NSA data mining

[EastMed]

Those interests are mediated through the political leadership of NATO states, encouraging trust between heads of government within the NATO alliance that the benefits of the alliance are realised when need arises....with German forces intervening in The Balkans some dozen years alongside other NATO nations imposing peace on a region beset by war....this is why NATO works for the benefit of the common good.

That trust is compromised when one country, in this case the United States, was hacking the personal mobile telephone of Chancellor Merkel....

That's true.
Problems arise when states share some interests but not others.

 

[kallipolis]

That's true.
Problems arise when states share some interests but not others.

That will always remain the case....for the matter is not one of total trust....but trust sufficient to ensure that the relationship works for the mutual benefit....much like human loving relationships lack total trust....but for the most part works amicably....except when one partner is secretly monitoring the other's mobile phone conversations.

 

[palbert]

For reference:

Representative James Sensenbrenner's, author of the Patriot Act, proposed bill to reform the NSA: The USA Freedom Act.

The bill introduced by the Republican author of the Patriot Act aims to end bulk metadata collection, order greater transparency in intelligence gathering and close foreign loopholes

http://www.theguardian.com/world/in...om-act-jim-sensenbrenner-nsa-reform-full-text
(pdf available) (118 pp.)

 

[palbert]

In the latest batch of documents released at IContheRecord.gov we are advised that NSA believes its current authority encompasses location identification.

Latest Declassified NSA Records Show NSA Believes It Can Spy On Everyone's Location Based On Existing Approvals

The memo:

In regards to the mobility testing effort, NSA consulted with DOJ before implementing this testing effort. Based upon our description of the proposed mobility data (cell site location information) testing plans, DOJ advised in February 2010 that obtaining the data for the described testing purposes was permissable based upon the current language of the Court's BR FISA order requiring the production of 'all call detail records.' It is our understanding that DOJ also orally advised the FISC, via its staff, that we had obtained a limited set of test data sampling of cellular mobility data (cell site location information) pursuant to the Court-authorized program and that we were exploring the possibility of acquiring such mobility under the BR FISA program in the near future based upon the authority currently granted by the Court.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20...yones-location-based-existing-approvals.shtml (memo and discussion)

This may seem to impinge on SCOTUS' 2011 decision that warrantless GPS tracking is unconstitutional, United States v. Jones (http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/10-1259.pdf), except that the telephone metadata currently has no expectation of privacy.

Pretty soon we won't even need Life Alert® ("Help! I've fallen and I can't get up.®"). Makes me wonder what authority NCIS and Criminal Minds have.

 

[palbert]

A two page recap of The USA Freedom Act, to be introduced by Representative James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.:

THE USA FREEDOM ACT

Public revelations about classified government surveillance programs have brought renewed
attention to the powerful authorities contained in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
(FISA), and in particular the implications for the privacy rights of law-abiding Americans.

The bipartisan, bicameral USA FREEDOM Act will rein in the dragnet collection of data by the
National Security Agency (NSA), increase the transparency of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Court (FISA Court) decision-making, provide businesses the ability to release information
regarding FISA requests, create an independent advocate to argue cases before the FISA Court,
and impose new and shorter sunsets on controversial surveillance authorities.

(Following specifics omitted)

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/812692-usa-freedom-act-two-pager-final.html (pdf)

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20...eedom-act-aims-to-stop-worst-nsa-abuses.shtml (article)

 

[tigerfan482]

Newspaper personnel are not the persons being dismissed.....sorry, accepting early retirement....cue Keith Alexander.....and others, with the axe being sharpened to decapitate a few more over zealous "snoops.".....the earlier the better before the NATO alliance collapses as a result of NSA eaves dropping on America's allies.

I wouldn't call it early retirement, seeing as how Alexander is currently the longest serving Director of the NSA.

British private citizen arrested for hacking a United States Army data base....Wow! some hypocrisy....

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...ed-with-hacking-us-army-database-8909484.html

This makes sense....why spy on friends?

