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NSA targets the privacy-conscious

daserste.ndr.de

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Re: NSA targets the privacy-conscious

#11

Post by avmich »

mckoss wrote: post #8
afarrell wrote: post #6

When the NSA collects evidence on someone and uses that evidence to prosecute a criminal case, they can and should file a motion to suppress that evidence. The NSA data is collected under search issued by a FISA court. So, during a suppression hearing, defense counsel can challenge the validity of the warrant. If their challenge is denied, they can appeal. If their appeal fails, they can petition the Supreme Court. I…

I believe it has been reported that the FBI lies about the sources used in investigations so that defendants never find out about the true sources that led to their prosecution. Your legal right to challenge sources of evidence is useless in the face of a corrupt government whose primary goal is to hide those sources from the public.

But you can always ask FBI to prove that their sources are legitimate. They say the sources are legitimate, but you say no, and it's their word versus your word, right?

On an unrelated news, http://mayday.us campaign still has two days left.

Re: NSA targets the privacy-conscious

#13

Post by higherpurpose »

caster_cp wrote: post #2

The only way out of this, as I see it, is making privacy the default. But this require some cooperation and motivation from the big guys at silicon valley. Imagine if Chrome, Firefox, Safari, all of them had, just like the incognito mode, the private mode. Of course, as anonymity also depends on the behavior of the user online, other actions are needed to really ensure security and privacy. But making it the default…

Funny enough, Chrome used to say that incognito mode doesn't protect you against spies. It still says it doesn't protect your data from governments.

Re: NSA targets the privacy-conscious

#14

Post by krapp »

terranstyler wrote: post #5

Warning: The first sentence goes "If you read Boing Boing, the NSA considers you a target for deep surveillance". So, if you find this interesting, maybe you shouldn't read it.

You're warning people about the possible consequences of reading BoingBoing on a site called Hacker News, Where actual hackers and technorati hang out and complain about the American government all the time.

Re: NSA targets the privacy-conscious

#15

Post by dang »

Changed the url from http://boingboing.net/2014/07/03/if-you-read-boing-boing-the..., which points to this.

There were two versions of this story on the front page. This thread has the fuller discussion, the other the original source. In such cases we usually merge them by reassigning the url and burying the other thread.

Re: NSA targets the privacy-conscious

#16

Post by jobu »

Because anyone trying to keep anything private or secure must be hiding something bad... That's just wonderful.

After 10 years of pervasive surveillance and not being able to catch a single terrorist I can't believe the NSA is trying to rationalize it as being a good thing. It's too bad the bill to defund the NSA didn't pass: http://defundthensa.com/

Re: NSA targets the privacy-conscious

#17

Post by bgentry »

afarrell wrote: post #6

When the NSA collects evidence on someone and uses that evidence to prosecute a criminal case, they can and should file a motion to suppress that evidence. The NSA data is collected under search issued by a FISA court. So, during a suppression hearing, defense counsel can challenge the validity of the warrant. If their challenge is denied, they can appeal. If their appeal fails, they can petition the Supreme Court. I…

And meanwhile, years of your life will be wasted sitting in prison awaiting challenges, all while you're threatened with decades in prison for evidence that the government should never have had access to. Not to mention the legal fees if you can't get pro-bono coverage on your case.

It's no wonder so many plea out to a lesser (but certain) sentence when given the choice.

Re: NSA targets the privacy-conscious

#18

Post by yry4345 »

caster_cp wrote: post #2

The only way out of this, as I see it, is making privacy the default. But this require some cooperation and motivation from the big guys at silicon valley. Imagine if Chrome, Firefox, Safari, all of them had, just like the incognito mode, the private mode. Of course, as anonymity also depends on the behavior of the user online, other actions are needed to really ensure security and privacy. But making it the default…

I think the cooperation necessary would be for the "big guys" to not have a vested interest in selling out privacy, which has been the prevailing business model for a long time. And, since the big guys only listen to their bottom line, that means not using them until they support privacy. It may mean not using the Internet substantially at all. (It's more than a little ironic to be saying this on the preeminent "business hacker" (or "startup") community, which has a visible subset who sympathize with some of the NSA's programs, or at least have been able to rationalize them...)

As you say, the tools have always been there, but no one uses them. That might be because it's a chicken-or-egg problem. At the same time, it might be because the people in the positions to develop and promote the tools, even if only for their own use, are being prevented by a one-track culture that encourages them to sell out their client's privacy in addition to discouraging them from working on projects like Tor. (Again, the HN forum is an example of that conflict - being a largely business-oriented forum; surveillance technology sells... Even DuckDuckGo, a favorite startup in this community, has filters to protect us.) Rather than peer-to-peer solutions like Gnutella, Gnunet, Tor, and even open wireless, people continue to make websites with JavaScript encryption, despite the proven MITM threat.

I don't think JavaScript and CSS will get us out of this, but if this latest revelation doesn't wake people up in the tech community specifically, nothing will, since BoingBoing readership is a large number of them - which to me means that the tech and programmer categories are themselves a primary focus of the surveillance that some highly-respected tech pundits (and HN forum members) have defended and rationalized as only being used for terrorists and perverts. That definition now includes anyone with enough knowledge to build or use strong privacy tools. The definition now includes everyone on this forum.

Re: NSA targets the privacy-conscious

#19

Post by duaneb »

jobu wrote: post #16

Because anyone trying to keep anything private or secure must be hiding something bad... That's just wonderful. After 10 years of pervasive surveillance and not being able to catch a single terrorist I can't believe the NSA is trying to rationalize it as being a good thing. It's too bad the bill to defund the NSA didn't pass: http://defundthensa.com/

> I can't believe the NSA is trying to rationalize it as being a good thing

Is it really a surprise people in power wish to remain in power?

Re: NSA targets the privacy-conscious

#20

Post by pessimizer »

Of course this happens, and it's an obvious technique. I'm sure that not having a facebook account adds to your score, using AdBlock adds to your score, mentioning the NSA online adds to your score, refusing cookies adds to your score, using Linux adds to your score, etc.

That's how a police state works. (XKeyScore += 5)

My mother was involved in civil rights, so she has a file. It's fine that I have a file too. Hopefully I'll be gone before they start going door to door.

edit: http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/nsa-linux-journal-extrem...

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