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Tag: Spying

  • NSA’s Bulk Phone Data Collection Illegal, Court Rules

    A federal appeals court has ruled that the bulk collections of your phone records is illegal.

    In a nearly 100-page ruling, the court vacated a lower court’s decision and stated that the bulk collection of metadata is not authorized by section 215 of The Patriot Act – the section upon which the surveillance programs have been operating for years.

    “The district court held that § 215 of the PATRIOT Act impliedly precludes judicial review; that plaintiffs‐appellants’ statutory claims regarding the scope of § 215 would in any event fail on the merits; and that § 215 does not violate the Fourth or First Amendments to the United States Constitution.  We disagree in part, and hold that § 215 and the statutory scheme to which it relates do not preclude judicial review, and that the bulk telephone metadata program is not authorized by § 215,” said the federal appeals court.

    The case was originally filed in 2013 by the ACLU, and subsequently thrown out. This ruling amends that error.

    “This appeal concerns the legality of the bulk telephone metadata collection program (the “telephone metadata program”), under which the National Security Agency (“NSA”) collects in bulk “on an ongoing daily basis” the metadata associated with telephone calls made by and to Americans, and aggregates those metadata into a repository or data bank that can later be queried.  Appellants challenge the program on statutory and constitutional grounds. Because we find that the program exceeds the scope of what Congress has authorized, we vacate the decision below dismissing the complaint without reaching appellants’ constitutional arguments,” said Circuit judge Gerard E. Lynch.

    Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who has shepherded NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s revelations to the public, was pleased with the ruling and suggested that it should make many rethink their views on Snowden.

    Rand Paul is already using the ruling in a campaign tweet:

    As Wired points out, this decision could pave the way for a full legal challenge of the NSA and its surveillance initiatives.

    You can read the entire ruling below:

    Clapper Ca2 Opinion

    Image via Trevor Paglen, Wikimedia Commons

  • People Aren’t That Concerned About Government Surveillance, Even Post Snowden

    Pew has just published a new report on Americans and how they protect their privacy in the post-Edward Snowden era. Long story short – most don’t do much of anything to even attempt to keep out the prying government eyes.

    Most people have heard at least something about Edward Snowden’s leaks, and the massive government surveillance programs he exposed to the public – 87 percent, in fact. Basically, you really have to be living under as rock to have missed this (it’s been about two years since Snowden first came forward).

    Despite having at least some level of familiarity with the government’s data collection initiatives, many Americans haven’t really taken any steps (however pointless they might be) to protect their data.

    From Pew:

    34% of those who are aware of the surveillance programs (30% of all adults) have taken at least one step to hide or shield their information from the government. For instance, 17% changed their privacy settings on social media; 15% use social media less often; 15% have avoided certain apps and 13% have uninstalled apps; 14% say they speak more in person instead of communicating online or on the phone; and 13% have avoided using certain terms in online communications.

    …

    25% of those who are aware of the surveillance programs (22% of all adults) say they have changed the patterns of their own use of various technological platforms “a great deal” or “somewhat” since the Snowden revelations. For instance, 18% say they have changed the way they use email “a great deal” or “somewhat”; 17% have changed the way they use search engines; 15% say they have changed the way they use social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook; and 15% have changed the way they use their cell phones.

    That leaves a whole lot of Americans who heard what Mr. Snowden had to say, and from then on felt no desire to modify their online behavior in the slightest.

    According to Pew, half of all surveyed have not even considered using a footprint-free search engine, using email encryption, or installing DoNotTrack plugins.

    Why? If not ignorance, is it laziness?

    Sort of. In reality, a large portion of the American public simply doesn’t care. They aren’t concerned about government surveillance and data collection in email, search, cellphones, or social media.

    However, Pew found that 57% of people think it’s “unacceptable” for the government to monitor US citizens’ private communications.

    Image via Pew

  • Edward Snowden Granted More Time in Russia

    Edward Snowden is likely staying in Russia for the foreseeable future.

    The 31-year-old former NSA analyst, who famously leaked (and continues to leak) documents and anecdotes about the US government’s massive surveillance initiative, has been granted a three-year residence permit in Russia, according to the AFP.

    Shortly after The Guardian published leaked documents obtained by Snowden during his stint as a contractor with the National Security Agency, Snowden found himself in a Russian airport, awaiting asylum. He had applied to over a dozen countries, but Russia was the only one to grant his request. In August, Snowden was granted temporary asylum in Russia – meaning that he had a year to live freely in the country.

    Now, a year has passed, and Snowden has been given extra time. The new residence permit will allow Snowden to move “about freely and travel abroad,” according to his lawyer. “In the future Edward will have to decide whether to continue to live in Russia and become a citizen or to return to the United States,” he said.

    Though Snowden is technically lying low in Russia, he is still influencing national debate (and sparking national outrage) with his frequent revelations about the NSA and its surveillance overreach. Most recently, in an interview with The Guardian, Snowden revealed that the NSA was pretty much getting off on people’s sexts.

    As far as coming home, Snowden is clearly hesitant as long as the US government considers him an outlaw.

    “I’m not going to give myself a parade…But neither am I going to walk into a jail cell and serve as a bad example for other people in government who see something happening…and think they need to say something about it,” Snowden said in an interview a couple of months ago.

    And a jail cell is likely what he’d find if he stepped foot in the US. He currently faces charges of ‘Theft of Government Property’, ‘Unauthorized Communications on National Defense Information’ and ‘Willful Communication of Classified Information to an Unauthorized Person’. Though the American public is somewhat undecided on whether Snowden is a patriot or a traitor, the US government has no such ambiguity in its position.

    Image via The Guardian, YouTube screenshot

  • The NSA Is Getting Off on Your Sexts, Says Snowden

    According to NSA leaker and current resident of Russia Edward Snowden, the lovely folks at the NSA are intercepting your naked selfies and passing them around the office like adolescent boys – you know, because of course they are.