How is this hypocrisy? A private citizen hacking into anyone's computer is illegal. The law allows for the government to hack into computers. It's like saying the police shooting and killing someone who went on a rampage and killed others is hypocrisy.

 

[tigerfan482]

Hmmmmm. It looks like the Guardian and the other news outlets they share their data with may have misinterpreted what it was they were reading. Either that or they purposely misrepresented it to further drive their agendas.

Source

Alexander said media outlets misinterpreted documents that were leaked. He said the NSA legally collected metadata from some phone calls, and the rest of the metadata came from U.S. allies.

He said European intelligence services collected phone records in war zones and other areas outside their borders and shared them with the NSA.

And we also got to see a little common sense among the mud slinging:

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said that trying to determine the intentions of foreign leaders -- by getting close to them or getting their communications -- is a "fundamental given" among intelligence services, and one of the first things he learned in his 50-year intelligence career.

Asked by Rogers if he believes U.S. allies conducted espionage activities against U.S. leaders, Clapper said, "Absolutely."

Seems to me like these countries are spying on their own (or their neighbor's) people and sharing that information with the NSA. No wonder all of this public "outrage" is resulting in absolutely nothing actually being done. For all we know, Merkel's conversations were accidentally left in a batch of communications the Germans were sharing with the Americans. Living in glass houses must be tough for these countries.

 

[kallipolis]

I wouldn't call it early retirement, seeing as how Alexander is currently the longest serving Director of the NSA.





How is this hypocrisy? A private citizen hacking into anyone's computer is illegal. The law allows for the government to hack into computers. It's like saying the police shooting and killing someone who went on a rampage and killed others is hypocrisy.

Keith Alexander has been forcibly retired....no argument here....for the manner of his "invitation" to retire was a direct order from the White House.

Some hypocrisy for the NSA to hack into Angela Merkel's mobile telephone conversations whilst, having a private citizen arrested for daring to emulate the NSAs "listening" activities on the leaders of allied nations......what is it that you don't want to understand?

There is no UK law that prevents a UK citizen hacking a United States military data base in the United States....

I doubt whether the German, Italian, Spanish, and French governments accept your contention that it is acceptable for an allied nation, in this case the United States to hack their respective government communications networks.....Ah! but when it is the United States Army's computer data bases being hacked by a private citizen of a close friend, and ally then its criminal!!!!!

 

[evanrick]

You really think the NSA and all those other establishment government workers are going anywhere because of a single whiny German chancellor?

True, Bush did take the blank check on Iraq but now we are all paying for it.

I have a problem with the military industrial complex, our allies are having a problem with it too,
maybe its time to end the scam?

 

[kallipolis]

You really think the NSA and all those other establishment government workers are going anywhere because of a single whiny German chancellor?

True, Bush did take the blank check on Iraq but now we are all paying for it.

I have a problem with the military industrial complex, our allies are having a problem with it too,
maybe its time to end the scam?

I rather believe that the governments of France, Spain, Italy, and Germany will not let this matter rest...until the out of control NSA is leashed.

 

[palbert]

The more I hear of Rep. Mike Rogers, R-TX, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, the more disposed I am to believe he is the most dangerous man in America. His protection of his personal fief approaches the hubris displayed by Inman when he ran the NSA and the rabidness of an attack dog.

I easily believe that he - and damn few others - are at the epicenter of "green lighting" much of the now disclosed activities. It is almost certain from yesterday's hearing that he (alone in Congress?) knew of the Merkel spying. For the colloquy:

Mike Rogers Says NSA Told Congress About Spying On Foreign Leaders; Cuts Off Rep. Who Say That's Not True[<Link]

My supposition is buttressed by Feinstein's volte-face prompted by the Merkel issue: she is not one to turn on a dime.

On another front, Rep. Justin Amash, R-__, is calling for an end to the "third-party doctrine," whereby personal information loses privacy protection merely because it legitimately comes into another's possession. This is a Fourth Amendment issue; the doctrine is less anachronism and more dangerous now than in the age of postcards and penned letters.

