Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

reuters.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 360 posts

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

#191

Post by sahil-kang »

aje403 wrote: post #145
anoncoward778 wrote: post #17

Automatically collecting everyone's cell phone data, has software automatically installed in Smart TV's everywhere, monitors your online footprint (emails, social media[of course]). All those warning from Snowden all those secret software reveals from wikileaks an untold amount of funding from congress with virtually no oversight. And yet tons of bad things keep happening to regular citizens in the US. What exactly d…

Thankfully, I’m not sure if this remains the case, I’ve read NSA salaries cap out around $150k for devs, so they might not have anybody competent enough to do anything with the data. I consider this a valid hypothesis

I don’t know if that salary cap is true, but these agencies have the option of hiring well-paid contractors from private firms.

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

#192

Post by jMyles »

contourtrails wrote: post #186
jMyles wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Come on now. What are you even talking about? > People should not break them if they don't want to be jailed. I'm white. That means I can smoke as much herb as I want and not even dream of entering the criminal justice system unless I'm extraordinarily unlucky. Moreover, I don't give a flying fuck what some politician in Washington has to say about my diet. I don't base what I put into my body on bad laws. But if you…

I'm with you, prohibition of weed is very backwards. But that's hardly slavery.

Drug prohibition is indeed slavery - in the case of the text of the 13th amendment, literally so.

Moving the bar from "you're enslaved based on your color" to, "you're enslaved based on your diet" is not much of a move.

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

#193

Post by jMyles »

contourtrails wrote: post #179
kurczynski wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is the most niave understanding of government and racism.

How so? Economic circumstances negatively impact certain people more than others in the world but how are modern western governments perpetuating racism?

Come on man, your best advice to imprisoned black people is, "well, you shouldn't have chosen what to put in your own body" and you can't see your mistake?

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

#194

Post by stale2002 »

wybiral wrote: post #123
jlgaddis wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

If your grandmother worked somewhere with access to critical infrastructure or had access to IP that would be in our best interest to protect and she was for some reason in contact with terrorists or suspected foreign agents then it's useful information. Keep in mind that they need court ordered approval to access the data so without that existing context it's off limits. You should be more concerned with what your s…

OK then. And you believe that there are literally 500 million phones going to suspected terrorists in the US?

Also, I'd like to point out that the fisa courts do not limit anything. They are a rubber stamp, that never rejects anything.

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

#195

Post by moat »

anoncoward778 wrote: post #17

Automatically collecting everyone's cell phone data, has software automatically installed in Smart TV's everywhere, monitors your online footprint (emails, social media[of course]). All those warning from Snowden all those secret software reveals from wikileaks an untold amount of funding from congress with virtually no oversight. And yet tons of bad things keep happening to regular citizens in the US. What exactly d…

I don’t like the data collection either, but it’s impossible to know the untold disasters that it may or may not have prevented.

“Assume that a legislator with courage, influence, intellect, vision, and perseverance manages to enact a law that goes into universal effect and employment on September 10, 2001; it imposes the continuously locked bulletproof doors in every cockpit (at high costs to the struggling airlines)-just in case terrorists decide to use planes to attack the World Trade Center in New York City. I know this is lunacy, but it is just a thought experiment... The legislation is not a popular measure among the airline personnel, as it complicates their lives. But it would certainly have prevented 9/11.

The person who imposed locks on cockpit doors gets no statues in public squares, not so much as a quick mention of his contribution in his obituary. "Joe Smith, who helped avoid the disaster of 9/11, died of complications of liver disease." Seeing how superfluous his measure was, and how it squandered resources, the public, with great help from airline pilots, might well boot him out of office.”

-Quote from Taleb

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

#196

Post by BookmarkSaver »

jMyles wrote: post #117
BookmarkSaver wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 sys…

>they are also engaged primarily in self-serving funny business

Such as?

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

#197

Post by joering2 »

moat wrote: post #195
anoncoward778 wrote: post #17

Automatically collecting everyone's cell phone data, has software automatically installed in Smart TV's everywhere, monitors your online footprint (emails, social media[of course]). All those warning from Snowden all those secret software reveals from wikileaks an untold amount of funding from congress with virtually no oversight. And yet tons of bad things keep happening to regular citizens in the US. What exactly d…

I don’t like the data collection either, but it’s impossible to know the untold disasters that it may or may not have prevented. “Assume that a legislator with courage, influence, intellect, vision, and perseverance manages to enact a law that goes into universal effect and employment on September 10, 2001; it imposes the continuously locked bulletproof doors in every cockpit (at high costs to the struggling airlines…

> I don’t like the data collection either, but it’s impossible to know the untold disasters that it may or may not have prevented.

This is probably the most irresponsible and reckless statement a citizen of free of oppresion country can say.

Follow me here; taking your reasoning further here is my honest statement: i can bet my chopped off head that if we would have installed cameras and microphones in every single room in every single american househould, we would have avoid “intold disasters” that i can guarantee you, including but not limited to: burglaries, kidnappings, abductions, ilegal arms/drugs dealings, prostitutions, child trafficking and domestic abuse. At least! I really guarantee you that! Push the switch and count saved lives in tens of thausands!

I would rather live without my head than in such military orwellian state! Those who want temporary safety by giving away freedom.. so did one smart man said.

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

#198

Post by joering2 »

jMyles wrote: post #137
plouc wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn't seem to be true at all: Wikipedia says there was around 4 million slaves in the 1860 census while the total number of incarcerated Americans in 2010 doesnt reach 2.5 millions.

I didn't say total slaves vs. total prisoners - I said black men. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/12/michelle-alexander... edit: I can't imagine why I'm being downvoted here. My statement was utterly correct, and when challenged I cited a credible source. What'd I do wrong?!

You didnt do nothing wrong. Welcome to 2018 hacker news! It hasnt been like this few years ago, now many times i start reading comments from the grayed out to regulars. And i upvoted all of your comments because they were right on the subject, informative, rich in facts and sources, and i genuinely learnt something new today.

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

#199

Post by cal5k »

One hypocrisy that I always find galling: while Americans (and really any of us living in the Western world) find bulk collection of metadata to be abhorrent, nobody raises an eyebrow at the expanding scope of KYC/AML legislation.

I can't imagine anything more revealing as to the nature of a person than how they spend their money.

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

#200

Post by dizzystar »

jMyles wrote: post #181
contourtrails wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They broke laws and are being punished as criminals. Many people of all races are punished in the same way. I think drug laws in this country are way too harsh, but those are the laws. People should not break them if they don't want to be jailed. Also slavery was a human problem for thousands of years, it took humanity collectively waking up to the evils of slavery to abolish it. Human governments the world over supp…

Come on now. What are you even talking about? > People should not break them if they don't want to be jailed. I'm white. That means I can smoke as much herb as I want and not even dream of entering the criminal justice system unless I'm extraordinarily unlucky. Moreover, I don't give a flying fuck what some politician in Washington has to say about my diet. I don't base what I put into my body on bad laws. But if you…

You're suburban. Growing up poor and in a requisite poor area, plenty of your white friends will end up in prison and jail. A lot of mine did.
Post reply on HN