Inside the NSA

SPECTRE1 · Jun 10, 2013

A propaganda piece put out by the NSA and the private sector a couple of years back to reassure the public of their privacy.

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Dr. Eric Haseltine (NSA) - Our first mission is to collect electronic information as it moves from Point A to Point B "outside the borders of the United States."

Patrick Norton - This is for foreign intelligence only, so you don't have the most powerful computers, in the world, in the basement, reading our emails.

Dr. Eric Haseltine (NSA) - "No we don't. You know the Enemy of the State and movies like that, make you think that we can do lots of things that we don't do, and that we can't do.

The fact is, that we do not collect information on Americans. We do not collect information from inside the United States. We are strictly foreign intelligence."

All terrorist acts have a common link since the first world trade center bombing to Boston Marathon bomb subject; even the JFK and MLK assassinations. This data collection should focus on this link, rather than dragging everybody under surveillance.

:lol:

SPECTRE1 · Jun 11, 2013

What is the big deal about collecting these records, I am doing nothing wrong...

For the last couple of years, I have been put under surveillance to disrupt my activities by some unknown entity, possibly racists. Where you have a few elite sociopaths, attempt to play God with your life and determine its outcome.

They are really trying to establish a Master/Slave relationship with you. It has gotten so bad, that I am left with little to no options other than to seek refuge in another country. I have met some of these people, and they belong in a prison cell, isolated from the population. Unfortunately, they have been given access to all our data, and use it against you.

You can say or do the wrong thing, or not show enough submission, refuse to be a corporate whore, and they can immediately put you under extreme surveillance to disrupt all your activities. These people are shown in the video, are highly manipulative and engaging.

What I don't like is some unknown piece of filth attempting to disrupt everything that I do, comfortable in their anonymity and thinking they are above the law. I believe the people involved should get the death penalty where I can witness their final seconds of life.

http://youtu.be/Veag-ptUkXI?t=19m19s

thoughtone · Jun 11, 2013

source: Raw Story

O’Reilly suddenly opposed to NSA surveillance he supported under Bush

During the Bush administration, opposing the National Security Agency’s warantless wiretapping program meant you wanted “Americans to die.”

But now Fox News host Bill O’Reilly believes the NSA’s massive collection of data under the Obama administration is an unconstitutional government overreach.

On his show Monday night, the conservative host described the NSA’s surveillance programs as a “massive intrusion.” O’Reilly warned that “corrupt government officials” could leak sensitive data to hurt their political opponents. He said that amassing telephone records might be “acceptable,” but keeping actual content of private conversations on file was “flat out unconstitutional.”

O’Reilly’s tune was far different under the Bush administration. At the time, he voiced strong support for the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program, which collected the telephone records of millions of Americans. In 2006, after a judge ruled the program was unconstitutional, O’Reilly speculated that she didn’t care if Americans were killed by terrorists.

“Does she want dead people in the street here in America?” he said on his show. “Because I’m sure that she would not only oppose the NSA program, she would oppose coercive interrogation, profiling at the airports. She would oppose every anti-terror measure the Bush administration has put in just because they’re the Bush administration. But the unintended consequences of the opposition is death.”

He made similar comments regarding the ACLU, which had attempted to prevent the NSA from collecting phone calls and emails without a warrant. He suggested the civil liberties organization wanted “the terrorists to win.”

The hosts of Fox & Friends had a similar change of heart.
Watch video, courtesy of Fox News, below:
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SPECTRE1 · Jun 11, 2013

Halt Whistleblower Surveillance

Take Action!Media Coverage

Background

On January 25, 2012, and February 14, 2012, six federal employee whistleblowers filed complaints in U.S. District Court (read) and before the U.S Office of Special Counsel demonstrating that the federal government targeted whistleblowers for intrusive, covert surveillance. The surveillance included interceptions of private emails, the installation of special spyware on their government-issued laptops, and screen shots of the whistleblowers’ computer screens.

The targets for the surveillance were chosen solely because of their lawful contacts with a reporter for the New York Times, a letter they wrote to the Presidential Transition Team, and the fact that their agency had identified them as “whistleblowers.” The employees did not leak or disclose any confidential information to the Times or the President-Elect, and these whistleblowers were targeted despite an Inspector General finding that the Whistleblower Protection Act protected them from retaliation.

Stephen M. Kohn, the Execuive Director of the National Whistleblower Center and the lead attorney for the six whistleblowers, explained the importance of these lawsuits:

“At stake in this case is whether the government can use its immense powers to conduct surveillance on its own employee whistleblowers – without a warrant – merely because they engage in lawful whistleblower activities.”

In their lawsuits, the employees, who worked for the Food and Drug Administration and the Public Health Service, alleged that targeted surveillance of whistleblowers violated the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution as well as the Whistleblower Protection Act.

In an investigation conducted by the National Whistleblowers Center, which included filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, the NWC obtained copies of some of the intercepted communications. These documents demonstrate that the FDA spied on the doctors and scientists for years, intercepting communications with Members of Congress and drafts of their OSC whistleblower complaints. The evidence also shows that the FDA used its spying apparatus to identify other federal employees who supported the whistleblowers.

Congressional Investigations

The whistleblowers’ complaints quickly triggered Congressional investigations in both the House and Senate.

Six days after the whistleblowers filed their first complaint, Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Committee on the Judiciary, issued a five-page letter to FDA Commissioner Hamburg expressing a list of “concerns over [her] agency’s treatment of whistleblowers as a result of their disclosures to Congress.”

Representative Darrell Issa, Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, then launched his own investigation on February 9, 2012. His letter to Commissioner Hamburg echoed similar concerns over the FDA’s targeted monitoring of whistleblowers.

[PDF]http://www.whistleblowers.org/storage/whistleblowers/documents/FDAComplaint/screenshot4.pdf[/PDF]

SPECTRE1 · Jun 11, 2013

Halt Whistleblower Surveillance

Take Action!Media Coverage

Background

On January 25, 2012, and February 14, 2012, six federal employee whistleblowers filed complaints in U.S. District Court (read) and before the U.S Office of Special Counsel demonstrating that the federal government targeted whistleblowers for intrusive, covert surveillance. The surveillance included interceptions of private emails, the installation of special spyware on their government-issued laptops, and screen shots of the whistleblowers’ computer screens.

The targets for the surveillance were chosen solely because of their lawful contacts with a reporter for the New York Times, a letter they wrote to the Presidential Transition Team, and the fact that their agency had identified them as “whistleblowers.” The employees did not leak or disclose any confidential information to the Times or the President-Elect, and these whistleblowers were targeted despite an Inspector General finding that the Whistleblower Protection Act protected them from retaliation.

Stephen M. Kohn, the Execuive Director of the National Whistleblower Center and the lead attorney for the six whistleblowers, explained the importance of these lawsuits:

“At stake in this case is whether the government can use its immense powers to conduct surveillance on its own employee whistleblowers – without a warrant – merely because they engage in lawful whistleblower activities.”

In their lawsuits, the employees, who worked for the Food and Drug Administration and the Public Health Service, alleged that targeted surveillance of whistleblowers violated the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution as well as the Whistleblower Protection Act.

In an investigation conducted by the National Whistleblowers Center, which included filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, the NWC obtained copies of some of the intercepted communications. These documents demonstrate that the FDA spied on the doctors and scientists for years, intercepting communications with Members of Congress and drafts of their OSC whistleblower complaints. The evidence also shows that the FDA used its spying apparatus to identify other federal employees who supported the whistleblowers.

Congressional Investigations

The whistleblowers’ complaints quickly triggered Congressional investigations in both the House and Senate.

Six days after the whistleblowers filed their first complaint, Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Committee on the Judiciary, issued a five-page letter to FDA Commissioner Hamburg expressing a list of “concerns over [her] agency’s treatment of whistleblowers as a result of their disclosures to Congress.”

Representative Darrell Issa, Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, then launched his own investigation on February 9, 2012. His letter to Commissioner Hamburg echoed similar concerns over the FDA’s targeted monitoring of whistleblowers.

QueEx · Jun 12, 2013

Most Americans back NSA tracking phone
records, prioritize probes over privacy

A large majority of Americans say the federal government should focus on investigating possible terrorist threats even if personal privacy is compromised, and most support the blanket tracking of telephone records in an effort to uncover terrorist activity, according to a new Washington Post-Pew Research Center poll.

Fully 45 percent of all Americans say the government should be able to go further than it is, saying that it should be able to monitor everyone’s online activity if doing so would prevent terrorist attacks. A slender majority, 52 percent, say no such broad-based monitoring should occur.

The new survey comes amid recent revelations of the National Security Agency’s extensive collection of telecommunications data to facilitate terrorism investigations.

Overall, 56 percent of Americans consider the NSA’s accessing of telephone call records of millions of Americans through secret court orders “acceptable,” while 41 percent call the practice “unacceptable.” In 2006, when news broke of the NSA’s monitoring of telephone and e-mail communications without court approval, there was a closer divide on the practice — 51 percent to 47 percent.

General priorities also are similar to what they were in 2006: Sixty-two percent of Americans now say it’s more important for the government to investigate terrorist threats, even if those investigations intrude on personal privacy, while 34 percent say privacy should be the focus, regardless of the effect on such investigations.

But with a Democratic president at the helm instead of a Republican, partisan views have turned around significantly.