 

[kallipolis]

On another front, Rep. Justin Amash, R-__, is calling for an end to the "third-party doctrine," whereby personal information loses privacy protection merely because it legitimately comes into another's possession. This is a Fourth Amendment issue; the doctrine is less anachronism and more dangerous now than in the age of postcards and penned letters.

Well noted.

 

[tigerfan482]

Keith Alexander has been forcibly retired....no argument here....for the manner of his "invitation" to retire was a direct order from the White House.

Some hypocrisy for the NSA to hack into Angela Merkel's mobile telephone conversations whilst, having a private citizen arrested for daring to emulate the NSAs "listening" activities on the leaders of allied nations......what is it that you don't want to understand?

There is no UK law that prevents a UK citizen hacking a United States military data base in the United States....

I doubt whether the German, Italian, Spanish, and French governments accept your contention that it is acceptable for an allied nation, in this case the United States to hack their respective government communications networks.....Ah! but when it is the United States Army's computer data bases being hacked by a private citizen of a close friend, and ally then its criminal!!!!!

Care to cite any sources, even "anonymous administration officials", that support your claim Alexander is retiring early? Or is this just another one of your claims that has no basis in anything other than your imagination?

And I'm not sure if you ever research anything before you say it, but it is illegal for citizens in the UK to hack into ANY computer system.

Link for your further information.

And you can argue all day about what Germany, Italy, Spain, and France public whine about, but the fact is they do it to and it doesn't really matter what other countries want when it comes to intelligence. I'm sure Iran, Russia, and China would also express an interest in the US not trying to gain intelligence from them, but that doesn't mean the US shouldn't.

 

[tigerfan482]

The more I hear of Rep. Mike Rogers, R-TX, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, the more disposed I am to believe he is the most dangerous man in America. His protection of his personal fief approaches the hubris displayed by Inman when he ran the NSA and the rabidness of an attack dog.

I easily believe that he - and damn few others - are at the epicenter of "green lighting" much of the now disclosed activities. It is almost certain from yesterday's hearing that he (alone in Congress?) knew of the Merkel spying. For the colloquy:



My supposition is buttressed by Feinstein's volte-face prompted by the Merkel issue: she is not one to turn on a dime.

On another front, Rep. Justin Amash, R-__, is calling for an end to the "third-party doctrine," whereby personal information loses privacy protection merely because it legitimately comes into another's possession. This is a Fourth Amendment issue; the doctrine is less anachronism and more dangerous now than in the age of postcards and penned letters.

Well Amash isn't going to get anywhere with that. These are the privacy nuts' 15 minutes, but they won't end up in anything concrete, as we have witnessed so far in the lack of votes on any of the numerous pieces of legislation introduced since Snowden became a traitor.

As far as the Tech Dirt "news piece" you quoted, what I find more disturbing is this:

Schiff broke in again (with Rogers trying to stop him from talking) to ask if the Committee was directly informed about this or if it was just a giant data dump of information that he would have had to go through carefully to find out who they were spying on.

So are you telling me unless it's 5 bullet points on a single sheet of paper, this guy doesn't read or know what he is looking at or what he is overseeing? It's not the NSA's/Administration's fault if they send all of this information to Congress and they're just too lazy to read through it. One minute they're clamoring for all of the details of every program the goes on at NSA, then the next minute they're admitting to being too busy/lazy to read through it all.

 

[kallipolis]

Care to cite any sources, even "anonymous administration officials", that support your claim Alexander is retiring early? Or is this just another one of your claims that has no basis in anything other than your imagination?

And I'm not sure if you ever research anything before you say it, but it is illegal for citizens in the UK to hack into ANY computer system.

Link for your further information.

And you can argue all day about what Germany, Italy, Spain, and France public whine about, but the fact is they do it to and it doesn't really matter what other countries want when it comes to intelligence. I'm sure Iran, Russia, and China would also express an interest in the US not trying to gain intelligence from them, but that doesn't mean the US shouldn't.

