The House overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill Wednesday to dial back the once-secret National Security Agency program that collects and stores data from nearly every phone call or cellphone call dialed or received in the United States.
The bill passed 338-88, with both Democratic and Republican majorities determined to rein in a domestic intelligence program that sparked sharp concerns in Congress about violations of privacy and civil liberties.
The House bill faces a hurdle in the Senate, however, where GOP leaders are backing a bill to renew the controversial NSA program through 2020 either unchanged or with minor amendments.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, has said he will filibuster if the Senate is asked to renew the bill without changes. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., another staunch opponent of the NSA program, has vowed to filibuster as well.
“The overwhelming vote in the House should send a strong signal to Senate Republican leaders that momentum is on the side of surveillance reform,” Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., who also opposes the current program, said in a statement. (Read more from “House Votes Overwhelmingly to End NSA’s Mass Collection of Phone Records” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-15 01:40:002015-05-15 01:40:00House Votes Overwhelmingly to End NSA’s Mass Collection of Phone Records
Most people realize that emails and other digital communications they once considered private can now become part of their permanent record.
But even as they increasingly use apps that understand what they say, most people don’t realize that the words they speak are not so private anymore, either.
Top-secret documents from the archive of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden show the National Security Agency can now automatically recognize the content within phone calls by creating rough transcripts and phonetic representations that can be easily searched and stored.
The documents show NSA analysts celebrating the development of what they called “Google for Voice” nearly a decade ago.
Though perfect transcription of natural conversation apparently remains the Intelligence Community’s “holy grail,” the Snowden documents describe extensive use of keyword searching as well as computer programs designed to analyze and “extract” the content of voice conversations, and even use sophisticated algorithms to flag conversations of interest. (Read more from “The Computers Are Listening: How the NSA Converts Spoken Words Into Searchable Text” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-05 22:55:112015-05-05 22:55:11The Computers Are Listening: How the NSA Converts Spoken Words Into Searchable Text
The authors of our Bill of Rights included the Fourth Amendment because they knew that one of the best protections against tyranny is to limit the government’s power to search its citizens.
Specifically, the Framers wanted to ensure that the federal government could not issue broad general warrants that would empower the executive branch to indiscriminately rummage through the private lives of American citizens — in other words, to spy on them. Unfortunately, that is exactly what the National Security Agency is doing today.
No, the NSA is not secretly taping every American’s phone calls. But it is collecting the “metadata” — who called whom and when — for every one of those calls. By themselves, each of these data points may look a lot like a harmless business records. That is why in 1979, before technology made it possible to aggregate those data points, the Supreme Court held in Smith v Maryland that the government could collect them without a warrant.
But when those data points are compiled by the thousands on just one person, or by the trillions on Americans as a whole, it becomes a different question entirely. Last year researchers at Stanford University found that metadata like that collected by the NSA under Section 215 of the Patriot Act could be used to uncover a lot of private information about a person, including his politics, what medications he takes, where he goes to church, and more. In short, this metadata can be used to paint a fairly complete picture of the private lives of every person in this country.
In a perfect world we could trust that the federal government would not abuse this power. But we do not live in that world.
In short, this metadata can be used to paint a fairly complete picture of the private lives of every person in this country.
In 2012, the director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, testified under oath before the United States Senate that the NSA was not collecting data on hundreds of millions of Americans. When it was later revealed that the NSA was doing just that, and had been for over a decade, Clapper admitted to the Senate Intelligence Committee that his earlier testimony was “clearly erroneous.”
If the government’s highest officials are willing to testify falsely under oath about domestic surveillance, we simply cannot trust them with the power to construct a massive database of every American’s telephone and e-mail communications.
That is why I am co-sponsoring the USA Freedom Act with Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.) as well as Senators Dean Heller (R., Nevada), Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), Ted Cruz (R., Texas), Al Franken (D., Minn.), Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska), Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.), Steve Daines (R., Mont.), and Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.). House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.), Ranking Member John Conyers (D., Mich.), Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (R., Wisc.), and Representative Jerry Nadler (D., N.Y.) are introducing an identical bill in the House.
