Bankocracy

Security-Enhanced Android: NSA Edition

"Through its open-source Android project, Google has agreed to incorporate code, first developed by the agency in 2011, into future versions of its mobile operating system, which according to market researcher IDC runs on three-quarters of the smartphones shipped globally in the first quarter. NSA officials say their code, known as Security Enhancements for Android, isolates apps to prevent hackers and marketers from gaining access to personal or corporate data stored on a device. Eventually all new phones, tablets, televisions, cars, and other devices that rely on Android will include NSA code, agency spokeswoman Vanee’ Vines said." Continue reading →

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Memory’s Half-Life: A Social History of Wiretaps

"American attitudes towards wiretapping significantly shifted during the 1940s, as the war and changes in the class distribution of telephones helped shift judicial acceptance of wiretaps. President Roosevelt issued a secret executive order authorizing widespread Justice Department wire-taps of 'subversives' and suspected spies. Hoover used these vague new powers to investigate not just Nazis but anyone he thought subversive. The social history of wiretaps is a history of mission creep, where FBI agents initially hunting for wartime Nazi spies soon monitored progressive activists fighting racial segregation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMemory’s Half-Life: A Social History of Wiretaps

NSA surveillance reach broader than publicly acknowledged

"The National Security Agency's surveillance network has the capacity to spy on 75 percent of all U.S. Internet traffic, The Wall Street Journal reports. The NSA programs described by the Journal differ from the programs described by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden in a series of leaks earlier this summer. Snowden described a program to acquire Americans' phone records, as well as another program, known as PRISM, that made requests from Internet companies for stored data. By contrast, the Internet monitoring systems have the capability to track almost any online activity, so long as it is covered by a broad court order." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA surveillance reach broader than publicly acknowledged

White House Picks Creepy Panel to Review NSA Programs

"A group of veteran security experts and former White House officials has been selected to conduct a full review of U.S. surveillance programs and other secret government efforts disclosed over recent months, ABC News has learned. The recent acting head of the CIA, Michael Morell, will be among what President Obama called a 'high-level group of outside experts' scrutinizing the controversial programs. Joining Morell on the panel will be former White House officials Richard Clarke, Cass Sunstein and Peter Swire. An announcement is expected Thursday, a source with knowledge of the matter told ABC News’ Jon Karl." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhite House Picks Creepy Panel to Review NSA Programs

Venezuela to install 30,000 surveillance cameras

Venezuela is installing 30,000 surveillance cameras to crack down on rampant crime, officials said Wednesday. Most of the Chinese-made equipment will be put up in the capital Caracas. Some is already in place in a municipality within the Caracas metropolitan area as part of a pilot program. The equipment, manufactured by Chinese company CEIEC, will be delivered to Venezuela under cooperation agreements agreed by Caracas and Beijing. The information picked up by the devices will be made available to police for use in crime probes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVenezuela to install 30,000 surveillance cameras

Michael Hastings’ Dangerous Mind: Journalistic Star Was Loved, Feared and Haunted

"Edward Snowden's revelations about the National Security Agency's massive surveillance program became public. Hastings was convinced he was a target. [..] He came to believe his Mercedes was being tampered with. 'Nothing I could say could console him,' Thigpen says. One night in June, he came to Thigpen's apartment after midnight and urgently asked to borrow her Volvo. He said he was afraid to drive his own car. She declined. [..] 'He was scared, and he wanted to leave town,' she says. The next day, around 11:15 a.m., she got a call from her landlord, who told her Hastings had died early that morning." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMichael Hastings’ Dangerous Mind: Journalistic Star Was Loved, Feared and Haunted

SWAT Cop: American Neighborhoods Are ‘Battlefields’

"This battlefield mindset is the product of a generation of politicians telling police that they're at war with things -- drugs, terrorism, crime, etc. -- and have then equipped them with the uniforms, tactics, weapons, and other accoutrements of war. One essay by Sgt. Glenn French was particularly disturbing. French serves as commander of a SWAT team in Sterling Heights, Michigan. French doesn't criticize me for arguing that too many police officers have adopted this battlefield mindset. Rather, he embraces the combat mentality, and encourages other cops to do the same." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSWAT Cop: American Neighborhoods Are ‘Battlefields’

Facial Scanning Is Making Gains in Surveillance

"The federal government is making progress on developing a surveillance system that would pair computers with video cameras to scan crowds and automatically identify people by their faces, according to newly disclosed documents and interviews with researchers working on the project. The Department of Homeland Security tested a crowd-scanning project called the Biometric Optical Surveillance System — or BOSS — last fall after two years of government-financed development. Although the system is not ready for use, researchers say they are making significant advances." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFacial Scanning Is Making Gains in Surveillance

Canada plans to use hexacopter drones in war against geese

"Canada’s capital has ordered drone strikes to rid a popular Ottawa beach of pesky geese that dirty the waters with fecal matter, demonstrating on Wednesday how it works. The hexacopter — a 26-inch-wide remote-controlled hobby aircraft that was adapted by its owner for pest control — takes off every morning at dawn and chases away the waterfowl sullying the Ottawa River near Petrie Island park on the city’s east side. 'It’s been really effective,' city councillor Bob Monette told AFP. The city even obtained a special 'scare permit' from wildlife authorities to bother the protected birds. The $30,000-a-year program is to continue through to the end of October." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCanada plans to use hexacopter drones in war against geese

California school district preps for lockdowns with 1,800 plastic classroom toilets

"A California school district said this week that they had so many lockdowns last year that it seemed like the perfect time to spend $36,000 on portable plastic toilets for the classrooms. The so-called lockdown kits sold by SOS Survival Products include a 5-gallon bucket with a toilet seat lid, toilet paper, wet wipes, waste bags, duct tape, latex gloves, a tarp and a bag of kitty litter. 'This year, as a district, we bought it district wide in order to get the most cost-effective rate on our cost,' Teves explained. 'We were able to buy these for about $20 each. We bought a total of 1,800, so it was a cost of about $36,000.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCalifornia school district preps for lockdowns with 1,800 plastic classroom toilets