    Snowden recently sat down to talk to The Guardian’s Alan Rusbridger in Russia, and a sneak peek of the conversation just went up (the full interview will be released on Friday). In it, Snowden talks about claims that he’s a Russian spy, his daily life in the country, and his future. He also dropped this little nugget:

    The reality of working in the intelligence community is that you see thing that are deeply troubling – all the time. And it’s not just one person, it’s many of them.

    You’ve got young enlisted guys, 18 to 22 years old, they’ve suddenly been thrust into a position of extraordinary responsibility where they now have access to all of your private records. Now, in the course of their daily work, they stumble across something that is completely unrelated to their work in any sort of necessary sense.

    For example, an intimate nude photo of someone in a sexually compromising situation but they’re extremely attractive. So what do they do? They turn around in their chair and they show their coworker. And their coworker says ‘oh hey, that’s great – send that to Bill down the way.’

    And then Bill sends it to George, and George sends it to Tom, and sooner or later this person’s whole life has been seen by all of these other people.

    It’s never reported, nobody ever knows about it because the auditing of these systems is incredibly weak. The fact that your private images, records of your private life, records of your intimate moments, have been taken from your private communications from the intended recipient and given to the government without any specific authorization, without any specific need, is itself a violation of your rights.

    When asked if he saw numerous instances of this, Snowden said that it was “routine enough.”

    “Depending on the company you keep, it could be more or less frequent. But these are seen as sort of the fringe benefits of these positions.”

    If you don’t believe Snowden, well then you don’t believe Snowden. If you do believe him, however, this is both deeply distressing and completely unsurprising.

    As for Snowden himself, he says that he’s probably going to stay holed up in Russia for the foreseeable future.

    “You know, I’m much happier here in Russia than I would be facing an unfair trial in which I can’t even present a public interest defense to a jury of my peers. We’ve asked the government again and again to provide a fair trial and they’ve declined, and I feel very fortunate to have received asylum.”

  • Edward Snowden Story Coming to Silver Screen as Sony Buys Rights to New Glenn Greenwald Book

    One of the most compelling, and still unfolding stories in years will hit the silver screen in the coming years, as reporter Glenn Greenwald’s just-published book, No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA and the U. S. Surveillance State, has been picked up by Sony Pictures.

    “Edward Snowden’s explosive revelations have raised important questions about the role of government in protecting its citizens and the balance between national security and personal freedom. We are extremely proud that Michael, Barbara and Glenn chose Sony to bring this riveting story to the big screen, and believe that Glenn’s account of this incredible international event will make for a gripping and unforgettable film,” said Doug Belgrad, President of Columbia Pictures.

    It’s been nearly a year since Greenwald wrote his first story on the NSA’s secret spying initiatives, with the help of leaked documents from former contractor Edward Snowden. Since then, Snowden documents continue to be released, revealing more and more information on the extent of the surveillance state in the U.S. and abroad and sparking a national dialogue on the issue.

    His book, No Place to Hide, focuses on not only the true story behind the Snowden leaks, but also Greenwald’s analysis on the implications of the revelations. It was only released worldwide on Tuesday, and Sony has already announced its intentions to turn it into a film.

    “I’m very happy to be working with Amy Pascal, Doug Belgrad, and the team at Sony Pictures Entertainment who have a successful track record of making thoughtful and nuanced true-life stories that audiences want to see. Growing up, I was heavily influenced by political films, and am excited about the opportunity to be part of a political film that will resonate with today’s moviegoers,” said Greenwald.

    According to the New York Times, it took a while for the film to land with Sony Pictures, as many potential buyers were hesitant to take on such a hot-button topic, especially one where the story is far from over. Snowden is still living in Russia, and is wanted by the U.S. government.

    On Tuesday, Greenwald also released over 100 new pages of Snowden documents.

    Last year, Greenwald announced that he would be leaving The Guardian. His new venture, The Intercept, is now live.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Jimmy Carter Thwarts NSA, Uses Post Office

    Jimmy Carter Thwarts NSA, Uses Post Office

    Jimmy Carter, in an interview for NBC’s Meet the Press, says he uses snail mail when communicating with foreign leaders. He is pretty sure that the NSA is spying on him, a fear that is not unfounded, according to Fox News.

    “I have felt that my own communications are probably monitored,” the former Democratic president said. “And when I want to communicate with a foreign leader privately, I type or write the letter myself, put it in the post office and mail it, because I believe if I send an email, it will be monitored.”

    Why the 89-year-old former president and founder of The Carter Center would need to be monitored, I don’t know, but the actions taken by the Obama administration and the NSA just don’t sit well with him. He said the practice of spying on American citizens’ emails, internet use, and cell phone calls has been “extremely liberalized and I think abused by our own intelligence agencies.”

    He also admitted that Mr. Obama didn’t bother to consult him when dealing with Russian President Vladmir Putin, even though he has direct experience which could have been helpful and has been consulted by former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan on dealing with “unsavory characters”.

    In fact, in 1980 Carter boycotted the Summer Olympics in Moscow because Russia had just invaded Afghanistan. But he feels that he knows the reason, and because of its sensitive nature, he understands Obama’s reluctance to consult him, according to NBC.

    He said,“I think the problem was that — in dealing with the issue of peace in between Israel and Egypt — the Carter Center has taken a very strong and public position of equal treatment between the Palestinians and the Israelis. And I think this was a sensitive area in which the president didn’t want to be involved.”

    Image Via Wikimedia Commons

  • Rand Paul Sues Obama and NSA Over “Metadata”

    Rand Paul has taken a bold step against the NSA’s collection of “metadata” from U.S. citizens. He announced today that he has filed a historic lawsuit against the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, NSA Director Keith Alexander, FBI Director James Comey, and Barack Obama himself, according to Fox News.

    Paul is asking for the collection of “metadata”, supposedly only what numbers were dialed from where, to be proven unconstitutional and ceased. He says such data collection violates the Fourth Amendment.