Sixty-nine percent of Democrats say terrorism investigations, not privacy, should be the government’s main concern, an 18-percentage-point jump from early January 2006, when the NSA activity under the George W. Bush administration was first reported. Compared with that time, Republicans’ focus on privacy has increased 22 points.

The reversal on the NSA’s practices is even more dramatic. In early 2006, 37 percent of Democrats found the agency’s activities acceptable; now nearly twice that number — 64 percent — say the use of telephone records is okay. By contrast, Republicans slumped from 75 percent acceptable to 52 percent today.

Compared with a 2002 Pew poll, Democrats are now 12 percentage points more apt to support the government’s monitoring of all e-mails and other online activity if officials say that it might help prevent terrorist attacks. On the flip side, the number of Republicans who say the government should not do this has increased by 13 points.

The poll was conducted Thursday through Sunday among a random national sample of 1,004 adults. Results from the full poll have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. The question on monitoring everyone’s online activity was asked starting Friday; results from that question have a 4.5-point error margin.

Cohen is polling director for Capital Insight, Washington Post Media’s independent polling group. Capital Insight pollsters Peyton M. Craighill and Scott Clement contributed to this report.

SOURCE

SPECTRE1 · Jun 12, 2013

QueEx said:
Most Americans back NSA tracking phone
records, prioritize probes over privacy

A large majority of Americans say the federal government should focus on investigating possible terrorist threats even if personal privacy is compromised, and most support the blanket tracking of telephone records in an effort to uncover terrorist activity, according to a new Washington Post-Pew Research Center poll.

Fully 45 percent of all Americans say the government should be able to go further than it is, saying that it should be able to monitor everyone’s online activity if doing so would prevent terrorist attacks. A slender majority, 52 percent, say no such broad-based monitoring should occur.

The new survey comes amid recent revelations of the National Security Agency’s extensive collection of telecommunications data to facilitate terrorism investigations.

Overall, 56 percent of Americans consider the NSA’s accessing of telephone call records of millions of Americans through secret court orders “acceptable,” while 41 percent call the practice “unacceptable.” In 2006, when news broke of the NSA’s monitoring of telephone and e-mail communications without court approval, there was a closer divide on the practice — 51 percent to 47 percent.

General priorities also are similar to what they were in 2006: Sixty-two percent of Americans now say it’s more important for the government to investigate terrorist threats, even if those investigations intrude on personal privacy, while 34 percent say privacy should be the focus, regardless of the effect on such investigations.

But with a Democratic president at the helm instead of a Republican, partisan views have turned around significantly.

Sixty-nine percent of Democrats say terrorism investigations, not privacy, should be the government’s main concern, an 18-percentage-point jump from early January 2006, when the NSA activity under the George W. Bush administration was first reported. Compared with that time, Republicans’ focus on privacy has increased 22 points.

The reversal on the NSA’s practices is even more dramatic. In early 2006, 37 percent of Democrats found the agency’s activities acceptable; now nearly twice that number — 64 percent — say the use of telephone records is okay. By contrast, Republicans slumped from 75 percent acceptable to 52 percent today.

Compared with a 2002 Pew poll, Democrats are now 12 percentage points more apt to support the government’s monitoring of all e-mails and other online activity if officials say that it might help prevent terrorist attacks. On the flip side, the number of Republicans who say the government should not do this has increased by 13 points.

The poll was conducted Thursday through Sunday among a random national sample of 1,004 adults. Results from the full poll have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. The question on monitoring everyone’s online activity was asked starting Friday; results from that question have a 4.5-point error margin.

Cohen is polling director for Capital Insight, Washington Post Media’s independent polling group. Capital Insight pollsters Peyton M. Craighill and Scott Clement contributed to this report.

SOURCE

If people have been manipulated through fear to believe that the government is protecting them from danger, than this poll is invalid. I believe this is just propaganda and PR put out by the government to manipulate people into supporting these programs.

What if information came out that the government was using the surveillance, similar to COINTELPRO? What if the government was using all this money to gain influence over the private sector with lucrative government contracts, rather than hiring government employees.

1. We are occupying countries and using drone attacks which cause terrorist attacks.

2. There are many other countries that don't have these programs and are doing just fine.

3. These programs have been recently created, yet this country has been kept relatively safe for many decades without it.

4. I have experienced surveillance abuse by the government and the private sector, it is not an enjoyable experience.

These programs need to be declassified, monitored, and subject to FOIA after 5-10 years. Every query needs to be logged and available for public scrutiny.

QueEx · Jun 12, 2013

COINTELPRO said:
If people have been manipulated through fear to believe that the government is protecting them from danger, than this poll is invalid. I believe this is just propaganda and PR put out by the government to manipulate people into supporting these programs.

Good point, "IF". But aren't YOU assuming the poll respondents have been manipulated through fear to respond as they did ??? You believe the poll to be mere propaganda, but what can you point to, other than your opinion, that those responding to the poll were fear-manipulated and/or that the release of this poll is just, propaganda ???

Surely, the more that people know of what the NSA has been up to the more outrage they may come to have towards NSA's conduct. But isn't there a balance (that we need to find) between security and privacy; and isn't this a good time for Congress to take that on -- sans the politics ???

COINTELPRO said:
What if information came out that the government was using the surveillance, similar to COINTELPRO?

What if it did? Do we do what we can now to set the proper balance, to install safeguards/checks and balances against such occurrences, and set up punishment mechanisms (civil and criminal) to deal with those responsible for abuse -- or do you just end all surveillance because you don't feel that government can be trusted ???

muckraker10021 · Jun 12, 2013

Why You Should Worry About The NSA

<div align="left"><img src="http://www.mediaroots.org/wp-content/uploads/images/People/RichardClarkestory.jpg" width="200" align="left"></div><table bgcolor="#000000"> <tr><td bgcolor="#585757">Richard A. Clarke is an internationally-recognized expert on security, including homeland security, national security, cyber security, and counterterrorism. He currently teaches at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

Clarke served the last three Presidents as a senior White House Advisor. Over the course of an unprecedented 11 consecutive years of White House service, he held the titles of:

- Special Assistant to the President for Global Affairs
- National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism
- Special Advisor to the President for Cyber Security

Prior to his White House years, Clarke served for 19 years in the Pentagon, the Intelligence Community, and State Department. During the Reagan Administration, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence. During the Bush (41) Administration, he was Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs and coordinated diplomatic efforts to support the 1990–1991 Gulf War and the subsequent security arrangements. </td> </tr></table>

by Richard A. Clarke | June 12, 2013

None of us want another terrorist attack in the United States. Equally, most of us have nothing to hide from the federal government, which already has so many ways of knowing about us. And we know that the just-revealed National Security Agency program does not actually listen to our calls; it uses the phone numbers, frequency, length and times of the calls for data-mining.

So, why is it that many Americans, including me, are so upset with the Obama administration gathering up telephone records?

My concerns are twofold. First, the law under which President George W. Bush and now President Obama have acted was not intended to give the government records of all telephone calls. If that had been the intent, the law would have said that. It didn’t. Rather, the law envisioned the administration coming to a special court on a case-by-case basis to explain why it needed to have specific records.

I am troubled by the precedent of stretching a law on domestic surveillance almost to the breaking point. On issues so fundamental to our civil liberties, elected leaders should not be so needlessly secretive.

The argument that this sweeping search must be kept secret from the terrorists is laughable. Terrorists already assume this sort of thing is being done. Only law-abiding American citizens were blissfully ignorant of what their government was doing.

Secondly, we should worry about this program because government agencies, particularly the Federal Bureau of Investigation, have a well-established track record of overreaching, exceeding their authority and abusing the law. The FBI has used provisions of the Patriot Act, intended to combat terrorism, for purposes that greatly exceed congressional intent.

Even if you trust Obama, should we have programs and interpretations of law that others could abuse now without his knowing it or later in another administration? Obama thought we needed to set up rules about drones because of what the next President might do. Why does he not see the threat from this telephone program?

The answer is that he inherited this vacuum cleaner approach to telephone records from Bush. When Obama was briefed on it, there was no forceful and persuasive advocate for changing it. His chief adviser on these things at the time was John Brennan, a life-long CIA officer. Obama must have been told that the government needed everyone’s phone logs in the NSA’s computers for several reasons.

The bureaucrats surely argued that it was easier to run the big data search and correlation program on one database. They said there was no law that could compel the telephone companies to store the records on their own servers.

If the telephone companies did so, government and company lawyers then certainly said, they would become legally “an agent” of the government and could be sued by customers for violating the terms of their service agreements.

Finally, Obama was certainly told, if the NSA and the FBI had to query telephone company servers, then the phone companies would know whom the government was watching, a violation of need-to-know secrecy traditions.

If there had been a vocal and well-informed civil liberties advocate at the table, Obama might have been told that all those objections were either specious or easily addressed. Law already requires Internet service providers to store emails for years so that the government can look at them. An amendment to existing law could have extended that provision to telephone logs and given the companies a “safe harbor” provision so they would not be open to suits. The telephone companies could have been paid to maintain the records.

If the government wanted a particular set of records, it could tell the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court why — and then be granted permission to access those records directly from specially maintained company servers. The telephone companies would not have to know what data were being accessed. There are no technical disadvantages to doing it that way, although it might be more expensive.

Would we, as a nation, be willing to pay a little more for a program designed this way, to avoid a situation in which the government keeps on its own computers a record of every time anyone picks up a telephone? That is a question that should have been openly asked and answered in Congress.

