&T last June. EFF is working another case up to the Supreme Court now, it will be a few more years and they will decline that one too. Give it time I guarantee the sheep won't care after all it is not new. Not this decade or even the last and back in the days of dial up they had their access too. Heck
I bet they used to openly scan letters written in cursive back in the day. Since they don't teach it anymore perhaps it will become the new encryption?

If anything I could see some of the Axis of Evil opting out of WWW. Perhaps we will then have to go back to attaching surveillance pods to submarine cables etc or good old fashion
cloak and dagger?

Problem Meet Solution.....May 2001

"
But today the NSA's snooping capabilities are in jeopardy, undermined by advances in telecommunications technology. Much of the information the agency once gleaned from the airwaves now travels in the form of light beams through fiber-optic cables crisscrossing continents and ocean floors. That shift has forced the NSA to seek new ways to gather intelligence--including tapping undersea cables, a technologically daunting, physically dangerous and potentially illegal task. "


http://www.zdnet.com/news/spy-agency...a-cable/115877

Soultion Tap it all directly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44edsh6_LUc

[c1ue]

Re: NSA monitoring all Verizon users

If you are not upset by spies watching what you do online, will you be OK with giving them access to the goings on within your home and car from every machine you own?

The Internet of Things has the potential to violate privacy significantly more, but the reality is that most of these devices don't move much. There isn't much info you can get from an internet enabled toaster or refrigerator that you can't already get from the utility company electricity smart meters.

For that matter, it isn't that there hasn't been some ability to tap into American homes already. Any speaker is in actuality 2 way: when the speaker isn't on, you can use it just as well to capture sound. From there, all that's additionally needed is a channel to gather that information with.

And what fits the bill for these 2 requirements perfectly? Your TV plus a cable connection.

Be that as it may, the point of this situation isn't that the NSA can pinpoint everything a particular person does on the Internet. That agency certainly can do so for a specific identified person.

The issue is that the more information is recorded, the more scope for abuse - as well as the ability to gather intelligence after the fact.

Note, for example, that the presence of surveillance cameras in the UK hasn't reduced crime in London significantly vs. elsewhere:

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europ...s-CCTV-cameras

The civil rights group Liberty estimates that the average Londoner is captured on camera around 300 times a day while BBW claims Britain has 20 percent of the world’s CCTV cameras and only 1 percent of the world’s population.


There is a perception that the cameras reduce the crime rate, but there is no evidence for that, say activists. “The Met police have said that in 2008, only one crime was solved for every 1,000 CCTV cameras,” says Carr.

Even in Boston - there were more than enough cameras to yield up all manner of pictures featuring the Tsarnaevs, as well as various security types - private and otherwise - but clearly didn't do much to prevent the crime.

So what we get with this unprecedented surveillance is an unlimited record - much like the vaunted East German files. Useful primarily for finding excuses to pick on specific people.

[c1ue]

Re: NSA monitoring all Verizon users

If you are not upset by spies watching what you do online, will you be OK with giving them access to the goings on within your home and car from every machine you own?

The Internet of Things has the potential to violate privacy significantly more, but the reality is that most of these devices don't move much. There isn't much info you can get from an internet enabled toaster or refrigerator that you can't already get from the utility company electricity smart meters.

For that matter, it isn't that there hasn't been some ability to tap into American homes already. Any speaker is in actuality 2 way: when the speaker isn't on, you can use it just as well to capture sound. From there, all that's additionally needed is a channel to gather that information with.

And what fits the bill for these 2 requirements perfectly? Your TV plus a cable connection.

Be that as it may, the point of this situation isn't that the NSA can pinpoint everything a particular person does on the Internet. That agency certainly can do so for a specific identified person.

The issue is that the more information is recorded, the more scope for abuse - as well as the ability to gather intelligence after the fact.

Note, for example, that the presence of surveillance cameras in the UK hasn't reduced crime in London significantly vs. elsewhere:

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europ...s-CCTV-cameras

The civil rights group Liberty estimates that the average Londoner is captured on camera around 300 times a day while BBW claims Britain has 20 percent of the world’s CCTV cameras and only 1 percent of the world’s population.


There is a perception that the cameras reduce the crime rate, but there is no evidence for that, say activists. “The Met police have said that in 2008, only one crime was solved for every 1,000 CCTV cameras,” says Carr.

Even in Boston - there were more than enough cameras to yield up all manner of pictures featuring the Tsarnaevs, as well as various security types - private and otherwise - but clearly didn't do much to prevent the crime.

So what we get with this unprecedented surveillance is an unlimited record - much like the vaunted East German files. Useful primarily for finding excuses to pick on specific people.

[seanm123]

Re: NSA monitoring all Verizon users

Whistlebower outs himself.
Edward Snowden

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013...rd-snowden-why

[shiny!]

Re: NSA monitoring all Verizon users

Whistlebower outs himself.
Edward Snowden


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013...rd-snowden-why

He is a very brave young man who may well end up a martyr for telling the truth. Outing himself was the smartest thing he could do to protect himself and his loved ones. It still might not be enough.

[c1ue]

Re: NSA monitoring all Verizon users

Whistlebower outs himself.

Smarter about it than Bradley Manning though.

1) Snowden already knows he has no prayer in the US
2) He also picked a great spot: Hong Kong. Hong Kong is both semi-deniable on the part of the Chinese government, but also not a place which would automatically give him up. Given what's going on with the 'Asia pivot' and with constant US complaints about human rights abuses in China - the US asking China to extradite would be at a minimum, ironic.
3) He's also noted that he had access to a lot more damaging info, but is only revealing this specific activity which he believes is unconstitutional and wrong.

[vt]

Re: NSA monitoring all Verizon users

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinio...287_story.html

[don]

Re: NSA monitoring all Verizon users

His interview a must see.

[vt]

Re: NSA monitoring all Verizon users

There is a dilemma this spying leads to. How do we weigh the potential for a nuclear weapon or a biological attack causing thousands of deaths? On first brush one thinks just find out who the bad guys are talking too, then watch whoever they are in contact with, and who the contacts stay in touch with. But we're not sure who all the bad guys are, and may lose the trail of their contacts.

Evidently intelligence services concluded that the best way to go after the terrorists is to monitor everyone and look for key words and other hints to discover patterns that may allow a predictive power, as well as find the contacts very early in the process. This increases the odds of avoiding a major terrorist attack and dismantling their networks.

The problem with monitoring everyone is that while almost everyone is not a terrorist, a small number may be planning or committing other crimes. Do you give this information to local law enforcement? Certainly they would benefit and make communities safer. Many citizens may support this once educated of the "benefits".

What about lesser "crimes" like finding where to obtain some marijuana, or underage teens trying to score some beer for Friday night? How about cheating spouses? Family will fights? Business plans to thwart competitors? A community leader who looks at pornography? All of these will be open to intelligence services, and who's to say that a unethical intelligence employee may use this information to profit or go after someone?

How do you punish those who misuse data? How do you find them doing so? Real damage can be done to non criminal citizens, so controls must be available. Do we put the rogue intelligence officer in jail? These questions raise many issues.

With the recent exposure of IRS abuses, this new revelation of data collection gives new meaning to the misuse of information to go after political enemies and damage them for political gain. This too should be a crime.

[jk]

Re: NSA monitoring all Verizon users

the gov't seems to be doing a better job using its investigative and subpoena powers to go after leakers than in finding people who are bent on mass killing. i.e. it protects its own secrecy and its own power better than it protects the population. at least so it appears. most security, like the tsa show at our airports, is just "security theater."