    He said in an opinion piece for CNN, “Americans do not like to think of their government as some Orwellian leviathan, engaging in surveillance tactics that we only expect to see in oppressive autocracies. That such surveillance could be going on in what is ostensibly the freest nation in the world is a chilling thought indeed.”

    “There’s a huge and growing swell of protest in this country of people who are outraged that their records would be taken without suspicion, without a judge’s warrant and without individualization,” Paul said, at the press conference in Washington during which he made the announcement.

    The NSA has insisted the whole time that the privacy of American citizens is thoroughly protected. They say that the contents of such calls are not recorded, and that what they are doing is safely within legal boundaries. “We remain confident that the program is legal, as at least 15 judges have previously found,” a Justice Department spokesperson said Wednesday.

    Paul disagrees. He states that this “metadata” that is assumed to be harmless actually “reveals a wealth of detail” about Americans’ personal and professional associations “that are ordinarily unknown to the government.”

    It’s not only Senator Paul that is taking this stand against data collection. In fact, he said hundreds of thousands of people have joined, and he thinks that the suit could “conceivably represent hundreds of millions of people who have phone lines in this country.”

    He later stated in his Opinion piece, “We are told that these intrusive and unconstitutional measures are necessary to protect us from the forces of international terrorism. We are told that a surrender of our privacy rights is a small price to pay for the knowledge that we can sleep safe and secure in our beds.”

    Paul continued, “We reject this premise. We are committed to a safe America, but we do not accept the notion that a surveillance state is necessary to safeguard the lives and liberty of American citizens.”

    Wow. This ought to be interesting.

    Image via wikimedia commons

  • NSA Actions Ruled Legal by Federal Judge

    On Friday, New York federal judge William H. Pauley III ruled that the surveillance and collection activities overseen by the NSA are legal, dismissing a case brought against the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, by the ACLU.

    In his 53 page ruling, Pauley stated, “The question for this court is whether the government’s bulk telephony metadata program is lawful. This court finds it is. But the question of whether that program should be conducted is for the other two coordinate branches of government to decide.”

    In order to defend the lawfulness of the NSA surveillance program, Pauley pointed to the intent behind the program following its creation after the events of 9/11: “The government learned from its mistake and adapted to confront a new enemy: a terror network capable of orchestrating attacks across the world. It launched a number of counter-measures, including a bulk telephony metadata collection program — a wide net that could find and isolate gossamer contacts among suspected terrorists in an ocean of seemingly disconnected data.”

    Elaborating on the importance of the NSA surveillance program due to the one previous terrorist attack from al-Qaeda, Pauley stated that the mass phone metadata collection “significantly increases the NSA’s capability to detect the faintest patterns left behind by individuals affiliated with foreign terrorist organizations. Armed with all the metadata, NSA can draw connections it might otherwise never be able to find.”

    The decision by Pauley runs counter to the decision reached by fellow federal judge in D.C., Judge Richard Leon. On December 16th, Judge Leon ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, saying that the actions of the NSA were most likely unconstitutional, placing an injunction against the NSA from spying on his plaintiffs. The injunction allows the federal government to appeal Leon’s ruling.

    Pauley’s decision also runs counter to the findings of a recent White House panel which investigated the effectiveness of the NSA’s actions. Following the recent decision by Judge Leon and general unrest from the public concerning the NSA’s surveillance program, President Obama created a panel to determine what changes, if any, should be made to the NSA’s collection practices.

    In determining how effective the NSA had been in preventing terrorist attacks from occurring, the panel found no instances in which the NSA had thwarted a terrorist attempt through the collection of phone metadata.

    “It was, ‘Huh, hello? What are we doing here?’” opined Geoffrey Stone, a law professor at the University of Chicago.

    Following the results of the research, the panel suggested that the NSA surveillance program should be ended to protect the personal security and privacy of the American people.

    In his ruling, however, Judge Pauley also commented on the potential violation of the 4th Amendment, which protects against unlawful searches and seizures, stating that protection against searches and seizures “is fundamental, but not absolute.”

    “Every day, people voluntarily surrender personal and seemingly-private information to transnational corporations, which exploit that data for profit. Few think twice about it, even though it is far more intrusive than bulk telephony metadata collection,” ruled Pauley.

    This decision is a big step towards legality for the NSA, an organization that has been under increasing fire, lately, due to its perceived intrusiveness and ineffectiveness. However, the court case in D.C. is still awaiting an appeal from the federal government. Most likely, Judge Leon will still rule against the NSA program, leaving the agency dead in the water, especially following the results of the White House investigative panel. While the decision by Judge Pauley is positive for the NSA, it may have been only a temporary life preserver.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Federal Judge Rules Against NSA Spying Program

    In perhaps the most startling decision handed down by the federal court system in quite some time, Judge Richard J. Leon of the District of Columbia ruled that the National Security Agency’s practice of gathering and collecting phone metadata (numbers called, length of conversations, locations, and times) most likely violates the 4th Amendment of the United States Constitution, and as such he granted an injunction calling for the government to stop collecting data on the two plaintiffs in the case until an appeal can be heard.

    Judge Leon’s 68 page ruling holds so much weight because it is the first federal ruling against the government sponsored spying program. Since The Guardian first reported that the NSA was collecting phone call data in June, all federal cases regarding the subject have ruled that the plaintiffs in the cases lacked standing because they could not prove that the NSA had spied on them directly

    The decision handed down from the DC federal court on Monday saw the case a bit differently: “I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary invasion’ than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying it and analyzing it without judicial approval,” stated Judge Leon in his decision.

    Leon’s stance is predicated on the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which states that the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.”

    While Judge Leon and the plaintiffs in multiple cases against the NSA are using the Fourth Amendment to argue against the actions of the NSA, the federal government and the Justice Department are taking a different route. According to the Supreme Court ruling in the 1979 Smith v. Maryland case, when one dials a phone number they are handing that information to a private third party (an operator) and thus all rights to privacy pertaining to that information are forfeited.