The vocal advocate of civil liberties was absent because neither Bush nor Obama had appointed one, despite the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission and a law passed by Congress. Only five years into his administration is our supposedly civil liberties-loving President getting around to activating a long-dormant Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. It will have a lot of work to do.

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/worry-nsa-article-1.1369705

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Exclusive: National Security Agency Whistleblower William Binney on Growing State Surveillance.
William Binney, served in the National Security Agency almost 40 years, including a time as director of the NSA’s World Geopolitical and Military Analysis Reporting Group.

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What’s the Matter with Metadata?

by Jane Mayer | June 6, 2013

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blo...ta-surveillance-problem.html?intcid=obnetwork

Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from liberal Northern California and the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, assured the public earlier today that the government’s secret snooping into the phone records of Americans was perfectly fine, because the information it obtained was only “meta,” meaning it excluded the actual content of the phone conversations, providing merely records, from a Verizon subsidiary, of who called whom when and from where. In addition, she said in a prepared statement, the “names of subscribers” were not included automatically in the metadata (though the numbers, surely, could be used to identify them). “Our courts have consistently recognized that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in this type of metadata information and thus no search warrant is required to obtain it,” she said, adding that “any subsequent effort to obtain the content of an American’s communications would require a specific order from the FISA court.”

She said she understands privacy—“that’s why this is carefully done”—and noted that eleven special federal judges, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which meets in secret, had authorized the vast intelligence collection. A White House official made the same points to reporters, saying, “The order reprinted overnight does not allow the government to listen in on anyone’s telephone calls” and was subject to “a robust legal regime.” The gist of the defense was that, in contrast to what took place under the Bush Administration, this form of secret domestic surveillance was legitimate because Congress had authorized it, and the judicial branch had ratified it, and the actual words spoken by one American to another were still private.

So how bad could it be??

The answer, according to the mathematician and former Sun Microsystems engineer Susan Landau, whom I interviewed while reporting on the plight of the former N.S.A. whistleblower Thomas Drake and who is also the author of “Surveillance or Security?,” is that <span style="background:#FFFF00">it’s worse than many might think.</span>

<span style="background:#FFFF00">“The public doesn’t understand,” she told me, speaking about so-called metadata. “It’s much more intrusive than content.” She explained that the government can learn immense amounts of proprietary information by studying “who you call, and who they call. If you can track that, you know exactly what is happening—you don’t need the content.”</span>

<span style="background:#FFFF00">For example, she said, in the world of business, a pattern of phone calls from key executives can reveal impending corporate takeovers. Personal phone calls can also reveal sensitive medical information: “You can see a call to a gynecologist, and then a call to an oncologist, and then a call to close family members.” And information from cell-phone towers can reveal the caller’s location. Metadata, she pointed out, can be so revelatory about whom reporters talk to in order to get sensitive stories that it can make more traditional tools in leak investigations, like search warrants and subpoenas, look quaint. “You can see the sources,” she said. When the F.B.I. obtains such records from news agencies, the Attorney General is required to sign off on each invasion of privacy. When the N.S.A. sweeps up millions of records a minute, it’s unclear if any such brakes are applied.</span>

<span style="background:#FFFF00">Metadata, Landau noted, can also reveal sensitive political information, showing, for instance, if opposition leaders are meeting, who is involved, where they gather, and for how long. Such data can reveal, too, who is romantically involved with whom, by tracking the locations of cell phones at night. </span>

For the law-enforcement community, particularly the parts focused on locating terrorists, metadata has led to breakthroughs. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the master planner of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, “got picked up by his cell phone,” Landau said. Many other criminal suspects have given themselves away through their metadata trails. In fact, Landau told me, metadata and other new surveillance tools have helped cut the average amount of time it takes the U.S. Marshals to capture a fugitive from forty-two days to two.

But with each technological breakthrough comes a break-in to realms previously thought private. “It’s really valuable for law enforcement, but we have to update the wiretap laws,” Landau said.
It was exactly these concerns that motivated the mathematician William Binney, a former N.S.A. official who spoke to me for the Drake story, to retire rather than keep working for an agency he suspected had begun to violate Americans’ fundamental privacy rights. After 9/11, Binney told me, as I reported in the piece, General Michael Hayden, who was then director of the N.S.A., “reassured everyone that the N.S.A. didn’t put out dragnets, and that was true. It had no need—it was getting every fish in the sea.”

Binney, who considered himself a conservative, feared that the N.S.A.’s data-mining program was so extensive that it could help “create an Orwellian state.”

As he told me at the time, wiretap surveillance requires trained human operators, but data mining is an automated process, which means that the entire country can be watched. Conceivably, the government could “monitor the Tea Party, or reporters, whatever group or organization you want to target,” he said. “It’s exactly what the Founding Fathers never wanted.”

SPECTRE1 · Jun 13, 2013

Racists idiots like J Edgar Hoover and other government bureaucrats have used these type of legitimate sounding programs to target black leaders and groups to shut them down. The NAACP should be protesting these programs as being unlawful, imagine a Republican that just had 95% of blacks voting against him, that don't give a damn since you never consider their political party anyways having these powers.

COINTELPRO=FUCK A NEGRO UP WITH SURVEILLANCE AND HARRASSMENT

Imagine the government setting you up as a snitch in your community with fake informant reports, that results in your death, it is no joke...

QueEx · Jun 13, 2013

COINTELPRO said:
Racists idiots like J Edgar Hoover and other government bureaucrats have used these type of legitimate sounding programs to target black leaders and groups to shut them down. The NAACP should be protesting these programs as being unlawful, imagine a Republican that just had 95% of blacks voting against him, that don't give a damn since you never consider their political party anyways having these powers.

COINTELPRO=FUCK A NEGRO UP WITH SURVEILLANCE AND HARRASSMENT

Imagine the government setting you up as a snitch in your community with fake informant reports, that results in your death, it is no joke...

Must of us know about those and other examples and, for the sake of this post, lets go ahead and just presume those things and worse could result from this data mining venture.

Should then the pressure be put on ending this and similar surveillance altogether or should it be put upon Congress to "fix it" -- balancing the equities between security and privacy in a way that serves both in a realistic way while ensuring Americans that they will be protected in their security and their privacy ???

muckraker10021 · Jul 8, 2013

Watch the video below about the NSA revelations. You won't see it on U.S. television unless your cable/dish brings in international English channels. The U.S. "military-industrial-media-complex" would never invite the guests that are interviewed in this clip on their airwaves. The U.S. "media prostitutes" as the writer Paul Craig Roberts calls them below, would never ask the pertinent questions that the interviewer in the clip asks. Instead we get NBC Meet-The-Press media prostitute David Gregory asking the reporter who wrote what Snowden revealed, Glenn Greenwald whether "he should be arrested"? How far and how low will Gregory bend over as he sucks-up to the "military-industrial-media-complex" in order to collect his eight figure $$$$$$$$ compensation??

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NSA - A New Beginning Without Washington’s Sanctimonious Mask

by Paul Craig Roberts | June 25 2013

The Honorable Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was appointed by President Reagan Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury and confirmed by the US Senate. He was Associate Editor and columnist with the Wall Street Journal, and he served on the personal staffs of Representative Jack Kemp and Senator Orrin Hatch. He was staff associate of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, staff associate of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, and Chief Economist, Republican Staff, House Budget Committee. He wrote the Kemp-Roth tax rate reduction bill, and was a leader in the supply-side revolution. He was professor of economics in six universities, and is the author of numerous books and scholarly contributions. He has testified before committees of Congress on 30 occasions.

http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/201...ngtons-sanctimonious-mask-paul-craig-roberts/

It is hard to understand the fuss that Washington and its media whores are making over Edward Snowden. We have known for a long time that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been spying for years without warrants on the communications of Americans and people throughout the world. Photographs of the massive NSA building in Utah built for the purpose of storing the intercepted communications of the world have been published many times.

It is not clear to an ordinary person what Snowden has revealed that William Binney and other whistleblowers have not already revealed. Perhaps the difference is that Snowden has provided documents that prove it, thereby negating Washington’s ability to deny the facts with its usual lies.

Whatever the reason for Washington’s blather, it certainly is not doing the US government any good. Far more interesting than Snowden’s revelations is the decision by governments of other countries to protect a truth-teller from the Stasi in Washington.

Hong Kong kept Snowden’s whereabouts secret so that an amerikan black-op strike or a drone could not be sent to murder him. Hong Kong told Washington that its extradition papers for Snowden were not in order and permitted Snowden to leave for Moscow.

The Chinese government did not interfere with Snowden’s departure.

The Russian government says it has no objection to Snowden having a connecting flight in Moscow.

Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino responded to Washington’s threats with a statement that the Ecuadorian government puts human rights above Washington’s interests. Foreign Minister Patino said that Snowden served humanity by revealing that the Washington Stasi was violating the rights of “every citizen in the world.” Snowden merely betrayed “some elites that are in power in a certain country,” whereas Washington betrayed the entire world.

With Hong Kong, China, Russia, Ecuador, and Cuba refusing to obey the Stasi’s orders, Washington is flailing around making a total fool of itself and its media prostitutes.

Secretary of State John Kerry has been issuing warnings hand over fist. He has threatened Russia, China, Ecuador, and every country that aids and abets Snowden’s escape from the Washington Stasi. Those who don’t do Washington’s bidding, Kerry declared, will suffer adverse impacts on their relationship with the US.

