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Greenwald: Low-Level NSA Analysts Have Powerful and Invasive Search Tool [video]

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Re: Greenwald: Low-Level NSA Analysts Have Powerful and Invasive Search Tool [video]

#41

Post by junto »

I'm not sure if anyone else picked up on this, but one of the things Snowden said, now makes perfect sense. He said,

   “Any analyst at any time can target anyone… I, sitting 
   at my desk, had the authority to wiretap anyone, from 
   you or your accountant to a federal judge to even the 
   president if I had a personal email.”
What he meant was you only needed someone's email address (or IP address) as search parameters, to return all the connected data!

Re: Greenwald: Low-Level NSA Analysts Have Powerful and Invasive Search Tool [video]

#42

Post by malandrew »

junto wrote: post #38
malandrew wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a very smart former lawyer, I have no doubt that he's going to ask every question, knowing full well the answer to the question and that those testifying on behalf of the NSA are going to be left with no choice but to lie either directly or through some sort of doublespeak. They should assume that everything he asks or talks about is backed up by evidence. Only one of two things are likely to happen on Wednesday.…

Ok, conspiracy theories gone crazy here but here goes... GreEnwald is exposed down there in Brazil. A petty street robbery gone bad, a car accident, or a simple "sudden" heart attack, could all make this into a nothing event. People in this kind of position have habits of "committing suicide" from the "stress": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kelly_(weapons_expert) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Gareth_Will…

Possibly, however someone in Greenwald's position is almost certain to employ private security and drive in an armored car in Rio de Janeiro. I'm certain he's avoiding situations where scenarios that you listed can play out. It's not hard to do if you have decent money in Brazil. Greenwald is also likely to have friends in Brazil with security resources that could be shared with Greenwald, given that they would be aware of the danger Greenwald has put himself in because of his journalism.

The greatest risk would be bribery of his security personnel to provide a "backdoor" for an assassination. If that were the case, it definitely wouldn't look like one of the scenarios you described. It would be obvious that it is a targeted assassination.

FWIW: I'm Brazilian, have lived in both Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and have had known many people with private security and armored cars there.

Re: Greenwald: Low-Level NSA Analysts Have Powerful and Invasive Search Tool [video]

#43

Post by danenania »

dictum wrote: post #34
lisper wrote: post #32

I wonder if Senator Chambliss realizes that he's being played. "I have been assured ... that there is no capability at NSA for anyone without a court order to listen to any telephone conversation or to monitor any e-mail.” Chambliss said that any monitoring of emails is purely “accidental.” You can't have it both ways. Either there is "no capability", or the monitoring is "accidental." It can't be both.

Every response from the NSA and people speaking on their behalf, both before and after the Snowden leaks, has basically been 1. A denial that they have the "capability" to do [insert method of mass surveilance], leaving open the possibility that "capability" means legal authorization; 2. A quasi admission that maybe the surveillance happens (Clapper: "not wittingly"). In other words, "we're collecting everything, but…

'In other words, "we're collecting everything, but we'll only inspect your data if you're not American, or have a relationship of any kind with someone who has ever contacted a terrorist suspect."'

Or if a random analyst is bored and finds you interesting for some reason.

Re: Greenwald: Low-Level NSA Analysts Have Powerful and Invasive Search Tool [video]

#44

Post by malandrew »

greenyoda wrote: post #37
lisper wrote: post #32

I wonder if Senator Chambliss realizes that he's being played. "I have been assured ... that there is no capability at NSA for anyone without a court order to listen to any telephone conversation or to monitor any e-mail.” Chambliss said that any monitoring of emails is purely “accidental.” You can't have it both ways. Either there is "no capability", or the monitoring is "accidental." It can't be both.

The other possibility is that he's complicit in the NSA's game.

On this note, has anyone done any real social network analysis of all the people our congressmen and women meet regularly with? I know investigative journalists look a lot at campaign contributions, but besides those are there other sources of data from which it possible to draw association between Congressman Chambliss and people of importance in the Surveillance-Industrial complex and/or high ranking NSA officials?

I would imagine that the schedule of who members of congress meet during the course of the day are part of the public record and should be subject to a FOIA request.

