Sounds like some one (or many) are blowing whistles. A lot of documents leaking.
The end is near.
US intelligence mining data from 9 US Internet companies in broad secret program
141–150 of 420 posts
Re: US intelligence mining data from 9 US Internet companies in broad secret program
#142Sounds like some one (or many) are blowing whistles. A lot of documents leaking.
Some people are going to prison for a long time.
Fortunately, the government that would put them into prison is our government. If we don't want them to go to jail, it's up to us to ensure that their rights are upheld.
Re: US intelligence mining data from 9 US Internet companies in broad secret program
#143I've lived under surveillance before, so I feel my perspective might be somewhat appropriate. I won't comment on the specifics (uninteresting and irrelevant, had to do with where I was living). I won't even make a statement about whether it's justified in my case or in general. I'd just ask everyone here to do one thing:
Watch this, then ask yourself how you feel (if it doesn't go directly to 6:40, fastforward to it, then watch for 30 seconds):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwiUVUJmGjs&feature=yout...
I understand about various interpretations of "collect", "intercept", "analyze", etc. Just watch the video, and ask yourself how you feel. Please know that I'm not telling you how to feel, just providing a small snippet of a conversation. Why do you feel that way, and what does that feeling say about you, or your society?
Originally found in a comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5835025
Re: US intelligence mining data from 9 US Internet companies in broad secret program
#144I think it's interesting to ask why these programs are so widely hated. These are national security assets: evidence gathered here will never be used in a drug case, or a tax evasion case. Why not? These tools exist for the bigger fish: the dozens of Soviet-era nuclear weapons believed to be missing, or the small amounts of dangerous pathogens that periodically vanish from research labs. These are what the government…
How is a democracy functional when a secret and parallel government has access to undisclosed powers which override those of the existing democracy? This isn't just an issue of separation of power between branches of government -- citizens are forced through law to hide the existence of this para-judicial system, as if it is a phantom of our minds.
Re: US intelligence mining data from 9 US Internet companies in broad secret program
#145I think it's interesting to ask why these programs are so widely hated. These are national security assets: evidence gathered here will never be used in a drug case, or a tax evasion case. Why not? These tools exist for the bigger fish: the dozens of Soviet-era nuclear weapons believed to be missing, or the small amounts of dangerous pathogens that periodically vanish from research labs. These are what the government…
The loss of privacy is massive in comparison to the lives lost to terrorism. More people die each year due to car accidents than have lost their lives to all terrorist attacks on US Soil. If the information that is being gathered is about safety, then why isn't the government isn't creating a massive program to strictly monitor highway speeds, traffic roadways, and increase traffic safety then?
Answer: The information gathering has nothing to do with safety. It has everything to do with power.
Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.
Re: US intelligence mining data from 9 US Internet companies in broad secret program
#146I think it's interesting to ask why these programs are so widely hated. These are national security assets: evidence gathered here will never be used in a drug case, or a tax evasion case. Why not? These tools exist for the bigger fish: the dozens of Soviet-era nuclear weapons believed to be missing, or the small amounts of dangerous pathogens that periodically vanish from research labs. These are what the government…
Ah yes, because data gathered by intelligence agencies have never been used for political and personal gain. And everything that goes on in politics is transparent, above board and immaculately honest through and through. Nepotism, cronyism, corruption, and the like only exists in hollywood movies.
And they never get the wrong guy. They always get the right guy.
As long as nobody is inconvenienced it can't possibly be bad. Right?
Re: US intelligence mining data from 9 US Internet companies in broad secret program
#147I think it's interesting to ask why these programs are so widely hated. These are national security assets: evidence gathered here will never be used in a drug case, or a tax evasion case. Why not? These tools exist for the bigger fish: the dozens of Soviet-era nuclear weapons believed to be missing, or the small amounts of dangerous pathogens that periodically vanish from research labs. These are what the government…
These are national security assets: evidence gathered here will never be used in a drug case, or a tax evasion case.
Information from intelligence programs has already been used in non-terrorism cases, like those of Petraeus and Spitzer.
Re: US intelligence mining data from 9 US Internet companies in broad secret program
#148I'm saddened to see Dropbox on the list. Did they choose to participate or is it mandatory? In any case, we've moved several projects to BTSync recently from Dropbox (for no other reason than to free up space on Dropbox for our personal files) and have been enjoying the service. As a p2p encrypted protocol, I imagine it's much more difficult to eavesdrop on your files and would actually require a warrant to obtain. I…
Don't forget https://spideroak.com/ too.
Re: US intelligence mining data from 9 US Internet companies in broad secret program
#149Next obvious step here is precrime or a massive attack on the US (civilians or troops) due to a leak of the data.
Re: US intelligence mining data from 9 US Internet companies in broad secret program
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
How does this stuff work? Would someone at the NSA contact dropbox and ask them to build in a backdoor or are they just able to access whatever the fuck they want and simply do?
From the 2nd page of the article : “Google cares deeply about the security of our users’ data,” a company spokesman said. “We disclose user data to government in accordance with the law, and we review all such requests carefully. From time to time, people allege that we have created a government ‘back door’ into our systems, but Google does not have a ‘back door’ for the government to access private user data.”
They are legally required, personally and individually, to lie about the existence of these programs, or go to prison instantly. These orders are gag-ordered by default.