What a stupid thing for Kerry to say. Here is a guy who once was for peace but who has been turned by NSA spying on his personal affairs into an asset for the NSA. Try to realize the extraordinary arrogance and hubris in Kerry’s threat that China, Russia, and other countries will suffer bad relations with the US. Kerry is saying that amerika doesn’t have to care whether “the indispensable people” have bad relations with other countries, but those countries have to be concerned if they have bad relations with the “indispensable country.” What an arrogant posture for the US government to present to the world.

Here we have a US Secretary of State lost in delusion along with the rest of Washington. A country that is bankrupt, a country that has allowed its corporations to destroy its economy by moving the best jobs offshore, a country whose future is in the hands of the printing press, a country that after eleven years of combat has been unable to defeat a few thousand lightly armed Taliban is now threatening Russia and China. God save us from the utter fools who comprise our government.

The world is enjoying Washington’s humiliation at the hands of Hong Kong. A mere city state gave Washington the bird. In its official statement, Hong Kong shifted the focus from Snowden to his message and asked the US government to explain its illegal hacking of Hong Kong’s information systems.

China’s state newspaper, The People’s Daily, wrote: “The United States has gone from a model of human rights to an eavesdropper on personal privacy, the manipulator of the centralized power over the international internet, and the mad invader of other countries’ networks. . . The world will remember Edward Snowden. It was his fearlessness that tore off Washington’s sanctimonious mask.”

China’s Global Times, a subsidiary of The People’s Daily, accused Washington of attacking “a young idealist who has exposed the sinister scandals of the US government.” Instead of apologizing “Washington is showing off its muscle by attempting to control the whole situation.”

China’s official Xinhua news agency reported that Snowden’s revelations had placed “Washington in a really awkward situation. They demonstrate that the United States, which has long been trying to play innocent as a victim of cyber attacks, has turned out to be the biggest villain in our age.”

The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made it clear that Russia’s sympathy is with Snowden, not with the amerikan Stasi state. Human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin said that it was unrealistic to expect the Russian government to violate law to seize a transit passenger who had not entered Russia and was not on Russian soil. RT’s Gayane Chichakyan reported that Washington is doing everything it can to shift attention away from Snowden’s revelations that “show that the US has lied and has been doing the same as they accuse China of doing.”

Ecuador says the traitor is Washington, not Snowden.

The stuck pig squeals from the NSA director–”Edward Snowden has caused irreversible damage to US”–are matched by the obliging squeals from members of the House and Senate, themselves victims of the NSA spying, as was the Director of the CIA who was forced to resign because of a love affair. The NSA is in position to blackmail everyone in the House and Senate, in the White House itself, in all the corporations, the universities, the media, every organization at home and abroad, who has anything to hide. You can tell who is being blackmailed by the intensity of the squeals, such as those of Dianne Feinstein (D, CA) and Mike Rogers (R, MI). With any luck, a patriot will leak what the NSA has on Feinstein and Rogers, neither of whom could possibly scrape any lower before the NSA.

The gangster government in Washington that has everything to hide is now in NSA’s hands and will follow orders. The pretense that amerika is a democracy responsible to the people has been exposed. The US is run by and for the NSA. Congress and the White House are NSA puppets.

Let’s quit calling the NSA the National Security Agency. Clearly, NSA is a threat to the security of every person in the entire world. Let’s call the NSA what it really is–the National Stasi Agency, the largest collection of Gestapo in human history. You can take for granted that every media whore, every government prostitute, every ignorant flag-waver who declares Snowden to be a traitor is either brainwashed or blackmailed. They are the protectors of NSA tyranny. They are our enemies.

The world has been growing increasingly sick of Washington for a long time. The bullying, the constant stream of lies, the gratuitous wars and destruction have destroyed the image hyped by Washington of the US as a “light unto the world.” The world sees the US as a plague upon the world.

Following Snowden’s revelations, Germany’s most important magazine, Der Spiegal, had the headline: “Obama’s Soft Totalitarianism: Europe Must Protect Itself From America.” The first sentence of the article asks: “Is Barack Obama a friend? Revelations about his government’s vast spying program call that into doubt. The European Union must protect the Continent from America’s reach for omnipotence.”

Der Spiegal continues: “We are being watched. All the time and everywhere. And it is the Americans who are doing the watching. On Tuesday, the head of the largest and most all-encompassing surveillance system ever invented is coming for a visit. If Barack Obama is our friend then we really don’t need to be terribly worried about our enemies.”

There is little doubt that German Interior Minister Hans Peter Friedrich has lost his secrets to NSA spies. Friedrich rushed to NSA’s defense, declaring: ”that’s not how you treat friends.” As Der Spiegal made clear, the minister was not referring “to the fact that our trans-Atlantic friends were spying on us. Rather, he meant the criticism of that spying. Friedrich’s reaction is only paradoxical on the surface and can be explained by looking at geopolitical realities. The US is, for the time being, the only global power–and as such it is the only truly sovereign state in existence. All others are dependent–either as enemies or allies. And because most prefer to be allies, politicians–Germany’s included–prefer to grin and bear it.”

It is extraordinary that the most important publication in Germany has acknowledged that the German government is Washington’s puppet state.

Der Spiegel says: “German citizens should be able to expect that their government will protect them from spying by foreign governments. But the German interior minister says instead: ‘We are grateful for the excellent cooperation with US secret services.’ Friedrich didn’t even try to cover up his own incompetence on the surveillance issue. ‘Everything we know about it, we have learned from the media,’ he said. The head of the country’s domestic intelligence agency, Hans-Georg Maassen, was not any more enlightened. ‘I didn’t know anything about it,’ he said. And Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger was also apparently in the dark. ‘These reports are extremely unsettling,’ she said. With all due respect: These are the people who are supposed to be protecting our rights? If it wasn’t so frightening, it would be absurd.”

For those moronic amerikans who say, “I’m not doing anything wrong, I don’t care if they spy,” Der Spiegal writes that a “monitored human being is not a free one.” We have reached the point where we “free americans” have to learn from our German puppets that we are not free.

Here, read it for yourself: http://www.spiegel.de/international...d-up-to-american-cyber-snooping-a-906250.html

Present day Germany is a new country, flushed of its past by war and defeat. Russia is also a new country that has emerged from the ashes of an unrealistic ideology. Hope always resides with those countries that have most experienced evil in government. If Germany were to throw off its amerikan overlord and depart NATO, amerikan power in Europe would collapse. If Germany and Russia were to unite in defense of truth and human rights, Europe and the world would have a new beginning.

A new beginning is desperately needed. Chris Floyd explains precisely what is going on, which is something you will never hear from the presstitutes. Read it while you still can: http://www.globalresearch.ca/follow...plications-of-the-snowden-revelations/5340132

There would be hope if Americans could throw off their brainwashing, follow the lead of Debra Sweet and others, and stand up for Edward Snowden and against the Stasi State. http://www.opednews.com/populum/printer_friendly.php?content=a&id=167695

Camille · Jul 11, 2013

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/...A-spying-It-isn-t-just-phone-calls-and-emails

Diary is too extensive to post...just check the source link....

Beyond NSA spying: It isn't just phone calls and emails

SPECTRE1 · Jul 12, 2013

Most of this surveillance is coming from the private sector to shut down dissent and to keep tabs on people. There is a profit motive that drives private sector spying. What the NSA does is nothing.

thoughtone · Jul 22, 2013

SPECTRE1 · Aug 1, 2013

The government in tandem with the private sector has been spying on Americans for awhile. Prior to 9/11 they were doing it, than after 9/11 they found a way to legitimize it under the auspices of terrorism.

As part of its image of propaganda to other economic systems it is trying to undermine such as Cuba and North Korea, it wants to project 'freedom'. It would be a better life if you adopt a democratic system controlled by business interests, you have 'rights' that your socialist or communist government does not provide. In these economic system, you are oppressed while you are free here and have rights protected by our constitution such as 4th Amendment rights. You should overthrow your government and install a democratic system controlled by business interests to get these false freedoms which will allow the United States to flood your country with out large transnational companies that will extract your wealth. We will be able to buy your resources for low costs.

This is why you see human rights report that gets issued, the United States is trying to project that a democratic system controlled by business interest is a beacon of freedom and prosperity.

This type of spy system XKeyscore allows the government to spy on citizens off the books while getting FISA warrants for alleged terrorists. The old system of getting a warrant and going to the Telecoms prevented this. This is why you build a turnkey system, where you can easily pull up information on citizens.

When you are targeted, it basically immobilizes you, they pre-release information that you are working on your computer. They disrupt activity that they see you working on ahead of time. You can no longer enjoy the internet or conduct research in private. They harass you with the information they collect because they know, unless you are Snowden with top secret clearance, you will never have evidence of their actions.

muckraker10021 · Aug 5, 2013

Watch the three videos below,99.99999% of Americans won't and they don't care. Everything is in place for a complete permanent corporatist take over of the United States. Politicians, Judges, Military leadership will all just be 100% pawns working for corporate America.

August 4th, 2013
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/04/congress-nsa-denied-access

SPECTRE1 · Aug 10, 2013

President Obama said Friday he would pursue reforms to open the legal proceedings surrounding government surveillance programs to greater scrutiny, the administration’s most concerted response yet to a series of disclosures about secret monitoring efforts.

At his first full news conference in more than three months, Obama said he intends to work with Congress on proposals that would add an adversarial voice — such as a lawyer assigned to advocate privacy rights— to the secret proceedings before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Several Democratic senators have proposed such changes to the court, which approves government requests for warrants and other collection efforts.

