Orwellian

Glenn Greenwald: On whistleblowers and government threats of investigation

"They could easily enrich themselves by selling those documents for huge sums of money to foreign intelligence services. They could seek to harm the US government by acting at the direction of a foreign adversary and covertly pass those secrets to them. They could gratuitously expose the identity of covert agents. None of the whistleblowers persecuted by the Obama administration as part of its unprecedented attack on whistleblowers has done any of that: not one of them. They undertook great personal risk and sacrifice for one overarching reason: to make their fellow citizens aware of what their government is doing in the dark." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: On whistleblowers and government threats of investigation

New leak shows feds can access user accounts for Google, Facebook and more

"Just one day after disclosing the existence of a secret court order between the NSA and Verizon, The Guardian and The Washington Post both published secret presentation slides revealing the existence of a previously undisclosed massive surveillance program called PRISM. The program has the capability to collect data 'directly from the servers' of major American tech companies, including Microsoft, Google, Apple, Facebook and Yahoo. (Dropbox is said to be 'coming soon.') The newspapers describe the system as one giving the National Security Agency and the FBI direct access to a huge number of online commercial services." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew leak shows feds can access user accounts for Google, Facebook and more

What telephone metadata can tell the authorities about you

"The phone number of every caller and recipient; the unique serial number of the phones involved; the time and duration of each phone call; and potentially the location of each of the participants when the call happened. All of this information is being collected on millions of calls every day – every conversation taking place within the US, or between the US and a foreign country. The government has long argued that this information isn’t private or personal. It is, they say, the equivalent of looking at the envelope of a letter. Because it’s not personal information, but rather 'transactional' or 'business' data, there’s no need to show probable cause to collect it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat telephone metadata can tell the authorities about you

NSA is collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers under secret court order

"The U.S. National Security Agency is collecting telephone records of millions of Verizon Communications customers, according to a secret court order obtained and published by the Guardian newspaper’s website. The order marked 'Top Secret' and issued by the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court directs Verizon’s Business Network Services Inc and Verizon Business Services units to hand over electronic data including all calling records on an 'ongoing, daily basis' until the order expires. Signed at the request of the FBI, the order covers each phone number dialed by all customers and location and routing data, along with the duration and frequency of the calls." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA is collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers under secret court order

Iowa City Council Votes To Ban Traffic Cameras And Drones

"Rather than allow residents of Iowa City, Iowa to decide whether to impose a permanent ban on red light cameras, speed cameras and drones, the city council unanimously decided Tuesday to directly adopt the proposed initiative with some modification. This marks the first time that a city council with a strong pro-camera majority has repealed an automated ticketing ordinance in response to a public petition. The ordinance states no drone, red light camera, speed camera or license plate recognition system can be used in the city without a police officer operating the device personally handing the traffic citation to, or arresting, the alleged offender." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIowa City Council Votes To Ban Traffic Cameras And Drones

China trying new form of ‘Internet censorship’ ahead of Tiananmen Square crackdown anniversary

"China is experimenting with more subtle methods to censor Internet search results ahead of the 24th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, according to a group that monitors blocked websites in the country. In the past, a search for keywords in China related to the events of June 4, 1989, came up with an explicit message saying: 'According to relevant laws, regulations and policies, search results for (the blocked keyword) can not be displayed.' But GreatFire.org said in the lead up to the anniversary certain searches, such as 'June 4 incident', had been intermittently returning a series of 'carefully selected results'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina trying new form of ‘Internet censorship’ ahead of Tiananmen Square crackdown anniversary

Google ordered to obey FBI’s warrantless data requests

"A federal judge has rejected Google’s request to not have to comply with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) warrantless requests for users’ data records, the Associated Press reported on Friday. In a May 28 ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston decided that the 'national security letters' issued by the bureau were not unconstitutional, as the tech company had argued, but delayed her ruling pending a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Illston ruled that after receiving sworn statements from two high-ranking FBI officials, she determined that the bureau followed proper procedure in issuing 17 of 19 letters to Google." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGoogle ordered to obey FBI’s warrantless data requests

New Zealand police ordered to return Dotcom material

"A New Zealand judge on Friday ordered police to return any digital material seized in an armed raid on Internet mogul Kim Dotcom’s mansion last year not directly related to the prosecution against him. The decision by High Court chief judge Helen Winkelmann follows a ruling last year that the January 2012 raid on Dotcom’s Auckland mansion was illegal because the search warrants used were too broad to be considered reasonable. Digital material such as computer hard drives were taken in the dawn swoop as part of a US probe into allegations of massive online piracy by Dotcom’s now-defunct Megaupload empire." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew Zealand police ordered to return Dotcom material

On Target Pressure Points: The Electronic Concentration Camp

"In conjunction with the upcoming release of his new book, A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, John W. Whitehead sits down to discuss several 'pressure points' that are threatening the Bill of Rights and undermining our essential freedoms. In part four of this special series, Whitehead examines the collusion between corporations and government officials in erecting a system of mass surveillance aimed at all Americans." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOn Target Pressure Points: The Electronic Concentration Camp