Mainstream News

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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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

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

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

ACLU: Secret program blacklists immigrants who are ‘perceived to be Muslim’

"The previously unknown programme, which began in 2008 under George W Bush to identify those with links to terrorism, has continued under President Obama to blacklist law-abiding applicants and profile Muslims as 'national security concerns'. Migrants who have travelled through or lived in areas of known terrorist activity, wired money back to their families, attended a mosque of interest to the FBI or even given a voluntary interview to the agency, can be labelled 'national security concerns', the report, published on Wednesday, says. The report suggests the FBI has used the Carrp rules to pressurise immigrants into becoming informants." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingACLU: Secret program blacklists immigrants who are ‘perceived to be Muslim’

NSA spied on Americans until a judge ruled it illegal in 2011

"The National Security Agency spied on electronic communications between Americans in a program that was later scrapped after a judge ruled it illegal in 2011, US officials said Wednesday. The court’s opinions are usually top secret but the move to release the documents came amid a firestorm over revelations of sweeping surveillance operations, following bombshell disclosures from a former US intelligence contractor, Edward Snowden. Officials said the court rulings had been declassified to better inform the public about how the eavesdropping programs are carried out, and that a mistake had occurred due to a technical problem." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA spied on Americans until a judge ruled it illegal in 2011

Your identity will become “property of the U.S. government” under new rules

"Requirements in Senate Bill 744 for mandatory worker IDs and electronic verification remove the right of citizens to take employment and 'give' it back as a privilege only when proper proof is presented and the government agrees. Any citizen wanting to take a job would face the regulation that his or her digitized high-resolution passport or driver's license photo be collected and stored centrally in a Homeland Security database. The pictures in the national database would then need to be matched against the job applicant's government-issued 'enhanced' ID card, using a Homeland Security-mandated facial-recognition 'photo tool.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYour identity will become “property of the U.S. government” under new rules

Gun Owners Promote Open Carry With Demonstration In Fort Smith

"Gun advocates, who want to roll back certain restrictions on firearms, plan on holding a demonstration in Fort Smith on Saturday. Arkansas Carry is a nonprofit organization that supports gun owners, promotes the Second Amendment, and backs efforts to remove bans on the open carry of handguns in the state. Steve Jones is the chairman of the group. He says Act 746, which was passed by the legislature this year and went into effect last Friday, allows owners to openly carry guns in the state." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGun Owners Promote Open Carry With Demonstration In Fort Smith