In addition, Obama said he intends to work on ways to tighten one provision of the Patriot Act — known as Section 215 — that has permitted the government to obtain the phone records of millions of Americans. He announced the creation of a panel of outsiders — former intelligence officials, civil liberties and privacy advocates, and others — to assess the programs and suggest changes by the end of the year.

“It’s not enough for me, as president, to have confidence in these programs,” Obama said in the White House East Room. “The American people need to have confidence in them as well.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...3d6762-011a-11e3-9711-3708310f6f4d_story.html

How is Snowden not a Patriot? His disclosures is causing all kinds of reforms that would not have happened if it remained classified. The mere fact that these reforms are taking place suggest something was wrong.

Terrorism is just a front, I can vouch that these surveillance system are used for other nefarious purposes, I have a bunch of stories regarding what has happened to me. I believe a Stand your Ground Law should be passed regarding anybody that conducts surveillance illegally, you should be allowed to shoot this person, talking to these people reasonably does not work.

Watch the three videos below,99.99999% of Americans won't and they don't care. Everything is in place for a complete permanent corporatist take over of the United States. Politicians, Judges, Military leadership will all just be 100% pawns working for corporate America.

They have taken over, if you watch their patterns, first it is to make an institution such as politicians, public television, newspaper,TV dependent on their business or funding. Or they will buy these institutions outright to control the message.

It looks democratic, however, it is controlled by a few people behind the scenes. If you are exploiting workers as was done during slavery, you don't want messages that will conflict. Slaves were forbidden to be taught to read. Workers are only allowed to hear about the 'free' market and the greatness of it.

SPECTRE1 · Aug 11, 2013

muckraker10021 said:
Watch the three videos below,99.99999% of Americans won't and they don't care. Everything is in place for a complete permanent corporatist take over of the United States. Politicians, Judges, Military leadership will all just be 100% pawns working for corporate America.

August 4th, 2013
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/04/congress-nsa-denied-access

The corporations have already taken over everything, one of things they like to do is remove all public financing to make these institutions such as newspaper, TV, radio, politicians, schools, public televisions, dependent on them for funding or business. In some cases, they have bought these institutions outright. Fortunately, you can bypass their propaganda utilizing the internet which they fear.

Slaves were banned from reading to prevent them from acquiring knowledge about their plight. The same thing is occurring with 'workers' of today, in effect, blocking information to prevent workers from acquiring greater self awareness about their situation.

I am trying to publish information that is being blocked that challenges many of the ideas of capitalism, I am facing an all out assault with daily harassment and threats. They want people ignorant just like they wanted slaves being unable to read.

SPECTRE1 · Aug 11, 2013

QueEx · Aug 11, 2013

COINTELPRO said:
All these reforms are being implemented subsequent to Snowden disclosure, yet he is being called a traitor and not a patriot.

Snowden had options, but he chose not only to publicly disclose matters of national security (even if you want to debate whether or not the material involved national security) but he chose to divulge the information in the territory of those whose interest are adverse to the U.S.'s interest. If anyone seriously believes that the Chinese and Russians have not thoroughly examined every I and 0 on those laptops he abscounded with then, I have bridge to sell you.

I would be the last to argue that NSA is not out of control, but I would be the first to say there are ways and Congress and the President need to do their damn jobs to bring it under control. What Snowden did, however, in my lowly-held opinion, was the wrong gotdam way. And if by chance what he did has caused a harmful breach, I hope any harm that becomes of it drops on your gotdam house, instead of mine and my children.

COINTELPRO said:
The 4th Amendment should not be used to trick people into feeling it is safe to speak on the phone and online.

I don't know about tricking people into feeling safe -- that statement if taken to its logical conclusion probably yields unintended results -- but otherwise -- I agree with you en toto that the 4th Amendment should be held inviolate. I simply disagree with the manner in which Snowden exercised his desire to protect one constitutional freedom by possibly endangering several others by giving information to those seeking to do us all harm.

COINTELPRO said:
Giving the government this power is dangerous, some right wing wacko could get into office, plotting wars of aggression with other countries, and people that opposed could be easily identified and targeted that could stop this.

Giving the government any power that isn't checked or balanced is not only dangerous, but is bound to lead to abuses. Without question, there have to be effective, reliable and trustworthy whistleblower channels built into any system. But seems to me, what Snowden did almost mirrors your statement just above: what he did, could very well help those plotting to harm people I know and love.

SPECTRE1 · Aug 11, 2013

When doctors and scientists at the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) tried to expose serious threats to American safety, agency officials retaliated and swept concerns under the rug.

The FDA employees, most of whom lost their jobs, had evidence that certain medical devices endangered patients’ health and should not have gained FDA approval. Their concerns about patient safety fell on deaf ears within the agency, however, so they chose to elevate their concerns legally and confidentially to Congress.

What followed spawned another NWC campaign, Halting Whistleblower Surveillance. Corrupt officials at the FDA launched a massive surveillance program targeting the whistleblowers, with the ultimate goal of discovering information to discredit them.

The NWC is fighting to reinstate the whistleblowers and reverse the chilling effect that such events have on every other employee at the FDA—and at other federal agencies. Until the federal government recognizes the contributions that these brave employees made to American health and safety, others will stay silent about safety concerns that they witness.

Put under surveillance and fired prior to getting whistleblower protections

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9kdPOX_9nbA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Physically attacked and injured. Demoted and retired subsequently, after fearing for her life.

ATF

A well-known whistle-blower in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed to FoxNews.com that he was fired this week, and he claims his complaints about Operation Fast and Furious played a role in his dismissal.
Vince Cefalu said he was served his termination papers Tuesday in a Denny's parking lot in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. But he doesn't plan to go quietly.

Demoted and isolated, terminated immediately.

NSA

In July 2007, armed FBI agents raided the homes of Roark, Binney, and Wiebe, the same people who had filed the complaint with the DoD Inspector General in 2002.[27] Binney claims they pointed guns at his wife and himself. Wiebe said it reminded him of the Soviet Union.[21] None of these people were charged with any crimes. In November 2007, there was a raid on Drake's residence. His computers, documents, and books were confiscated. He was never charged with giving any sensitive information to anyone; the charge actually brought against him is for 'retaining' information (18 U.S.C. § 793(e))

Guns pointed at his head by the FBI, prosecuted on trumped up charges utilizing a sham trial and prosecution.

He did the right thing by whistleblowing overseas based on prior incidents that occurred under Bush and Obama. I would have just quit and left the country.

We need a Stand Your Ground law regarding unlawful government and private sector surveillance, it is worse than somebody breaking into your house.

SPECTRE1 · Aug 12, 2013

The reforms are not enough to protect the privacy of citizens. I believe every record pertaining to a person should be tagged with a unique identifier. The system should be moved and put under the control of the court system.

Upon approval by the FISA court, access will be given to the government for that unique identifier pertaining to that person only.

The current law on the books was the FISA court issuing orders to a third party to compel them to release records. Now the government is compelling itself to give up these records?

The current system allows off the books activity without court approval. This is radical change in the scope of the law which did not envision the government having direct access. We need to move these systems under the control of the courts which control access. We need to get rid of having some high school dropout coming off the street, giving access to everything based on an email address.

Fuckallyall · Aug 12, 2013

Once again, I'll say that this is what happens whenever you want the government to "take care of you".

Greed · Aug 12, 2013

NSA monitoring Americans' emails for mentions of terrorists: report

NSA monitoring Americans' emails for mentions of terrorists: report
By Dylan Stableford, Yahoo! News | Yahoo! News – Thu, Aug 8, 2013

The National Security Agency, which recently acknowledged the existence of a broad domestic surveillance program in the wake of former defense contractor Edward Snowden's controversial leak, is casting a wider net than previously thought, The New York Times reports.

The NSA is "not just intercepting the communications of Americans who are in direct contact with foreigners targeted overseas," a senior intelligence official told the paper. The agency also is "casting for people who cite information linked to those foreigners, like a little used e-mail address," systematically and without warrants, the paper said.

According to the Times, the NSA routinely conducts keyword searches for specific names or phrases linked to foreign terrorists. It's not clear how much cross-border data is being caught in the sweeps. But like the surveillance program Snowden exposed, U.S. officials contend, the broader monitoring of communications is covered under 2008 amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The FISA amendments allow warrant-less spying on U.S. citizens as long as the ultimate “target” of the surveillance was a foreigner living overseas.

NSA spokeswoman Judith Emmel did not specifically address "surveillance of cross-border communications" but defended the agency's activities as lawful and focused on "foreign powers and their agents, foreign organizations, foreign persons or international terrorists" — and not Americans.

“In carrying out its signals intelligence mission, N.S.A. collects only what it is explicitly authorized to collect,” Emmel told the Times. “Moreover, the agency’s activities are deployed only in response to requirements for information to protect the country and its interests.”

The Times report appears to confirm previous reporting by the Guardian newspaper, which first published Snowden's disclosures — and identity — setting off an international manhunt worthy of a spy novel. Snowden flew from Hawaii to Hong Kong and then to Moscow, where he was granted temporary asylum by the Russian government.

http://news.yahoo.com/nsa-conductin...ls--the-new-york-times-reports-140638723.html

Greed · Aug 18, 2013

NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year: report

NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year: report
Reuters
Fri, Aug 16, 2013

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The National Security Agency has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since 2008, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing an internal audit and other top-secret documents.

