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Room 641A

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31–40 of 73 posts

Re: Room 641A

#31
post #8

What kind of data do they have access to, now that most internet traffic is encrypted?

Also I'd be suprise if they don't have a copy or at least acess to all of the maj root certs and websites. Iean sure maybe Facebook or Apple or AWS takes a stand against the govt. Saying "No you can't have our data" but I doubt Verisign or other root level CAs are so scrupulous.

Re: Room 641A

#32

The thin blue line runs around the world. NSA is party to multinational intelligence sharing agreements. If they don’t delete the data to prevent discovery and disclosure in public trials, they are in violation of the contract. Any legal scholars have a rejoinder to this? How would you have approached this case to prevent outmaneuvering in these legalistic ways? It is a mockery of the rule of law that it is upheld an…

The NSA wasn't the first agency to not follow the laws as written. In America no one acts like they care about the rule of law unless it impacts their personal lives.

Re: Room 641A

#33
That door has no handle, no sign of a swipe card reader. Any ideas how the people who can would get that door open?

My guess...some kind of reader hidden in the door that triggers a mechanical device that lifts the panic bar (another comment's comment) or otherwise disengages some such other locking mechanism.

Re: Room 641A

#34
post #8

What kind of data do they have access to, now that most internet traffic is encrypted?

> now that most internet traffic is encrypted

And the encryption is getting better. For forever DNS queries were plaintexted on the wire, but now with most browsers adding a DoH feature, those days of passively sniffing DNS lookups on the wire are over. You might be shifting your queries to a centralized provider, but it's miles better than letting the NSA lift logs from an ISP.

Re: Room 641A

#35
post #12

(2006) needs to be added to the title, unless there’s substantial new information

Why would a Wikipedia article require a date? Someone else just posted a Wikipedia article about an ancient Aztec city but I think it would be kind of ridiculous for the title to include (1325).

Point of adding the date to the title is to provide context where relevant as it relates to the present. Generally speaking, goal of HN is to cover substantial new information on a topic - not repeatedly rehash topics. As is, this Wikipedia is not a good fit for HN unless their’s specific substantial new information and the source of that information would be the best URL, not the Wikipedia page.

Re: Room 641A

#36

That door has no handle, no sign of a swipe card reader. Any ideas how the people who can would get that door open? My guess...some kind of reader hidden in the door that triggers a mechanical device that lifts the panic bar (another comment's comment) or otherwise disengages some such other locking mechanism.

My guess is that they just use noclip and walk straight though.

Re: Room 641A

#37
post #6
post #3

Similar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF4EUM8CwT4 "The Secret Behind the Huge, Windowless Skyscraper in NYC" by Half as Interesting And: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/33_Thomas_Street ; https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21555954

Is it a known fact that AT&T is in bed with the NSA, or just a coincidence? Titanpointe and Room 641A are currently or formerly owned by AT&T.

> Is it a known fact that AT&T is in bed with the NSA, or just a coincidence

It's complicated.

Telcos that operate in the US are required to follow US laws and court orders and there are laws and orders that require them to submit data to the gov.

But they also don't seem to be trying to fight it: https://www.wired.com/2013/09/telcos-metada-orders/

I'd imagine if they fought it, a new law would magically appear in the books so it's hard to tell if they are being practical by not pursuing legal action that is bound to be overruled or just plain evil (the truth probably lies in the middle)

Re: Room 641A

#38
One day I was getting out of my car to carry groceries into my house. Our nice neighbor was passing on the sidewalk at that moment, saw the EFF hat I was wearing, and asked me about it. "Do you work for the EFF?" "No, but I throw some money at them when I can because I like them." "Oh. I like them, too. They helped me out a lot once." "Oh yeah? For what?" He laughed. "I'm Mark Klein. Go Google me when you're finished with your groceries." I knew his story from following it in the news, but didn't recognize his name. I about spit my teeth out when I found out who I was living next to.

Super nice guy. Has the only two golden retrievers I've ever been frightened of, and if I were him, I'd probably have some assertive watchdogs, too.

Re: Room 641A

#39
I published most of Klein's docs at Wired the morning of a hearing on EFF's case vs. AT&T. The docs were under legal seal at the time but I got them from a source not bound by the seal. Still had a good chance AT&T would sue me (I was a freelancer).

Walking into that courtroom later that day and getting stares from AT&Ts lawyers was, for lack of a better term, special.

Also Mark Klein is an underappreciated American hero.

Re: Room 641A

#40
post #29

I remember an article with a title along the lines of "The Room that Copies the Internet", and I think it was in Rolling Stone. I've tried finding it a few times over the last couple years and have been unsuccessful. Does anybody know of the article to which I'm referring and where to find it?

Don't remember that but there's this:

https://www.wired.com/2007/05/spying-in-the-death-star-the-a...

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