Re: Greenwald: Low-Level NSA Analysts Have Powerful and Invasive Search Tool [video]

#45

Post by danenania »

malandrew wrote: post #42
junto wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, conspiracy theories gone crazy here but here goes... GreEnwald is exposed down there in Brazil. A petty street robbery gone bad, a car accident, or a simple "sudden" heart attack, could all make this into a nothing event. People in this kind of position have habits of "committing suicide" from the "stress": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kelly_(weapons_expert) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Gareth_Will…

Possibly, however someone in Greenwald's position is almost certain to employ private security and drive in an armored car in Rio de Janeiro. I'm certain he's avoiding situations where scenarios that you listed can play out. It's not hard to do if you have decent money in Brazil. Greenwald is also likely to have friends in Brazil with security resources that could be shared with Greenwald, given that they would be aw…

Actually I think that something happening to Greenwald would make matters much worse for the NSA. They would immediately be suspected by everyone on the planet whether they were involved or not, Greenwald would become a martyr, the leaks would certainly come out regardless, and any shred of credibility they had left would be gone forever.

Re: Greenwald: Low-Level NSA Analysts Have Powerful and Invasive Search Tool [video]

#46

Post by rhizome »

junto wrote: post #38
malandrew wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a very smart former lawyer, I have no doubt that he's going to ask every question, knowing full well the answer to the question and that those testifying on behalf of the NSA are going to be left with no choice but to lie either directly or through some sort of doublespeak. They should assume that everything he asks or talks about is backed up by evidence. Only one of two things are likely to happen on Wednesday.…

Ok, conspiracy theories gone crazy here but here goes... GreEnwald is exposed down there in Brazil. A petty street robbery gone bad, a car accident, or a simple "sudden" heart attack, could all make this into a nothing event. People in this kind of position have habits of "committing suicide" from the "stress": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kelly_(weapons_expert) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Gareth_Will…

Well if you're going to put all that effort into a conspiracy, why assume he's actually in Brazil?

Re: Greenwald: Low-Level NSA Analysts Have Powerful and Invasive Search Tool [video]

#47

Post by jkestner »

malandrew wrote: post #44
greenyoda wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other possibility is that he's complicit in the NSA's game.

On this note, has anyone done any real social network analysis of all the people our congressmen and women meet regularly with? I know investigative journalists look a lot at campaign contributions, but besides those are there other sources of data from which it possible to draw association between Congressman Chambliss and people of importance in the Surveillance-Industrial complex and/or high ranking NSA officials?…

That would be a great volley back on how revealing metadata is, a la the Paul Revere piece. I know the White House has to keep these records - if congresspeople (AND their staff) don't, there oughta be a law.

Re: Greenwald: Low-Level NSA Analysts Have Powerful and Invasive Search Tool [video]

#49

Post by northwest »

qwerta wrote: post #48
qwerta wrote: post #30

This is huge security issue. Is there a bug report? An estimate when it will be fixed?

Why downvote? When NSA steals my data I want at least secure storage. This way entire NSA database will leak sooner or latter.

Hehe, you sound like Travolta in Hunting Season, I like that :-)

Re: Greenwald: Low-Level NSA Analysts Have Powerful and Invasive Search Tool [video]

#50

Post by junto »

danenania wrote: post #45
malandrew wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Possibly, however someone in Greenwald's position is almost certain to employ private security and drive in an armored car in Rio de Janeiro. I'm certain he's avoiding situations where scenarios that you listed can play out. It's not hard to do if you have decent money in Brazil. Greenwald is also likely to have friends in Brazil with security resources that could be shared with Greenwald, given that they would be aw…

Actually I think that something happening to Greenwald would make matters much worse for the NSA. They would immediately be suspected by everyone on the planet whether they were involved or not, Greenwald would become a martyr, the leaks would certainly come out regardless, and any shred of credibility they had left would be gone forever.

Martyrs are only possible if the populous see them as such.

In today's world you need the media to treat him as a martyr to make him one in the general public's eyes. There is currently a smear campaign against him stating things like, "he is no longer just a journalist, but actively aiding and abetting the enemy", "aiding a fugitive", "helping to commit treason", gay with a green-card-denied-gay-lover, etc

The knives are out. He would be a martyr to a few that cared. The ambivalence in the masses to this subject is truly scary.

Greenwood is being treated like Applebaum and the other Wikileaks personnel surrounding Assange. They are viable targets as they are aiding dissenters that are determined, effective and dangerous to the status quo.

I don't actually believe that the US is going to try and remove Greenwald from the picture now, but not for the reasons you state.

The dam is breached so he is no longer a real threat. The usual process now is to control the response, public opinion and any senators that might raise any opposition.

They are very very good at it; well practiced and effective. You don't go up against the combined resources of the United States government and expect to win. This is like a gnat attacking an elephant.

If Greenwald strikes any more than a flesh wound on the US government then I'd be surprised. They are already back to business as usual and now with the added cart blanche, which is the knowledge that the public know they are being spied on, but the NSA now know that most of them don't give a shit, as long as they can still read status updates on Facebook.

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