Most of the infractions involved unauthorized surveillance of Americans or foreign intelligence targets in the United States, both of which are restricted by law and executive order, the paper said.

They ranged from significant violations of law to typographical errors that resulted in unintended interception of U.S. emails and telephone calls, it said.

The Post said the documents it obtained were part of a trove of materials provided to the paper by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who has been charged by the United States with espionage. He was granted asylum in Russia earlier this month.

The documents included a level of detail and analysis that is not routinely shared with Congress or the special court that oversees surveillance, the paper said. In one of the documents, agency personnel are instructed to remove details and substitute more generic language in reports to the Justice Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

In one instance, the NSA decided it need not report the unintended surveillance of Americans, the Post said. A notable example in 2008 was the interception of a "large number" of calls placed from Washington when a programming error confused U.S. area code 202 for 20, the international dialing code for Egypt.

The Post said the NSA audit, dated May 2012, counted 2,776 incidents in the preceding 12 months of unauthorized collection, storage, access to or distribution of legally protected communications.

The paper said most were unintended. Many involved failures of due diligence or violations of standard operating procedure. It said the most serious incidents included a violation of a court order and unauthorized use of data about more than 3,000 Americans and green-card holders.

In 2008, the FISA Amendments Act granted NSA broad new powers in exchange for regular audits from the Justice Department and the office of the Director of National Intelligence and periodic reports to Congress and the surveillance court, the Post said.

"We're a human-run agency operating in a complex environment with a number of different regulatory regimes, so at times we find ourselves on the wrong side of the line," a senior NSA official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the Post.

"You can look at it as a percentage of our total activity that occurs each day," he said. "You look at a number in absolute terms that looks big, and when you look at it in relative terms, it looks a little different."

In what the Post said appeared to be one of the most serious violations, the NSA diverted large volumes of international data passing through fiber-optic cables in the United States into a repository where the material could be stored temporarily for processing and selection.

The operation collected and commingled U.S. and foreign emails, the Post said, citing a top-secret internal NSA newsletter. NSA lawyers told the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that the agency could not practicably filter out the communications of Americans.

In October 2011, months after the program got underway, the court ruled that the collection effort was unconstitutional.

Some members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, including Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon, have been trying for some time to get the NSA to give some kind of accounting of how much data it collects "incidentally" on Americans through various electronic dragnets. The Obama administration has strongly resisted such disclosures.

http://news.yahoo.com/nsa-broke-privacy-rules-thousands-times-per-report-040104524.html

Greed · Sep 26, 2013

NSA spied on Martin Luther King

NSA spied on Martin Luther King
AFP
1 hr 57 mins ago

Washington (AFP) - The National Security Agency eavesdropped on civil rights icon Martin Luther King and heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali as well as other leading critics of the Vietnam War in a secret program later deemed "disreputable," declassified documents revealed.

The six-year spying program, dubbed "Minaret," had been exposed in the 1970s but the targets of the surveillance had been kept secret until now.

The documents released Wednesday showed the NSA tracked King and his colleague Whitney Young, boxing star Ali, journalists from the New York Times and the Washington Post, and two members of Congress, Senator Frank Church of Idaho and Senator Howard Baker of Tennessee.

The declassified NSA historical account of the episode called the spying "disreputable if not outright illegal."

The documents were published after the government panel overseeing classification ruled in favor of researchers at George Washington University who had long sought the release of the secret papers.

The intensity of anti-war dissent at home led President Lyndon Johnson to ask US intelligence agencies in 1967 to find out if some protests were fueled by foreign powers. The NSA worked with other spy agencies to draw up "watch lists" of anti-war critics to tap their overseas phone calls.

The program continued after Richard Nixon entered the White House in 1969, and historians say it reflected a climate of paranoia pervading his presidency.

US Attorney General Elliot Richardson shut down the NSA program in 1973, just as the Nixon administration was engulfed in scandal.

The 1975 disclosure of the NSA program, along with other domestic spying on Americans, caused public outrage and one of the senators who had been tapped, Church, led reforms that created stricter limits on surveillance and spy agencies.

But the NSA has been accused of overstepping its authority and flouting civil rights protections since the attacks of September 11, 2001.

The agency carried out warrantless wiretapping between 2001-2004 and recent revelations from US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden have exposed far-reaching electronic surveillance of phone records and Internet traffic.

The researchers who published the documents Wednesday said the spying abuses during the Vietnam War era far surpass the excesses of the current program.

"As shocking as the recent revelations about the NSA's domestic eavesdropping have been, there has been no evidence so far of today's signal intelligence corps taking a step like this, to monitor the White House's political enemies," wrote Matthew Aid and William Burr for George Washington University's National Security Archive, a research institute that seeks to check government secrecy.

http://news.yahoo.com/cold-war-documents-show-nsa-spied-us-senators-230032230.html

Greed · Oct 30, 2013

Report: NSA broke into Yahoo, Google data centers

Report: NSA broke into Yahoo, Google data centers
By LOLITA C. BALDOR | Associated Press
3 hrs ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Security Agency has secretly broken into the main communications links that connect Yahoo and Google data centers around the world, The Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing documents obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

A secret accounting dated Jan. 9, 2013, indicates that NSA sends millions of records every day from Yahoo and Google internal networks to data warehouses at the agency's Fort Meade, Md., headquarters. In the last 30 days, field collectors had processed and sent back more than 180 million new records — ranging from "metadata," which would indicate who sent or received emails and when, to content such as text, audio and video, the Post reported Wednesday on its website.

The latest revelations were met with outrage from Google, and triggered legal questions, including whether the NSA may be violating federal wiretap laws.

"Although there's a diminished standard of legal protection for interception that occurs overseas, the fact that it was directed apparently to Google's cloud and Yahoo's cloud, and that there was no legal order as best we can tell to permit the interception, there is a good argument to make that the NSA has engaged in unlawful surveillance," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of Electronic Privacy Information Center. The reference to 'clouds' refers to sites where the companies collect data.

The new details about the NSA's access to Yahoo and Google data centers around the world come at a time when Congress is reconsidering the government's collection practices and authority, and as European governments are responding angrily to revelations that the NSA collected data on millions of communications in their countries. Details about the government's programs have been trickling out since Snowden shared documents with the Post and Guardian newspaper in June.

The NSA's principal tool to exploit the Google and Yahoo data links is a project called MUSCULAR, operated jointly with the agency's British counterpart, GCHQ. The Post said NSA and GCHQ are copying entire data flows across fiber-optic cables that carry information between the data centers of the Silicon Valley giants.

The NSA has a separate data-gathering program, called PRISM, which uses a court order to compel Yahoo, Google and other Internet companies to provide certain data. It allows the NSA to reach into the companies' data streams and grab emails, video chats, pictures and more. U.S. officials have said the program is narrowly focused on foreign targets, and technology companies say they turn over information only if required by court order.

In an interview with Bloomberg News Wednesday, NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander was asked if the NSA has infiltrated Yahoo and Google databases, as detailed in the Post story.

"Not to my knowledge," said Alexander. "We are not authorized to go into a U.S. company's servers and take data. We'd have to go through a court process for doing that."

It was not clear, however, whether Alexander had any immediate knowledge of the latest disclosure in the Post report. Instead, he appeared to speak more about the PRISM program and its legal parameters.

In a separate statement, NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines said NSA has "multiple authorities" to accomplish its mission, and she said "the assertion that we collect vast quantities of U.S. persons' data from this type of collection is also not true." At no point did the NSA deny the existence of the MUSCULAR program.

The GCHQ had no comment on the matter.

The Post said the NSA was breaking into data centers worldwide. The NSA has far looser restrictions on what it can collect outside the United States on foreigners and would not need a court order to collected foreigners' communications.

Cybersecurity expert James Lewis said it is likely that the Google and Yahoo data was part of a larger collection of communications swept up by the NSA program from the fiber-optic pipeline. He said that while the collection was probably legal, because it was done overseas, the question is what the NSA did with the data linked to U.S. citizens.

To meet legal requirements, the NSA has to distinguish between foreign and U.S. persons, and must get additional authorization in order to view information linked to Americans, said Lewis, who is with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He said it's not clear from the reports what the NSA did with the U.S. data, and so it's difficult to say whether the agency violated the law.

David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer said the company has "long been concerned about the possibility of this kind of snooping."

"We do not provide any government, including the U.S. government, with access to our systems," said Drummond. "We are outraged at the lengths to which the government seems to have gone to intercept data from our private fiber networks, and it underscores the need for urgent reform."

Google, which is known for its data security, noted that it has been trying to extend encryption across more and more Google services and links.

Yahoo spokeswoman Sarah Meron said there are strict controls in place to protect the security of the company's data centers. "We have not given access to our data centers to the NSA or to any other government agency," she said, adding that it is too early to speculate on whether legal action would be taken.

The MUSCULAR project documents state that this collection from Yahoo and Google has led to key intelligence leads, the Post said.

Congress members and international leaders have become increasingly angry about the NSA's data collection, as more information about the programs leak out. A delegation from the European Union Parliament came to Washington this week to conduct intense talks about reported U.S. spying on allied leaders, including the collection of phone records. And a German delegation met with U.S. officials over allegations that the NSA was monitoring Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone.

Alexander told lawmakers that the U.S. did not collect European records, and instead the U.S. was given data by NATO partners as part of a program to protect military interests.