    In the court’s ruling Monday, Judge Leon found many faults with the federal government’s use of Smith v. Maryland to justify the actions of the NSA: “The almost-Orwellian technology that enables the government to store and analyze the phone metadata of every telephone user in the United States is unlike anything that could have been conceived in 1970.” Judge Leon continued his rant against the use of Smith v. Maryland in this instance, stating, “Put simply, people in 2013 have an entirely different relationship with phones than they did 34 years ago,” he wrote. “Records that once would have revealed a few scattered tiles of information about a person now reveal an entire mosaic — a vibrant and constantly updating picture of the person’s life.”

    Of course, none of the actions of the NSA would have been known had it not been for the leak pushed through by Edward Snowden, a former government contractor with the NSA. In June, Snowden leaked an estimated 200,000 classified documents to the press, securing his position as the United States’s most wanted man. After hearing the ruling by Judge Leon on Monday, Snowden released the following statement:

    “I acted on my belief that the N.S.A.’s mass surveillance programs would not withstand a constitutional challenge, and that the American public deserved a chance to see these issues determined by open courts.Today, a secret program authorized by a secret court was, when exposed to the light of day, found to violate Americans’ rights. It is the first of many.”

    While Judge Leon announced his personal feelings toward the case and the end-result he thinks will occur, the only decision handed down Monday was that of an injunction. Therefore, the US federal government will have time to gather evidence to convince Judge Leon that the NSA program is vital and does not violate the Fourth Amendment, a task which seems almost insurmountable when one considers the vehement language Leon used in writing out his decision: “I have significant doubts about the efficacy of the metadata collection program as a means of conducting time-sensitive investigations in cases involving imminent threats of terrorism. The government does not cite a single instance in which analysis of the NSA’s bulk metadata collection actually stopped an imminent attack, or otherwise aided the Government in achieving any objective that was time-sensitive in nature.”

    [Image via Wikimedia Commons]

  • NSA Supreme Court Ruling: Spying Will Continue

    The Electronic Privacy Information Center, also known as EPIC, skipped lower federal courts and took their petition against the NSA straight to the Supreme Court.

    They claimed that a secret federal court improperly authorized the government to collect electronic records from telecom giant Verizon and leading Internet companies, including Microsoft, Apple, Google, Yahoo and Facebook.

    The court denied the petition on Monday and will allow the NSA to keep spying on American citizens’ phone records, according to CNN. For now, anyway. The NSA has publicly acknowledged it received secret court approval to collect vast amounts of metadata from telecommunications and internet companies, and EPIC says it Obama administration should have to publicly explain its legal justification for the spying program.

    “Telephone records, even without the content of the calls, can reveal an immense amount of sensitive, private information. There are no reasonable grounds for the NSA to have access to every call record of every Verizon customer,” said Marc Rotenberg, president of EPIC.

    The group argued that stripping the power of the NSA to collect metadata would be beneficial to the Supreme Court, itself, relegating power back where it should be. “Because the NSA sweeps up judicial and congressional communications, it inappropriately arrogates exceptional power to the executive branch.”

    While the NSA may still be able to monitor calls, the information collected only includes the numbers, time, and length of phone calls to and from the United States in the past five years. However, if it makes you feel any more secure, it does not include the location or actual monitoring of the conversations themselves, because in order to do that, the NSA would require a separate, specifically targeted search warrant.

    So, we know what’s next to go, then.

    Image via wikimedia commons

  • This Anarchist Wants To Use Bitcoin to Crowdfund Assassins

    This Anarchist Wants To Use Bitcoin to Crowdfund Assassins

    Forbes author Andy Greenberg wrote today about an encrypted email he received from a person who called themselves Kuwabatake Sanjuro. Sanjuro claimed to have designed a Deepweb site called the Assassination Market, which apparently has the capability to “crowdfund” political assassinations in a similar manner as Kickstarter.

    For the technically unfamiliar, “the Deepweb” or “DarkNet” (depending on who you’re talking to) is the part of the internet that remains inaccessible and uncatalogued by most websites due to anonymizing protocols like Tor. Sites that exist in this unexplored frontier operate on a scale from legal ‘gray markets’ that appear as an eBay for criminals to terrorist groups attempting to solicit donations for their violent agenda.

    In an email to Greenberg, Sanjuro said the site went up four months ago, and six targets have been submitted. Those six targets (and their bounties) include: 10 bitcoins for the death of Gen. Keith Alexander; 40 bitcoins for the assassination of President Obama; and the site’s largest bounty, 124.14 bitcoin, for the head of Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve and one of the biggest opponents of bitcoin banking.

    The aspirations that Sanjuro has for his site are terrifying. As Greenberg put it, Sanjuro hopes to greenlight enough political murder to scare politicians into returning their power to the masses. “[The Assassination Market will] destroy all governments, everywhere,” he said.

    “Thanks to this system, a world without wars, dragnet panopticon-style surveillance, nuclear weapons, armies, repression, money manipulation, and limits to trade is firmly within our grasp for but a few bitcoins per person,” he added. “I also believe that as soon as a few politicians gets offed and they realize they’ve lost the war on privacy, the killings can stop and we can transition to a phase of peace, privacy and laissez-faire.”

    Greenberg went as far to contact the FBI and the Secret Service, who declined to comment on the Assassination Market.

    One thing is for certain, though: the idea of cryptographically-concealed currencies being used to fund assassinations has been discussed by numerous computer science experts since the 1990’s. Sanjuro’s efforts were spurred by the PRISM leak from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

    The idea for an online “assassin’s market” originated in 1992 from a former Intel engineer who wrote that uncrackable cypher messages combined with encrypted, anonymous donations would give rise to online assassination markets. A second former Intel engineer named Jim Bell described how such a system might be implemented in an essay called “Assassination Politics.”

