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XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'

theguardian.com

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Re: XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'

#221

Post by kudu »

astrodust wrote: post #142
jacquesm wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stallman never was a conspiracy crackpot, he always was a visionary. The only thing that changed is some people's judgment of him.

You can be completely correct and still be a crackpot. What we need is strict limitations on what can and should be collected, and how it's used, plus better methods of securing what's being exchanged. For example, sending email as plain-text, leaving it on the server as plain-text, maybe that's a bad idea. The NSA isn't necessarily the only reason you'd do this. Foreign governments are going to take an interest in t…

I think the free access to the data once it's mined is worse than the collection. Such access should require a warrant, if not a wiretap order, not a justification one-liner.

Re: XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'

#222

Post by skore »

akmiller wrote: post #141

Honest, maybe naive question, but what types of programmers actively help build and maintain systems like this? I turned down a job for a company that is less than a mile from my house because I viewed their business as immoral. Hard for me to fathom anyone taking a job, helping to build systems like this. I get that many of the components of a system like this could be seen as harmless. However, a system of this com…

> How can they feel good about what they are doing?

You'd be amazed.

https://twitter.com/_nothingtohide

Re: XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'

#223

Post by griffordson »

griffordson wrote: post #103
barylen wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was worried the leaks may have peaked a bit early, but this was very well timed.

The House hearing was canceled several days ago to make time for the House Democrats to meet with Obama this morning. As far as I know they have not been rescheduled yet and I will be surprised if they happen before the August recess. Although Glenn Greenwald did say yesterday he hopes they get rescheduled in the next 24 - 48 hours.

Here is the video from the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the subject today though:

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/FISAS

Re: XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'

#224

Post by kudu »

kristofferR wrote: post #124
znowi wrote: post #33

Holy shit... Apparently, the only way to ensure privacy is to go Stallman . Funny how yesterday's "conspiracy crackpot" became today's visionary.

This is by far the best guide I've found to do exactly that: http://crunchbang.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=24722

I haven't read all of it, but I'd recommend using LUKS instead of TrueCrypt.

Re: XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'

#225

Post by swalsh »

The thing that blows my mind, is you hear over and over again about Billions of dollars being spent on large software projects for the government that seem fairly simplistic that ultimately fail.

The NSA is accomplishing some pretty impressive things, what are they doing differently?

Re: XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'

#227

Post by randac »

kyro wrote: post #157

Is this information the NSA could've attained left to their own devices, or is this sort of stuff only accessible with help from service providers, eg Facebook and Google? What I'm trying to ask is: with all the hullabaloo Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft, etc have made about individual, manual reviews of information requests, are we still being lied to? I suspect that we obviously haven't been told the whole story…

What makes you think they're even allowed to tell you the truth?

Re: XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'

#228

Post by northwest »

rdl wrote: post #180

At this point the only thing protecting the US (and the world) from the worst tyranny imaginable is that USG's essentially unlimited power is wielded by individuals (rank and file workers, career bureaucrats, political appointees, and politicians) with a fairly reasonable sense of morality and belief that they are constrained by both the constitution and morality. I'm don't think that is a stable long term system. Ei…

Absolutely.

Now, the thing that prevents that from happening is money.

So much money is concentrated on so few people that it protects itself and the owner becomes invulnerable. Add to that that too much money very often corrupts its owner. The predictable result for society seems pretty obvious.

Re: XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'

#229

Post by northwest »

kintamanimatt wrote: post #199
northwest wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You often hear "What, I should go darknet ? Are you crazy ?!". But that's actually the one thing that makes the most sense now: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darknet_%28file_sharing%29

Yes and no. Remember, it's not a silver bullet or a secret security sauce.

That's true, but I believe, we need all the bullets we can get and use them in parallel. It's never about either-or.

Re: XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'

#230

Post by rtf1 »

And it's not even limited by the internet. NSA collects every piece of information they can get their hands on, whether it's data on the internet or any other network, or spectrum signals, or simple imagery. And they do that by every means possible. James Bamford wrote years ago a number of books on the subject. And even before him, David Kahn painted a pretty clear picture. Why is everybody so excited so suddenly? Is there somebody on this forum who believes for a split second that Mr Obama and/or the US House/Senate are prepared to lay off way over 300,000 intelligence community workers, contractors and what have you??? -RTF
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