Congress members, however, are working on plans that would put limits data collection. And Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has called for a "total review of all intelligence programs"

More broadly, Alexander on Wednesday defended the overall NSA effort to monitor communications. And he said that as Congress considers proposals to scale back the data collection or provide more transparency to some of the programs, it's his job to lay out the resulting terrorism risks.

"I'm concerned that we give information out that impacts our ability to stop terrorist attacks. That's what most of these programs are aimed to do," Alexander said. "I believe if you look at this and you go back through everything, none of this shows that NSA is doing something illegal or that it's not been asked to do."

Pointing to thousands of terror attacks around the world, he said the U.S. has been spared much of that violence because of such programs.

"It's because you have great people in the military and the intelligence community doing everything they can with law enforcement to protect this country," he said. "But they need tools to do it. If we take away the tools, we increase the risk."

http://news.yahoo.com/report-nsa-broke-yahoo-google-data-centers-171452135--finance.html

SPECTRE1 · Oct 31, 2013

QueEx · Oct 31, 2013

COINTELPRO said:
Anybody thinks that a whistleblower such as Snowden will be protected in the government is in for a rude awakening.

Some argue that Snowden is not a whistleblower. :confused:

SPECTRE1 · Oct 31, 2013

Here is the NSA, a hoarder out of control:

Tim McVeigh blows up a federal building, they put concrete barricades up and kept on going like nothing happen. A group of people connected with the Middle East (oil) does something, they spend a trillion dollars establishing white supremacy in the region. We lose all our rights to protect us from the enemy (the government exploited the attack to topple Saddam to control oil, and establish domestic surveillance because of the rise of the internet that allows citizen to bypass state controlled media outlets).

Greed · Nov 17, 2013

Eric Holder May Have Just Toppled the First Domino in Ending NSA Surveillance

Eric Holder May Have Just Toppled the First Domino in Ending NSA Surveillance
PHILIP BUMP
NOV 15, 2013

The top line news from an interview Attorney General Eric Holder gave to The Washington Post is that Holder recognizes Glenn Greenwald's work in exposing NSA — and Justice Department — surveillance as journalism and that he wouldn't be prosecuted. More important, is that Holder also supports reviewing past cases to inform defendants when evidence against them stemmed from that surveillance. That information could kick open the door to a Supreme Court challenge of the NSA's activity.

Given Holder's personal history with the media (remember the AP phone records collection?), it's understandable that his comments about Greenwald would get some attention.

“Unless information that has not come to my attention is presented to me, what I have indicated in my testimony before Congress is that any journalist who’s engaged in true journalistic activities is not going to be prosecuted by this Justice Department,” Holder said.

“I certainly don’t agree with what Greenwald has done,” Holder continued, but journalism — even journalism flavored with activism — is not a reason to consider criminal charges. On Friday morning, The New York Times published an editorial raising concerns about how the British government is treading on that country's freedom of the press. Holder's statement distances him from that danger — but unlike his British peers, Holder is constrained by the First Amendment.

But more important, the Justice Department is reviewing cases in which charges depended on information collected from NSA surveillance:

“We have a review underway now,” Holder said. … “We will be examining cases that are in a variety of stages, and we will be, where appropriate, providing defendants with information that they should have so they can make their own determinations about how they want to react to it.”

The importance of this lies in how the Supreme Court determines when it takes a case. Earlier this year, the Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the ACLU and other groups because those groups couldn't demonstrate that they'd been surveilled under the NSA systems that they were contesting. A key component of the government's argument in that case, presented by Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, was that individuals who had been surveilled by the NSA were informed of that surveillance and could therefore file a lawsuit themselves. Given that there existed people with standing, the Court threw out the case.

But it turned out that the Justice Department hadn't been informing defendants when it used that surveillance. In August, defendants in a case in Chicago were told that Foriegn Intelligence Surveillance Act evidence would be used against them, though the Post suggests that the first relevant example of being informed about surveillance evidence came last week. The ACLU's Jameel Jaffer, who argued the case that was dismissed, told the Post that "it was a 'big deal' that 'will undoubtedly set up a constitutional challenge to it.'"

In other words, Holder may be facilitating, intentionally or not, the demise of the NSA's surveillance tools, if one of the informed defendants files a lawsuit and the Supreme Court finds that they violate the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches — a clear triumph for Edward Snowden and privacy advocates. At that point, Holder's opinion of Greenwald's work might change.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/poli...d-first-domino-ending-nsa-surveillance/71671/

muckraker10021 · Nov 18, 2013

124 Things We've Learned About the NSA

Updated: March 1, 2014

http://www.tedgioia.com/nsa_facts.html

British spies, with help from NSA, collect 4 million private webcam photos of people in their homes.
The Guardian, February 27, 2014

Snowden biographer claims his text would ‘self-delete’ when he wrote about NSA
BetaBeat, February 25, 2014

American Bar Association issues formal complaint over NSA violating attorney-client confidentiality.
The Hill, February 24, 2014

As a favor to German leader Merkel, the NSA no longer spies on her—but has switched to spying on her aides and ministers.
Deutsche Welle, February 23, 2014

AT&T’s surveillance transparency report neglects to mention that it hands over information on 80 million customers to the NSA.
Wired, February 21, 2014

Within hours of The Guardian publishing Snowden’s first revelations, ‘diggers’ showed up outside both its NY and Washington office, as well as outside the home of its US editor.
The Guardian,February 20, 2014

NSA partnered with other countries in spying on US lawyers, possibly as a way of bypassing US laws protecting attorney-client communications.
New York Times, February 16, 2014

Finally someone is forced to resign from the NSA because of the Snowden scandal—but only a person who might have accidentally helped Snowden.
Washington Post, February 13, 2014

The NSA's secret role in the US assassination program.
First Look Media, February 10, 2014

More than 4,000 groups sign up to protest NSA surveillance.
PC World, February 6, 2014

Dept. of Justice admits NSA probably spies on Congress.
National Journal, February 4, 2014

How many criminals have NSA's phone records busted? Maybe one, according to the Dept. of Justice.
PC World,February 4, 2014

NSA spying may have violated attorney-client privilege.
The Nation,February 4, 2014

Head spy James Clapper says journalists who report on NSA abuses are accomplices to crime.
The Guardian, January 29, 2014

NSA sweeping up private information from phone apps, including info on the phone owner’s sexual orientation.
The Guardian, January 27, 2014

More than 50 leading experts in cryptography sign petition asserting NSA actions "threaten the technological infrastructure of society."
Washington Post, January 24, 2014

Bipartisan government advisory panel says NSA bulk data collection is illegal and should be halted.
NBC News, January 23, 2014

Top German prosecutor considers NSA investigation.
Der Spiegel, January 20, 2014

NSA collects 200 million text messages per day – sweeping up "pretty much everything it can find."
The Guardian, January 16, 2014

NSA secret spy court opposes reforms and transparency.
Los Angeles Times, January 14, 2014

NSA uses radio waves to insert secret software on 100,000 computers — both for surveillance and to launch cyberattacks on enemies.
New York Times, January 14, 2014

NSA won’t say whether it spies on Congress.
CNN, January 4, 2013

Secret court authorizes more phone surveillance even though Federal judge has ruled it "probably unconstitutional."
Reuters, January 3, 2014

NSA investing $80 million on computer system that will break every kind of
encryption used to secure banking, medical, business and government data.
Washington Post, January 2, 2014

NSA spyware gives agency full access to the iPhone.
CNET, December 31, 2013

NSA can spy on computers even if they aren't connected to the Internet.
CBS News, December 30, 2013

The NSA intercepts computers mid-shipment and installs spyware on them.
Der Spiegel, December 29, 2013

NSA division called ANT has burrowed its way into nearly all the security architecture made by the major players in the industry — probably without the knowledge of these companies.
Der Spiegel, December 29, 2013

Former CIA boss on NSA review panel wants to expand data collection.
Nation Journal, December 22, 2013

Leading supplier of computer security software had secret deal with NSA to put security flaws in software tools it sold.
Reuters, December 20, 2013

US journalist with ties to Snowden claims his Berlin apartment was raided.
RT, December 21, 2013

NSA program stopped no terror attacks, says White House panel.
NBC News, December 20, 2013

New documents reveal massive scope of NSA spying in 60 countries, targeting regulators, aid organizations and many others with no connection to terrorist or illegal activities.
Washington Post, December 20, 2013

Lawyer who won NSA ruling claims spy agency put him under surveillance and hacked his email account.
The Examiner, December 18, 2013

New evidence that NSA head misled in statements about oversight of spy agency employees.
The Atlantic, December 16, 2013

NSA mass collection of phone data is unconstitutional, federal judge rules. But the surveillance continues pending government appeal.
CNN, December 16, 2013

By cracking cellphone code, NSA has capacity for decoding private conversations.
Washington Post, December 13, 2013

NSA Director tells Senate committee he needs everybody’s phone records to maintain national security.
The Guardian, December 11, 2013

NSA uses Google cookies to determine targets for hacking.
Washington Post, December 10, 2013

NSA snoops online video games.
Time, December 9, 2013

Local police now want access to massive data dumps of cell phone info comparable to what the NSA routinely acquires.
Washington Post, December 8, 2013

NSA keeps track of most of the world’s cell phones, collecting billions of records every day.
Washington Post, December 5, 2013

NSA explored ways of spying on citizens and communication systems of Canada, Australia and New Zealand without the knowledge or consent of those nations.
The Guardian, December 4, 2013

NSA spied on foreign leaders at the G20 summit in Canada.
CBC, November 27, 2013

NSA collected details of online sexual activity of radicals — none connected to terror plots—to find ways of discrediting them.
The Guardian, November 27, 2013