    Like the earlier generation of “cypherpunk” enthusiasts, Sajuro places his faith in cryptography. He claims that “with cryptography, the state, or any protection firm, is largely obsolete…all activity that can be reduced to information transfer will be completely out of the government’s, or anyone’s, hands, other than the parties involved.”

    But even the world-famous Deepweb drug hub SilkRoad (and its engineer) were busted by the feds in spite of all the anonymity. Unlike Dread Pirate Roberts, Sanjuro claims he has put “measures in place to prevent the effectiveness of such an arrest. Naturally these will have to be kept secret.”

    In conclusion, Sanjuro said simply, “I am a crypto-anarchist… [and] We have a bright future ahead of us.”

    If you want to read more on the burgeoning world of crowdfunded assassins, do yourself a favor and check out Greenberg’s piece in Forbes.

    If you want to learn about how Bitcoins came about and how they’re used, this Lionel commentary represents an eloquent explanation.

    [Image via Thinkstock]

  • Author of the PATRIOT Act: NSA Abuses Its Power

    On Veteran’s Day, US House representative Jim Sesenbrenner was in Brussels, Belgium, testifying before the European Parliament at the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs about the ongoing abuse of the bill he wrote, the Patriot Act. There, he unveiled his true feelings, protesting the NSA’s mass spying, saying James Clapper should be terminated and put on trial, and that Dianne Feinstein’s Fisa Improvements Act is a “scary” lapse of judgment since it allows the government to, without a warrant, search through data collected by the NSA.

    Sesenbrenner said in his speech (PDF) to the EU parliamentarians that he never thought the Patriot Act would be used against the public so intrusively.

    “Congress knew the country needed new tools and broader authorities to combat those who meant to harm us, but we never intended to allow the National Security Agency to peer indiscriminately into the lives of innocent people all over the world.”

    Sesenbrenner defended the Patriot Act for its ability to foil terrorist schemes. However, he went on to state that those in power have abused the law, infringing on the rights of the public; the checks and balances are out of balance.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqHoobjmpps

    “I firmly believe the Patriot Act saved lives by strengthening the ability of intelligence agencies to track and stop potential terrorists, but in the past few years, the NSA has weakened, misconstrued and ignored the civil liberty protections we drafted into law.”

    “Worse, the NSA has cloaked its operations behind such a thick cloud of secrecy that, even if the NSA promised reforms, we would lack the ability to verify them.”

    To combat such offenses, Sesenbrenner paired with Senator Patrick Leahy, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in introducing the Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ending Eaves dropping, Dragnet-collection, and Online Monitoring Act (USA FREEDOM Act).

    “The USA FREEDOM Act would end the NSA’s bulk collection of data under the Patriot Act whether it pertains to Americans or foreigners. The US Government would still be able to follow leads and obtain data when it has a reasonable suspicion that someone is connected to terrorism, but it would no longer be able to collect data indiscriminately in bulk from innocent people.”

    Sesenbrenner had “worked under strict time constraints” when penning the Patriot Act and getting it passed. He said that the NSA “ignored restrictions painstakingly crafted by lawmakers and assumed a plenary authority we never imagined.”

  • NSA Washington March Draws Hundreds of Protestors

    Hundreds of anti-NSA protestors gathered in Washington, D.C. on Saturday to take part in the “Stop Watching Us” rally. The people marched in front of the Capitol to protest the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance of American citizens. Several White House politicians were in attendance at the rally that the ACLU called the “biggest protest yet against NSA spying.”

    Representative Justin Amash was one of the politicians at the NSA march on Washington. Amash, who has been working to limit NSA surveillance programs, was quick to point out that the problems with the NSA aren’t partisan issues. “This is for Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, conservatives and liberals, everyone in between,” said Amash.

    According to The Guardian, Amash was right, as the crowd featured a mix of Republicans, Democrats and everything in between. This was quite a change in pace from all of the partisan angst that has been associated with Obamacare over the past few weeks.

    Amash is hopeful that the U.S.A. Freedom Act, a bill that would that limit the mass collection of data by the NSA, will be passed after it is introduced in the House next week. “We’re going to keep fighting and we’re going to pass something to rein in the NSA,” Amash said. Amash tried to get a similar bill passed this past July, but failed.

    A statement made by Edward Snowden, the man responsible for the NSA leaks who is hiding out in Russia, was read at the anti-NSA rally. “This is about the unconstitutional, unethical, and immoral actions of the modern-day surveillance state and how we all must work together to remind government to stop them,” Snowden said. “It’s about our right to know, to associate freely, and to live in an open society.”

    Snowden delivered a warning to lawmakers in his statement. “We declare that mass surveillance has no place in this country…Elections are coming and we’re watching you. Today, no telephone in America makes a call without leaving a record with the NSA. Our representatives in Congress tell us this is not surveillance. They’re wrong,” Snowden said.

    [Image via YouTube]

  • NSA “Cybercommander-In-Chief” & His Deputy To Resign

    It’s been said that no publicity is bad publicity, but if you happen to be Gen. Keith Alexander, this year would contain enough bad publicity to drown even walking scandal Anthony Weiner.

    From the news that he wasted taxpayer dollars on fulfilling his Starfleet captain’s complex to his metadata dragnet of American citizens’ personal information, Alexander has had a tough time in the past year defending the Orwellian programs he helped create.

    Now, with formal plans already set in motion, Alexander readies himself to resign next Spring in March or April. His civilian deputy, John “Chris” Inglis, will retire slightly earlier than Alexander at the end of this year.

    U.S. officials who spoke with Reuters on the condition of anonymity have said a leading candidate to fill the position may be Vice Admiral Michael Rogers, commander of the U.S. Navy’s 10th Fleet and U.S. Fleet Cyber Command operations. The 10th Fleet, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command, and the NSA are all conveniently headquartered at Fort Meade, Maryland. Rogers may not be the only candidate considered, the officials added.

    Although the timing suggests otherwise, NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines told Reuters in an email that “This has nothing to do with media leaks, the decision for his retirement was made prior; an agreement was made with the (Secretary of Defense) and the Chairman for one more year – to March 2014.”

