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NSA collects millions of text messages daily in 'untargeted' global sweep

theguardian.com

21–30 of 77 posts

Re: NSA collects millions of text messages daily in 'untargeted' global sweep

#24

By now there's pretty much nothing NSA is not doing to collect information from everyone. Now I wonder if NSA is able to penetrate services like WhatsApp, Snapchat, etc.

Since the NSA taps the backbone, they have protocol analyzers that reverse engineer wire traffic to put it into semistructured form for processing with MapReduce.

Nothing escaped them since the collection and the data deconstruction is separate.

Re: NSA collects millions of text messages daily in 'untargeted' global sweep

#25

From the slide, a subtitle: SMS Text Messages: A Goldmine to Exploit Oy vey--they don't even care anymore, do they? They're not even trying. Fuck it, have a friendly octopus: http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/52a3bb30eab8ea8a2d3...

I looked that logo up thinking it probably came from some sort of 70's science fiction book about a dystopian future.

Nope, National Reconnaissance Office.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NRO_Launches

I mean, at least they're being honest!

Re: NSA collects millions of text messages daily in 'untargeted' global sweep

#26

Great, let's start doing something about it instead of complaining. Here's my cynical take on a back of the napkin recipe for political change: 1. Call, write, tweet, and facebook your representatives, both local and federal, and tell them what you think- be sure to inflate your credentials and threaten to give money/votes/accolades to their political enemies. For bonus points, tell their enemies the same thing. For…

Your right, action is what is needed. We cannot expect most ordinary citizens to use by default the most secure communications or private setup.

Therefore the law needs to fall in favour of privacy for ordinary communications (SMS, calls, email). Our future politicians, representatives and all citizens are far from likely to be users of the most secure communication methods during their lives and the holding of their information is a complete affront to the democratic process.

Re: NSA collects millions of text messages daily in 'untargeted' global sweep

#27

Notice in the Arod scandal that all his text messages have been made public? Was there a warrant for that?

I'd assume that if government investigators got his text messages, they had a warrant. If they didn't, the messages wouldn't be admissible evidence in court. And if the messages were presented in court, they're now a matter of public record.

But what does that have to do with the NSA?

Re: NSA collects millions of text messages daily in 'untargeted' global sweep

#29

Notice in the Arod scandal that all his text messages have been made public? Was there a warrant for that?

The A Rod investigation is being done by private entities. Most of their "evidence" either comes from an individual or was bought. In the end he's taking MLB to Federal court in a civil action. It has nothing up do with the government.

Re: NSA collects millions of text messages daily in 'untargeted' global sweep

#30

Great, let's start doing something about it instead of complaining. Here's my cynical take on a back of the napkin recipe for political change: 1. Call, write, tweet, and facebook your representatives, both local and federal, and tell them what you think- be sure to inflate your credentials and threaten to give money/votes/accolades to their political enemies. For bonus points, tell their enemies the same thing. For…

I don't think your take is particularly cynical. You seem to believe we can still stop this stuff. I think a cynic would have promoting encrypted communication as at least one of their bullet points.
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