Our bill bans the bulk collection of domestic-telephone and e-mail records while still maintaining the government’s ability to collect necessary intelligence in a more targeted and traditional manner. And we need to act fast. (See “It’s Time to End NSA’s Bulk Collection of Americans’ Metadata”, originally posted HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-04 03:55:002015-05-04 03:55:00It’s Time to End NSA’s Bulk Collection of Americans’ Metadata [+video]
By Bruce Schneier. Governments and coporations gather, store, and analyze the tremendous amount of data we chuff out as we move through our digitized lives. Often this is without our knowledge, and typically without our consent. Based on this data, they draw conclusions about us that we might disagree with or object to, and that can impact our lives in profound ways. We may not like to admit it, but we are under mass surveillance.
Much of what we know about the NSA’s surveillance comes from Edward Snowden, although people both before and after him also leaked agency secrets. As an NSA contractor, Snowden collected tens of thousands of documents describing many of the NSA’s surveillance activities. Then in 2013 he fled to Hong Kong and gave them to select reporters.
The first news story to break based on the Snowden documents described how the NSA collects the cell phone call records of every American. One government defense, and a sound bite repeated ever since, is that the data they collected is “only metadata.” The intended point was that the NSA wasn’t collecting the words we said during our phone conversations, only the phone numbers of the two parties, and the date, time, and duration of the call. This seemed to mollify many people, but it shouldn’t have. Collecting metadata on people means putting them under surveillance.
An easy thought experiment demonstrates this. Imagine that you hired a private detective to eavesdrop on someone. The detective would plant bugs in that person’s home, office, and car. He would eavesdrop on that person’s phone and computer. And you would get a report detailing that person’s conversations.
Now imagine that you asked the detective to put that person under surveillance. You would get a different but nevertheless comprehensive report: where he went, what he did, who he spoke to and for how long, who he wrote to, what he read, and what he purchased. That’s metadata. (Read more from “The NSA Doesn’t Need to Spy on Your Calls to Learn Your Secrets” HERE)
Leave Facebook If You Don’t Want to Be Spied on, Warns EU
By Samuel Gibbs. The European Commission has warned EU citizens that they should close their Facebook accounts if they want to keep information private from US security services, finding that current Safe Harbour legislation does not protect citizen’s data.
The comments were made by EC attorney Bernhard Schima in a case brought by privacy campaigner Maximilian Schrems, looking at whether the data of EU citizens should be considered safe if sent to the US in a post-Snowden revelation landscape.
“You might consider closing your Facebook account, if you have one,” Schima told attorney general Yves Bot in a hearing of the case at the European court of justice in Luxembourg.
When asked directly, the commission could not confirm to the court that the Safe Harbour rules provide adequate protection of EU citizens’ data as it currently stands. (Read more from this story HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-03-27 03:38:292015-03-27 03:38:29The NSA Doesn’t Need to Spy on Your Calls to Learn Your Secrets; Facebook in Cahoots with US Surveillance Agencies
China and at least one other country are capable of hacking into critical infrastructure such as the electric power grid or water systems, potentially causing “catastrophic failures” that could kill Americans or damage property, the head of the National Security Agency confirmed publicly for the first time Thursday.
“The cyber challenges we’re talking about are not theoretical. This is something real,” said Adm. Michael Rogers, who also leads U.S. Cyber Command.
He said his agency has detected “nation-states” probing critical infrastructure and industrial control networks, looking for vulnerabilities, and investing in the capability to damage or destroy those systems.
“All of that leads me to believe it is only a matter of the when, not the if, that we are going to see something dramatic,” Rogers said.
Though U.S. officials have long warned of a potential “cyber Pearl Harbor,” this was the first time a senior official has confirmed that hackers working for a foreign government have the capability to pull it off.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2014-11-21 00:21:132014-11-21 00:21:13NSA Chief: China, Other Countries Can Hack Into U.S. Electric Grid
A Utah lawmaker concerned about government spying on its citizens is questioning whether city water service should be cut off to a massive National Security Agency data storage facility outside Salt Lake City.
Republican Rep. Marc Roberts, of Santaquin, said there are serious questions about privacy and surveillance surrounding the center, and several Utah residents who spoke at a legislative committee hearing Wednesday agreed.
During the last legislative session, lawmakers opted to hold off on Roberts’ bill to shut off the facility’s water and decided to study it during the interim.
“This is not a bill just about a data center. This is a bill about civil rights,” web developer Joe Levi said. “This is a bill that needs to be taken up and needs to be taken seriously.”