    Gen. Keith Alexander first became director in August 2005, and an eight year tenure makes him the longest-serving NSA chief in the organization’s history. Alexander also holds the title “Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command unit.”

    A vigorous apologist of the NSA’s activities, Alexander defended the wiretaps, email grabbing, and contact list scraping as “lawful and necessary” to detect and disrupt terrorist plots. Alexander’s civilian deputy started out as a computer analyst, and rose to become Alexander’s Number Two in 2006.

    If you’re interested in the implications of Alexander’s policies, New York radio personality Lionel gave commentary earlier this year regarding the United States’ cyberwar potential:

    [Image via this ABC News interview with Stephanopoulos of Alexander trashing Snowden]

  • Julian Assange Discusses Life in Exile

    Julian Assange has once again gained international attention. This time, however, it has less to do with his leaking-abilities and more to do with his cinematic critiquing.

    The Fifth Estate, a movie about the Wikileaks phenomenon and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, has received harsh criticism from Assange. The Wikileaks founder has stated that the film is a “massive propaganda attack,’ and personally accosted Cumberbatch for agreeing to play the role.

    Unfortunately, Assange was not able to accost Cumberbatch face-to-face. Assange is still currently living under asylum at the embassy in Ecuador. Assange has been living in the embassy since 2012. The initial charges which sent Assange underground were those concerning a European Arrest Warrant for questioning in a sexual assault case. The British government wants Assange to be extradited to Sweden to answer the charges, but Assange refuses due to fears that he will then be sent to the US to face charges against him for information leaking. Because Ecuador has no laws in the books concerning the release of information to the masses, Assange was granted asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy.

    In a recent Skype interview with the Daily Telegraph, Assange discusses his everyday life in the embassy. Since Assange was granted asylum, police have been waiting outside to arrest him if he dare step foot outside. Therefore, Assange has lived every moment of his life for over 1 year in his small office/living space in the embassy: “Of course it’s difficult to wake up for 500 days and see the same walls but on the other hand I am doing good work and I have no time for anything else so it’s a bit counter-productive to trap me here, because what else can I do but work?”

    Assange works in a small, converted office space. The room has a bed, telephone, sun lamp, computer, shower, treadmill, and a small kitchenette. While he is not allowed to leave the embassy due to fear of being arrested, Assange can still receive visitors. The Wikileaks founder has entertained such celebrities as Graham Nash, Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, Maggie Gyllenhaal, John Cusack, and the rapper MIA. When not entertaining visitors, Assange passes his time by watching TV shows and movies, such as Argo and Zero Dark Thirty.

    The most recent project to receive Assange’s attention has been raising awareness of the inherent ability of the US to spy on Latin Americans. In an interview with Russia’s RT television, Assange stated, “Ninety-eight percent of Latin American telecommunications to the rest of the world – that means SMS, phone, email etc. – passes through the U.S.”

    Assange added that “U.S. intelligence agencies ‘can easily intercept these communications … and therefore gain understanding of how Latin America is behaving, where it is moving, its economic transfers, the activities of its leaders and major players. That permits the U.S. to predict in some ways the behavior of Latin American leaders and interests, and it also permits them to blackmail. Nearly every significant person in Latin America is blackmailable by the U.S.”

    This news from Assange is not terribly surprising. Recent reports suggested that the NSA was spying on the communications of the presidents of both Mexico and Brazil, prompting the president of Brazil to cancel her trip to the United States. Latin America has responded by proposing “the creation of a communications system to curtail U.S. spying in the region” to the Union of South American Nations.

    In an interview with Reuters, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister, Richard Patino, stated “We have decided to begin to work on new Internet communication systems of our countries, of our societies, to avoid continuing being the object and prey of illegal spying that U.S. spying entities have developed against us.”

    Latin America has been the victim of US intervention for multiple decades now. However, a new sense of pride and a burgeoning economy has Latin America seeking greater sovereignty from the United States, a move which the US needs to desperately avoid due to the important trade relations amongst the countries.

    Image via YouTube

  • Cybersecurity Legislation Asked for by NSA Director

    On Wednesday, top cybersecurity officials and government leaders met at the Billington Cybersecurity Summit in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the summit was to discuss how the federal government can partner with contracting companies in order to best protest the nation against cyber attacks.

    The keynote speaker at the event was Keith Alexander, Director of the National Security Agency (NSA). Alexander’s main push was to call upon private companies to work with the federal government to help pass legislation that would urge critical infrastructure components to provide information to the federal government when they are hacked: “What we can tell you is how they went down and how bad they were, but if we can’t work with industry, if we can’t share information with them, we can’t stop it,” stated Alexander.

    Alexander emphasized the fact that he believes the NSA and federal government need “shared situational awareness” in order to be effective in providing cyber security and preventing cyber attacks:

    “The answer is that nobody sees it today. We don’t have that shared situational awareness we need. So we’re developing a common operational picture. If we can’t see it, we can’t respond to it. We have to do that at network speed. We have to share what we know about those threats and they have to tell us what they see. This is where Internet service providers are critical, not just here but with our allies… We have to work with industry, because we can’t see it. Right now what happens is the attack goes on and we’re brought in after the fact. And I can guarantee you 100 percent of the time we cannot stop an attack after the fact. That legislation that we’re pushing for is absolutely important for our country.”

    Besides simply asking for further cooperation between private companies and the federal government in terms of information gathering, Alexander also spent much time at the conference attempting to defend the role and actions of the NSA. Alexander stated that the ethos of the program stems from the results it has had in terms of deterring domestic terrorist attacks: “It provides us the speed and agility in crises, like the Boston Marathon tragedy in April and the threats this summer.” While Alexander went on to admit that information collected by the NSA did not help identify who was behind the attacks at the Boston Marathon, he did say that it helped ensure those in New York that the attackers were not going to strike there next.

