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NSA collected 500M U.S. call records in 2017, a sharp rise: official report

reuters.com

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Re: NSA collected 500M U.S. call records in 2017, a sharp rise: official report

#111

Post by ModernMech »

joering2 wrote: post #97
ModernMech wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> After 9/11, nobody wanted privacy or to even talk about privacy. Yup! And not only did the NSA turn into a monster, but so did the TSA (or more aptly, that monster was created), the biggest theatre troupe on the planet, because that's all it is. The most eye opening thing happened just recently to cement this in my mind. After the Superbowl parade in Philadelphia this year, I caught a ride from PHL to SFO. Basicall…

I'm surprised it took you all the way till the Superbowl. I recall one of my first times through high security seeing a guy with lunch box getting thru next to metal detector. I quickly called TSA officer and told them there was a man going thru with a box. "Oh that's fine that's one of us". That was the whole reasoning; because some dude you don't even know his last name is "working for the agency" it means he is sa…

> I'm surprised it took you all the way till the Superbowl.

Heh, yeah. I mean, I've been skeptical and critical of the TSA for a long time, but that event just seems like an very blatant admission from the TSA themselves that their entire existence is to act as a stone in water, diverting the flow but ultimately not blocking anything.

Re: NSA collected 500M U.S. call records in 2017, a sharp rise: official report

#114

Post by BookmarkSaver »

jlgaddis wrote: post #94
wybiral wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These people seem to think that the NSA is only collecting data to stop mass shootings and normal crimes. The concept of using this data to stamp out more systematic terrorism, espionage and other nation state attacks doesn't occur to them.

How does keeping tabs on every phone call my ~85-year-old grandmother makes help keep the country secure?

They really aren't. 500 million sounds like a lot, but it is very unlikely any call by anyone in your family is caught in this net. As someone pointed out, with 250 million people owning phones in this country, as well as vast networks of systematic and/or automated calling, the portion of calls actually being tracked here is pretty tiny.

It's also a situation where having useless data costs next to nothing (economically at least, philosophically is a different debate), but missing even a small detail could be critical.

Re: NSA collected 500M U.S. call records in 2017, a sharp rise: official report

#115

Post by jMyles »

mk89 wrote: post #107
jMyles wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Whom are they protecting? Cause it sure is not the average citizen. But was there ever any indication to the contrary? How did we as Americans convert to the myth that our government, let alone our "intelligence" agencies, have any inclination to protect us or advance our interests? That has never been their practice ever. Our government spent the better part of a century not only allowing 3.5 million of us to live…

If your comment is meant to be sarcastic, then I am failing to see it... Could you explain what you mean by enslaving as prisoner? So you would let a rapist free or what?

No no, I'm just pointing out that the 13th amendment to the Constitution didn't outlaw slavery entirely, but instead a clause literally beginning with the word "except" - can you imagine? "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except ..." It's candor and obfuscation at the very same time.

Here's the rest of the text:

"...as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

So now, today, we have more black men under the supervision of the "criminal justice system" (which, like the NSA, is not now and have never been truly tasked with achieving its formal goals) than were enslaved in 1860.

Re: NSA collected 500M U.S. call records in 2017, a sharp rise: official report

#116

Post by taurath »

ModernMech wrote: post #74
ataturk wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not the only one. What hurts the most for me is that I wrote my doctoral thesis on privacy back in 2003 and I touched on a number of these issues. 9/11 ruined my career, though. After 9/11, nobody wanted privacy or to even talk about privacy. I knew all this was going to happen. David Brin knew all this was going to happen, and so did a lot of other writers and pundits. And here we sit now, wondering what to d…

> After 9/11, nobody wanted privacy or to even talk about privacy. Yup! And not only did the NSA turn into a monster, but so did the TSA (or more aptly, that monster was created), the biggest theatre troupe on the planet, because that's all it is. The most eye opening thing happened just recently to cement this in my mind. After the Superbowl parade in Philadelphia this year, I caught a ride from PHL to SFO. Basicall…

People question the TSA all the time. No politician wants to touch it for fear of being “responsible” for an attack.

Re: NSA collected 500M U.S. call records in 2017, a sharp rise: official report

#117

Post by jMyles »

BookmarkSaver wrote: post #84
jMyles wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a reason you're being so intentionally mean throughout this thread? Take a deep breath, maybe a quick walk around the block. Your points are being lost because your vitriol is so overpowering.

It's funny watching what is essentially the equivalent of the Yankees getting criticized for not scoring enough touchdowns this season by people who are dead serious and consider this topic of grave concern. If these people aren't even able to Google the NSA before venturing their opinion on something so complicated, then it seems unlikely just giving them the basic facts is actually going to do something. People sho…

Hmmm. Well, to utilize your metaphor, maybe it's more like people asking the 1919 White Sox aren't scoring enough touchdowns.

On one hand, scoring touchdowns (in this metaphor, preventing domestic crime) isn't their charge.

But on the other, they are also engaged primarily in self-serving funny business instead of hitting home runs (ie, protecting people from foreign aggression and securing the telecommunications systems of the USA).

Re: NSA collected 500M U.S. call records in 2017, a sharp rise: official report

#118

Post by mk89 »

galazzah wrote: post #109
mk89 wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your comment is meant to be sarcastic, then I am failing to see it... Could you explain what you mean by enslaving as prisoner? So you would let a rapist free or what?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Jim_Crow

Oh, a novel. Never read that.

Re: NSA collected 500M U.S. call records in 2017, a sharp rise: official report

#119

Post by orcs »

BookmarkSaver wrote: post #79
rconti wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have not been made (substantially) safer. The trade was not worth it. A town near me recently installed ANPR license plate readers. Their justification was to catch criminals, particularly those engaging in property crimes which were going unsolved. Did ANPR help solve some property crimes? Almost certainly. Were property crimes up significantly prior to the installation of the ANPR readers? No. Are they down sign…

>We have not been made (substantially) safer. How do you know that? >Were property crimes up significantly prior to the installation of the ANPR readers? No. Are they down significantly after? No. I get that this comparison sounds similar, but it really doesn't make any sense. The most powerful nations in the world are constantly trying to gain as much access to our secure systems, communications, and infrastructure.…

Wasn't stuxnet created by the NSA?
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