Pete Ashdown, founder of Salt Lake City-based Internet provider XMission, called the center a stain upon the state and its technology industry. “I do encourage you to stand up and do something about it,” he said.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2014-11-20 00:08:542014-11-20 00:08:54State Legislator Trying to Cut Off Water to NSA's Massive Spy Facility in Utah
Photo Credit: REUTERS / YURI GRIPASA Senate committee and an outspoken U.S. Congressman are seeking further information about a deal under which a top National Security Agency official is being permitted to work part-time for a private company run by the spy agency’s former director.
The Senate Intelligence Committee has requested a copy of an “internal review” which NSA said last week it had opened into an arrangement under which Patrick Dowd, the spy agency’s chief technical officer is being allowed up to 20 hours per week for IronNet Cybersecurity Inc, a congressional official said.
IronNet is a venture created by retired Gen. Keith Alexander, who stepped down as NSA director in March.
Under the arrangement, which Reuters first reported on Friday, IronNet, not NSA, will pay for the time Dowd spent working for the firm. It could not be determined whether Dowd has actually begun working for Alexander.
The National Security Agency is planning to combat cyberattacks from overseas with a sophisticated yet highly risky program code-named ‘MonsterMind,’ warns whistleblower Edward Snowden.
In an interview in the September issue of Wired, Snowden said that MonsterMind software aims to identify the start of foreign attacks and block them from entering the U.S. What makes MonsterMind unique is its ability to “automatically fire back” at these attacks without human involvement, he said.
Snowden described MonsterMind as problematic, noting that cyberattacks are often routed through computers in “innocent” third countries. This raises the possibility of U.S. counter attacks against the wrong targets. “You could have someone sitting in China, for example, making it appear that one of these attacks is originating in Russia,” he said. “And then we end up shooting back at a Russian hospital. What happens next?”
The former NSA contractor also views MonsterMind as a massive threat to privacy, warning that the agency would have to get access to virtually all private communications entering the U.S. from overseas.
“If we’re analyzing all traffic flows, that means we have to be intercepting all traffic flows,” he said. “That means violating the Fourth Amendment, seizing private communications without a warrant, without probable cause or even a suspicion of wrongdoing. For everyone, all the time.”
The NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, has urged lawyers, journalists, doctors, accountants, priests and others with a duty to protect confidentiality to upgrade security in the wake of the spy surveillance revelations.
Snowden said professionals were failing in their obligations to their clients, sources, patients and parishioners in what he described as a new and challenging world.
“What last year’s revelations showed us was irrefutable evidence that unencrypted communications on the internet are no longer safe. Any communications should be encrypted by default,” he said.
The response of professional bodies has so far been patchy.
A minister at the Home Office in London, James Brokenshire, said during a Commons debate about a new surveillance bill on Tuesday that a code of practice to protect legal professional privilege and others requiring professional secrecy was under review.
Photo Credit: Getty ImagesWilliam Binney is one of the highest-level whistleblowers to ever emerge from the NSA. He was a leading code-breaker against the Soviet Union during the Cold War but resigned soon after September 11, disgusted by Washington’s move towards mass surveillance.
On 5 July he spoke at a conference in London organised by the Centre for Investigative Journalism and revealed the extent of the surveillance programs unleashed by the Bush and Obama administrations.
“At least 80% of fibre-optic cables globally go via the US”, Binney said. “This is no accident and allows the US to view all communication coming in. At least 80% of all audio calls, not just metadata, are recorded and stored in the US. The NSA lies about what it stores.”
The NSA will soon be able to collect 966 exabytes a year, the total of internet traffic annually. Former Google head Eric Schmidt once argued that the entire amount of knowledge from the beginning of humankind until 2003 amount to only five exabytes.
Binney, who featured in a 2012 short film by Oscar-nominated US film-maker Laura Poitras, described a future where surveillance is ubiquitous and government intrusion unlimited.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2014-07-13 00:29:552016-04-11 11:07:22The Ultimate Goal of the NSA is Total Population Control
The House overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill Wednesday to dial back the once-secret National Security Agency program that collects and stores data from nearly every phone call or cellphone call dialed or received in the United States.
China and at least one other country are capable of hacking into critical infrastructure such as the electric power grid or water systems, potentially causing “catastrophic failures” that could kill Americans or damage property, the head of the National Security Agency confirmed publicly for the first time Thursday.