    Alexander had one more interesting statement about the effectiveness of the NSA information-gathering program: “Over 950 people were killed in Kenya, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan, and we’re discussing more esoteric things here. Why? Because we’ve stopped the terrorist attacks here.”

    First, his numbers seem to be a little off. Only 950 people have been killed in the regional violence in those 5 combined countries? 950 in what types of attacks? Secondly, what makes Alexander believe that we have stopped the terrorists here? He openly admitted that NSA surveillance did not help capture the Boston Marathon bombers. It also apparently did not help stop the Navy Yard shooting, nor did it seemingly help to warn the Kenyans that American-based al-Shabaab terrorists were going to attack their mall.

    If Alexander is going to use the premise that the NSA spying program helps deter domestic and international terrorism, perhaps he should have some concrete evidence to support his claim? Just a suggestion.

    Regardless of whether or not Alexander has proper evidence, all signs point to the fact that no cyber legislation is going to pass soon. Not only is the docket in D.C. full of more pressing issues (such as the looming shutdown), there has been too much negative publicity toward the NSA due to the Edward Snowden scandal. The American people do not trust the NSA to properly gather appropriate information (and they have reason not to), and Congress is not willing to create even more negative publicity for themselves by pushing for more cybersecurity legislation: “In recent months, a perfect storm — from the Snowden leaks to subsequent domestic and international crises — enveloped comprehensive cybersecurity legislation, significantly curtailing its prospects of passage in the near future,” stated Democratic Representative Gerry Connolly.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Petrobras Discovered as Target of NSA Spying

    Globo, Brazil’s largest television network, has reported on its show “Fantastico” that according to the NSA documents leaked by Edward Snowden, the US has been spying on Brazil’s state-run oil firm, Petrobras. Glenn Greenwald, a US journalist who has intimate ties with Edward Snowden, assisted Globo with their report on the situation. According to the documents, Petrobras has not been the only multinational corporation which has been targeted by the NSA; Google and the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a company through which international money transfers take place, have also had their computer systems compromised by the NSA.

    As of now, no reason has been given as to why the NSA has started targeting multinational corporations. The documents leaked by Snowden only say that these three corporations serve as training lessons for new NSA agents, teaching them how to crack the networks of large, private corporations. James Klapper, the Director of National Intelligence in the United States, released a statement yesterday stating why the US collects the information it does:

    “We collect this information for many important reasons: for one, it could provide the United States and our allies early warning of international financial crises which could negatively impact the global economy. It also could provide insight into other countries’ economic policy or behavior which could affect global markets…. What we do not do, as we have said many times, is use our foreign intelligence capabilities to steal the trade secrets of foreign companies on behalf of – or give intelligence we collect to – US companies to enhance their international competitiveness or increase their bottom line.”

    However, the history of the United States in Latin America proves the exact opposite. In 1954, the United States led a coup d’etat in Guatemala because the United Fruit Company, a multinational US company, was in danger of losing its agrarian monopoly in the country. Later, in the 1970’s, the CIA backed coup attempts in Chile due to Salvador Allende’s attempts at nationalizing many US companies located in Chile. Given this record of intervention within Latin American countries to secure economic dominance, Brazil has every reason to be concerned for Petrobras’s security and success.

    That may be part of the reason why Brazil’s president, Dilma Rousseff, is so upset at the United States and Barack Obama. The other reason is that earlier this week “Fantastico” released a report which stated that the United States had been spying on her private communications, along with those of Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto. President Rousseff was so upset by this news that she publicly sought out President Obama at the G20 summit currently happening in Russia, demanding an explanation from the US as to why it was spying on her private life. Rousseff also threatened to cancel her trip the the United States later this year, a trip that holds great importance for the United States and its relations with the emerging economic market in Brazil.

    All signs point to the fact that the United States is targeting Petrobras due to the recent oil discovery in Brazil. The Lula Oil Field, located about 200 miles off-shore from Rio de Janeiro, has been named the largest oil discovery in the Western hemisphere in the last 30 years. The oil field is estimated to hold 50 to 100 billion barrels of oil. If true, this would make Brazil one of the top 5 oil producers in the world. With ever-increasing tension in the Middle East and much resistance to the Keystone pipeline domestically, the United States would find it highly advantageous to gather as much information as possible about the Lula Oil Field. However, the means as to how the US acquires this information would also be important, seeing as positive relations with Brazil would be imperative toward starting trade discussions for said oil.

  • Turkish Officials Accuse Bird of Spying for Israel

    Israelis are getting a huge laugh from a story out of Turkey that read like a scene from a Sacha Baron Cohen film. Apparently Turkish officials have caught and “detained” a bird that they suspect of spying for Israel’s Mossad secret service.

    The Times of Israel reported that Turkish villagers captured a kestrel, a type of falcon, that they noticed was wearing a tag around its ankle. The tag read “24311 Tel Avivunia Israel”, which translates as “University of Tel Aviv”. The villagers, presumably reasoning that Mossad would obviously tag a spy bird with the name of the country using it, became suspicious that the bird was a spying device, and took it to officials.

    Officials x-rayed the bird, checking for implants, cameras, and other devices that Israel might use to spy on its neighbors. Finding none, they finally released the bird back into the wild.

    Apparently, the bird was just one of many that had been tagged by the University of Tel Aviv to observe its migration patterns, something that the Department of Fish and Wildlife in the United States does all the time.

    But Israelis have had a lot of fun pointing out the paranoia that its neighbors feel about non-human spies that Israel might deploy. As The Times reported:

    “Israeli use of non-human spies is apparently a large concern in the Middle East. In May of 2012, authorities in Ankara dissected a European bee-eater after becoming concerned that it was carrying an Israeli listening device, and in December an eagle with an Israeli tag in Sudan was captured and touted as a Mossad spy. In 2010, an Egyptian official said Israel-controlled sharks could be involved in a number of attacks on tourists in the Red Sea.”

    Here is America, we just think the headline “Turkey Captures Spy Bird” is funny in and of itself.