I have no doubt that Keith Alexander was pushed.....along with his deputy....the timing of the announcement reporting their departures was much too convenient to be anything else but an order from The President...while appreciating that the control freak will require definite proof.

I quote:

http://thestateweekly.com/nsa-boss-keith-alexander-to-voluntarily-retire-in-early-2014/

What better time to leave the National Security Agency (NSA), serving as the director, than after a massive information leak regarding your own agency’s spying habits? Now, whether or not the soon-to-be former NSA director Keith Alexander had planned his exit before the infamous Edward Snowden leaks is to be speculated upon, but one thing is clear, and that’s Alexander’s willingness to avoid transparency. Alexander spent eight years at the NSA and led the massive domestic expansion of the government agency.

Clapper: “we have by and large complied with the spirit and intent of the law”

Ha Ha Ha He He He

 

[palbert]

Whether Alexander was pushed or jumped is a very side issue. His brand was so tarnished his effectiveness was approaching a negative value. Clapper, in my view, is staying so that some continuity can be maintained and his dignity not totally be totally tarnished.

 

[palbert]

Even if only half true:

NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide, Snowden documents say [<Link]

The National Security Agency has secretly broken into the main communications links that connect Yahoo and Google data centers around the world, according to documents obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and interviews with knowledgeable officials.

By tapping those links, the agency has positioned itself to collect at will from among hundreds of millions of user accounts, many of them belonging to Americans. The NSA does not keep everything it collects, but it keeps a lot.

According to a top secret accounting dated Jan. 9, 2013, NSA’s acquisitions directorate sends millions of records every day from Yahoo and Google internal networks to data warehouses at the agency’s Fort Meade headquarters. In the preceding 30 days, the report said, field collectors had processed and sent back 181,280,466 new records — ranging from “metadata,” which would indicate who sent or received e-mails and when, to content such as text, audio and video.

Glenn Greenwald leaves the Guardian tomorrow so expect another blockbuster.

 

[Sausy]

It's just the scope of this even though they don't read or keep everything... we allow this and who knows how it gets abused now or in a future scenario. Is all this worth it to take it to the terrorists? Are we letting them win in a way by destroying everything we stand for? It seems the cure is worse than the disease here.

 

[palbert]

^^^ See http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20...es-data-centers-without-their-knowledge.shtml for commentary and exemplary memo/drawing):

There's some evidence that Google figured this out earlier. You may remember that there were reports back in September that Google had been scrambling to encrypt the information flowing between data centers, which is exactly where the NSA hit them. It looks like someone at Google figured out what the NSA was likely doing soon after the original Snowden news broke. Not surprisingly, people at these companies are not happy about this news. When the reporters spoke to "two engineers with close ties to Google," they note that the engineers "exploded in profanity" and urged the reporters to publish that drawing above to expose the NSA.

Note this would include American traffic.

 

[palbert]

... On another front, Rep. Justin Amash, R-__, is calling for an end to the "third-party doctrine," whereby personal information loses privacy protection merely because it legitimately comes into another's possession. This is a Fourth Amendment issue; the doctrine is less anachronism and more dangerous now than in the age of postcards and penned letters.

It's just the scope of this even though they don't read or keep everything... we allow this and who knows how it gets abused now or in a future scenario. Is all this worth it to take it to the terrorists? Are we letting them win in a way by destroying everything we stand for? It seems the cure is worse than the disease here.

If someone other than the NSA did this it would be theft, at least, and a whole bunch of other wrongs. If it is not NSA theft we need to seriously re-examine this "third party doctrine" and carve out some real exceptions. I see free speech issues, search and seizure issues, warrant issues, and self-incrimination issues. I'm sure there are more.

If this data is going to Fort Meade, MD what will happen when Utah comes on line.

Note that "tapping" Google and Yahoo, the ones known for now, is done in real time: they are there right now, not looking/listening to something that took place days ago.