NSA put malware on more than 50,000 computer networks worldwide.
CNET, November 23, 2013

NSA created a secret 4-year strategy plan to increase its powers and expand its surveillance.
New York Times, November 22, 2013

US and UK struck secret deal allowing NSA to track personal data of British citizens.
The Guardian, November 20, 2013

NSA shared email and web date with other government agencies, in violation of court-ordered procedures.
The Guardian, November 19, 2013

NSA refuses to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests from citizens asking if the agency is spying on them.
USA Today, November 18, 2013

Senate committee passes bill strengthening NSA’s ability to make warrantless searches.
The Guardian, November 15, 2103

The FBI is helping the NSA spy, but senators don’t want to know about it.
Foreign Policy, November 14, 2013

US software and computer companies see a sudden chill in sales to China due to NSA concerns.
Wall Street Journal, November 14, 2013

NSA wants to block sales of T-shirt that ridicules government spies.
Voice of America, November 14, 2013

NSA spied on OPEC.
Der Speigel, November 11, 2013

Editor of The Guardian will be interrogated by Parliament over NSA revelations.
The Guardian, November 9, 2013

NSA codebreaker who protested government surveillance abuses in 2007 was raided by the FBI.
CBS, November 5, 2013

After reviewing Snowden documents, NY Times declares that the “N.S.A. seems to be listening everywhere in the world, gathering every stray electron.”
New York Times, November 3, 2013

National Security Agency secretly broke into the main communications links that connect Yahoo and Google data centers around the world.
Washington Post, October 30, 2013

NSA eavesdropped on Vatican phone calls, possibly spying on conclave that selected Pope Francis.
Chicago Tribune, October 30, 2013

White House signed off on spying of foreign leaders, according to intelligence agency officials.
Los Angeles Times, October 28, 2013

Administration source claims the President never approved NSA tapping phones of foreign leaders because “the NSA has so many eavesdropping programs, it would not have listed all of them for the president.”
CNN, October 28, 2013

NSA recently tracked over 60 million calls in Spain in the space of a month.
Reuters, October 28, 2013

NSA monitored phone calls of 35 world leaders.
The Guardian, October 24, 2013

German government claims it has information that the US may have monitored cell phone conversations of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Reuters, October 23, 2013

NSA spent $652 million to implant spyware on tens of millions of computers.
BBC, October 22, 2013

NSA collected more than 70 million French phone records in a single month.
Washington Post, October 21, 2013

NSA hacked Mexican President Felipe Calderon's email account.
Der Spiegel, October 20, 2013

Documents reveal NSA’s extensive involvement in killer drone program.
Washington Post, October 16, 2013

NSA collects contacts from an estimated 500,000 buddy lists on live chat services each day.
Washington Post, October 14, 2013

NSA Director defends the organizations mass surveillance programs, but believes the spies need to do a better job of explaining them to the public.
New York Times, October 12, 2013

Despite increasing controversy and criticism, secret court renews NSA’s authorization to continue sweeping phone data.
Office of the Director of Natational Intelligence press release, October 11, 2013

NSA’s computer HQ, bigger than Google’s largest data center, has experienced 10 electricity meltdowns and repeated loss of equipment in the last year.
Wall Street Journal, October 7, 2013

NSA targeted Tor network, relied upon by dissidents and activists for anonymous communication.
The Guardian, October 4, 2013

Newly unsealed document reveal that email provider used by Edward Snowden ordered to hand over encryption codes for Snowden’s messages (and those of all 400,000 other users) or pay $5,000 per day fine.
Wired, October 2, 2013

NSA chief admits misleading the public with figures on terror plots foiled by spying.
Washington Times, October 2, 2013

In 2010 and 2011 the NSA conducted a secret test of a program to collect bulk data about the cellphone locations of Americans.
New York Times, October 2, 2013

Privacy activist who initiated protest letter to NSA refused entry to the US —and officials refuse to tell him why.
The Guardian, October 1, 2013

NSA ‘Marina’ project tracks users browser activity and contact info for the last year, and can be used to create lifestyle profiles of millions of people — including US citizens who aren't suspects.
The Guardian, September 30, 2013

CEO imprisoned after he wouldn't spy for NSA wasn't allowed to mention this during his trial, or to present evidence that his prosecution may have been in retaliation for his refusal.
Washington Post, September 30, 2013

Since 2010, the NSA has tracked the social network connections of US citizens.
New York Times, September 28, 2013l

NSA employee made unauthorized intercepts of the phone calls of numerous women over a period of six years without it being detected.
The Guardian, September 27, 2013

Director of NSA tells the Senate Intelligence Committee that there is no legal limit to how much phone date the government can collect.
Wall Street Journal, September 26, 2013

Senator Feinstein admits NSA is collecting Internet data upstream through secret agreements with telco companies — in direct contradiction to NSA public statements.
C-Span, September 26, 2013

Newly released documents show the NSA spied on Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King, Frank Church, Howard Baker and others.
The Guardian, September 26, 2013

NSA spy center in Utah has an estimated data capacity of 5 zettabytes — the equivalent of 1.25 trillion DVDs.
NPR, September 23, 2013

NSA gathers 13.5 billion pieces of information on India over the course of just 30 days.
The Hindu, September 23, 2013

NSA pays around $300 million dollars to AT&T, Verizon and other telecom companies in exchange for access to phone calls.
Forbes, September 23, 2013

Secret court that authorized NSA spying contradicted the US Supreme Court on constitutional rights.
The Guardian, September 22, 2013

Justice Department internal ethics watchdog never probed judges’ concerns about NSA surveillance.
USA Today, September 19, 2013

Department of Justice tried to stop USA Today from running the above story.
Cryptome.org, September 19, 2013

USA telecommunications companies have never challenged NSA demands to hand over bulk metadata.
Wired. September 17, 2103

NSA monitors banks and credit card transactions -- sometimes in apparent violation of national laws and global regulations.
Der Spiegel, September 16, 2013

NSA spent taxpayer dollars to build a war room modeled to look like the USS Enterprise from Star Trek.
PBS, September 13, 2013

NSA disguised itself as Google to spy.
CNET,September 12, 2013

NSA shares raw intelligence, including private information of American citizens with Israel. Secret deal places no limits on how Israel uses this data.
The Guardian, September 11, 2013

Yahoo CEO announces that she would have face prison if she told the truth about her company’s participation in NSA spying.
The Guardian, September 11, 2013

NSA violated laws on phone spying for years and misled the secret court that oversaw its operations.
Bloomberg News, September 11, 2013

NSA violations led judge to consider viability of surveillance program.
The Guardian, September 10, 2013

NSA used its influence to undermine vital web security standards.
Boing Boing, September 8, 2013

NSA can access private data on iPhones, BlackBerry and Android devices.
Washington Post, September 8, 2013

The NSA invested billions of dollars in a program code-named Bullrun to hack the encryption that protects banking data, medical records, etc.
New York Times September 5, 2013

NSA hacks “tens of thousands” of private computers every year.
Wired, September 4, 2013

NSA spyed on private emails of the Presidents of Brazil and Mexico.
NBC News, September 2, 2013

NSA spied on news broadcaster Al Jazeera.
Der Spiegel, August 31, 2013

NSA believes it has the right to turn any private business into mass surveillance operation.
USA Today, August 27, 2013

NSA bugged the United Nations.
The Atlantic, August 25, 2013

NSA employees used surveillance technology to spy on their lovers.
Washington Post, August 24, 2103

NSA paid millions to Google, Yahoo, Facebook and other companies to fund their help in surveillance.
The Guardian, August 22, 2013

NSA program traced more than email metadata, but also included online communications—covering 75% of all web traffic.
Wall Street Journal, August 20, 2013

NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year.
Washington Post, August 15, 2013

Members of Congress denied acces to basic information about the NSA.
The Guardian, August 4, 2013

NSA tool collects “nearly everything a user does on the internet”
The Guardian, July 31, 2013

Low-level NSA analysts could access information on private citizens with little or no supervision or court oversight.
ABC News, July 28, 2013

Microsoft gave NSA tools to unlock Outlook encryption even before official launch.
The Guardian, July 12, 2013

NSA head James Clapper lied to Congress under oath.
Washington Post, June 30, 2013

Misleading NSA fact sheet on surveillance program pulled from web after senators’ criticism.
Washington Post, June 25, 2013

Secret court has authorized broad orders allowing NSA to use information "inadvertently" collected from US citizens.
The Guardian, June 20, 2013

NSA swaps data with thousands of firms.
Bloomberg, June 14, 2013

NSA program code-named Boundless Informant gathered 3 billion pieces of intelligence in a single 30-day period.
The Guardian, June 11, 2013

Secret court authorizes 99.9% of surveillance requests from the NSA.
Mother Jones, June 10, 2013

NSA’s new Utah spy center will cover 1.5 million square feet and use enough electricity to power 65,000 homes.
NPR, June 10, 2013

AT&T, Sprint also provide user information to the NSA.
Wall Street Journal, June 7, 2013

NSA Prism program taps into user data of Apple, Google, Facebook and others.
The Guardian June 6, 2013

NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers daily.
The Guardian, June 5, 2013

http://www.tedgioia.com/nsa_facts.html

SPECTRE1 · Dec 9, 2013

http://reformgovernmentsurveillance.com/

SPECTRE1 · Dec 17, 2013

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