  • Edward Snowden’s Father Writes An Open Letter To His Son

    Edward Snowden is currently on the run from the U.S. government for leaking classified NSA information to newspapers around the world. He’s currently hiding out in a Moscow airport as he waits to hear from various countries around the world about his requests for asylum. The untold story in all of this is, of course, is what his parents must be thinking. We now know what his father thinks in a new open letter.

    RT obtained a copy of an open letter written by Snowden’s father – Lonnie Snowden – with the help of his lawyer Bruce Fein. The letter praises his son’s actions, and even compares him to Paul Revere. Here’s some of the more interesting parts of the letter:

    What you have done and are doing has awakened congressional oversight of the intelligence community from deep slumber; and, has already provoked the introduction of remedial legislation in Congress to curtail spying abuses under section 215 of the Patriot Act and section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. You have forced onto the national agenda the question of whether the American people prefer the right to be left alone from government snooping absent probable cause to believe crime is afoot to vassalage in hopes of a risk-free existence. You are a modern day Paul Revere summoning the American people to confront the growing danger of tyranny and one branch government.

    The letter then goes on to reference the response National Intelligence Director James Clapper gave to Congress that has now been revealed by his own admission to be “clearly erroneous.” Fein says that “we leave it to the American people to decide whether [Snowden] or Director Clapper is the superior patriot.”

    Later on, he praises Snowden for standing up to the government by continuing to leak NSA documents:

    The history of civilization is a history of brave men and women refusing to bow to government wrongdoing or injustice, and exalting knowledge, virtue, wisdom, and selflessness over creature comforts as the North Star of life. We believe your actions fall within that honorable tradition, a conviction we believe is shared by many.

    At the end, Fein says that Snowden’s actions are integral to furthering the national debate on Constitutional law:

    We think you would agree that the final end of the state is to make men and women free to develop their faculties, not to seek planetary domination through force, violence or spying. All Americans should have a fair opportunity to pursue their ambitions. Politics should not be a football game with winners and losers featuring juvenile taunts over fumbles or missteps.

    Irrespective of life’s vicissitudes, we will be unflagging in efforts to educate the American people about the impending ruination of the Constitution and the rule of law unless they abandon their complacency or indifference. Your actions are making our challenge easier.

    We encourage you to engage us in regular exchanges of ideas or thoughts about approaches to curing or mitigating the hugely suboptimal political culture of the United States. Nothing less is required to pay homage to Valley Forge, Cemetery Ridge, Omaha Beach and other places of great sacrifice.

    We will continue to watch this space to see if Snowden responds to his father’s letter. His previous statement was a little suspect so it will be interesting to see if we get a more heartfelt letter from him.

  • Edward Snowden Releases First Statement Since Landing In Moscow

    Edward Snowden, the man behind the recent NSA spy program leaks, is the most wanted man in the world at the moment. The U.S. government is doing everything it can to bring him back while journalists are still scouring a Moscow airport looking for him. Nobody knows where or how he is, but he’s apparently well enough to release a statement via Wikileaks.

    Here’s the full text:

    One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful.

    On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic “wheeling and dealing” over my case. Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions.

    This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.

    For decades the United States of America has been one of the strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum. Sadly, this right, laid out and voted for by the U.S. in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is now being rejected by the current government of my country. The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon. Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person. Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.

    In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised — and it should be.

    I am unbowed in my convictions and impressed at the efforts taken by so many.

    As the Huffington Post pointed out, Snowden’s statement is a little strange. There are a few times where European English is used instead of the American English that would expect from Snowden. Some are even suggesting that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange wrote the statement.

    Now, we don’t know if that’s the case or not, but we do know that the statement did go through Wikileaks. An editor could have changed some of the wording to match their writing style. We just don’t know, and we won’t know until Snowden decides to stop being the hide and seek world champion.

    In other Snowden news, Wikileaks’ Sarah Harrison is now delivering asylum requests on his behalf to embassies in Moscow. She’s attempting to get one of the following countries to grant Snowden’s asylum requests – Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and Venezuela.

    There have been no responses from any of these countries yet, but they have already pulled their asylum request from Russia after the country’s president, Vladimir Putin, said that Snowden could stay in Russia as long as he stops “his activities aimed at inflicting damage to our American partners.”

    If it isn’t obvious already, Snowden and his partners have no intention of stopping just yet. The Washington Post published another round of PRISM leaks over the weekend, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw more surveillance leaks in the coming week as well.

  • Hello, NSA App Lets You Get on a Government Watch List the Fun Way

    The U.S. government is watching your online activity. They’re looking at your social media posts, your emails, and plenty of other types of online communications. We’ve always known that – to some extent. Now we really know that.

    But even before we all learned about PRISM and the extent of the participation from the tech community, we knew that the Department of Homeland Security routinely scanned social media sites like Facebook and Twitter in a search for certain trigger words that could tip them to an impending terrorist plot. And we know which words they look for as well. There are hundreds of them, ranging from topics like disasters and emergencies, to border violence – from infrastructure security buzzwords to general terrorism terms.

    Well, if you find yourself wanting to catch the attention of the U.S. government in the snarkiest way possible, a new app is here to help. From the folks at Vice, I present to you “Hello, NSA.”

    Hello, NSA is a phrase generator that uses many of those DHS buzzwords to construct some suspiciously unsuspicious (or unsuspiciously suspicious?) posts for your Twitter and Facebook accounts.

    “Let’s play a word game! Use our handy phrase generator to come up with pearls of keyword-loaded Twitter wit and perhaps earn you a new follower in Washington. Tweet it out, email it to a friend, share it around, you know the drill – and remember that the NSA and other government agencies might be reading along. And don’t forget to say hello.”

    Here’s are some gems that just may land you on some sort of watch list:

    I guess you don’t have to get this creative. Just tweet out “Anthrax bomb cops, H1N1 Metro Kidnap Marijuana” and that should probably do the trick

    Check out Hello, NSA here.

    [via Motherboard]