Orwellian

Government consumer credit card data-mining program challenged

"Consumer Financial Protection Bureau officials are seeking to monitor four out of every five U.S. consumer credit card transactions this year — up to 42 billion transactions – through a controversial data-mining program, according to documents obtained by the Washington Examiner. In addition, CFPB officials hope to monitor up to 95 percent of all mortgage transactions, according to the planning document. CFPB Director Richard Cordray defended the data-mining practice and said his agency is monitoring credit card usage at 110 banks, including Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Capital One, Discover and American Express." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGovernment consumer credit card data-mining program challenged

Secret terrorism court orders declassification of its own rulings

"Court cases before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court — the court that reviews requests by the NSA to wiretap suspected terrorists’ communications — are generally classified. But Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ordered the government to review the court’s opinions on the meaning, scope, and constitutionality of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which authorizes the government to obtain 'any tangible things' relevant to foreign-intelligence or terrorism investigations. Section 215 is the legal basis the NSA claims legitimizes its mass phone records collection program." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSecret terrorism court orders declassification of its own rulings

Google Glass looks silly now, but we’ll all be wearing mini-computers soon

"Add new sensors, as well as imaginative software, into these mini-computers and the impact could be significant. Non-invasive blood testing will soon be a reality, transformative for diabetics who will no longer have to puncture themselves several times a day, as well as those who have to monitor cholesterol. Health apps will be able to monitor those blood test results, and sync with the restaurant as the wearer walks in, to suggest the most suitable low-GI or low-cholesterol meal. The behavioural implications could be profound, but we need to be interested in understanding and exploring the potential so that we are ready for the debate about who has access to this data." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGoogle Glass looks silly now, but we’ll all be wearing mini-computers soon

Glenn Greenwald: Inside the mind of NSA chief Gen Keith Alexander

"Now, on the website of DBI Architects, Inc. of Washington and Reston, Virginia, there are what purports to be photographs of the actual Star-Trek-like headquarters commissioned by Gen. Alexander that so impressed his Congressional overseers. It's a 10,740 square foot labyrinth in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The brochure touts how 'the prominently positioned chair provides the commanding officer an uninterrupted field of vision to a 22'-0' wide projection screen'. Its "primary function is to enable 24-hour worldwide visualization, planning, and execution of coordinated information operations for the US Army and other federal agencies.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: Inside the mind of NSA chief Gen Keith Alexander

Gov. Standards Agency Suggests Dropping NSA-Influenced Algorithm

"Documents provided by Edward Snowden suggest that the NSA has heavily influenced the standard, which has been used around the world. In its statement Tuesday, NIST acknowledged that the NSA participates in creating cryptography standards 'because of its recognized expertise' and because NIST is required by law to consult with the spy agency. Various versions of Microsoft Windows, including those used in tablets and smartphones, contain implementations of the standard, though the NSA-influenced portion isn’t enabled by default." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGov. Standards Agency Suggests Dropping NSA-Influenced Algorithm

How the NSA Spies on Smartphones Including the BlackBerry

"For an agency like the NSA, the data storage units are a goldmine, combining in a single device almost all the information that would interest an intelligence agency: social contacts, details about the user's behavior and location, interests (through search terms, for example), photos and sometimes credit card numbers and passwords. According to the documents, it set up task forces for the leading smartphone manufacturers and operating systems. Specialized teams began intensively studying Apple's iPhone and its iOS operating system, as well as Google's Android mobile operating system. Another team worked on ways to attack BlackBerry." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow the NSA Spies on Smartphones Including the BlackBerry

Why Do They Need FATCA When They Have SWIFT?

"Given the growing ease with which people conduct transactions that don’t involve physical cash, or even leaving your house, one should wonder just how much financial data Uncle Sam’s spy network has, and why it feels entitled to it. What does this all mean? Hard to say. These days the American government is fairly cagey about its reasons for anything, but on the surface it appears as though the United States government will happily steal whatever information on the finances of ordinary people and financial institutions of other countries that it can’t coerce out of them through extra territorial law making schemes like FATCA. Whatever is going on, it’s not about taxes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhy Do They Need FATCA When They Have SWIFT?

With “Follow The Money”, NSA Knows All About Your Spending Habits

"While collecting credit card data was to be expected, what is even worse is that the NSA has also secretly planted itself in the nexus of the entire global USD-intermediated financial transactions system courtesy of SWIFT. In other words, America's unsupervised uber spies, when not checking in on their former significant others, spend the bulk of their time tracking who is buying what, where, and with whose money. They also know how much anyone in the world has spent on credit card-based purchases, what the source of that money is, and what the purchase was. In other words: absolute monetary and financial surveillance." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWith “Follow The Money”, NSA Knows All About Your Spending Habits

‘Follow the Money’: NSA Spies on International Payments, Banking, Cards

"The National Security Agency (NSA) widely monitors international payments, banking and credit card transactions. The spying is conducted by a branch called 'Follow the Money' (FTM). The collected information then flows into the NSA's own financial databank, called 'Tracfin,' which in 2011 contained 180 million records. Some 84 percent of the data is from credit card transactions. Further NSA documents from 2010 show that the NSA also targets the transactions of customers of large credit card companies like VISA for surveillance. The NSA's Tracfin data bank also contained data from SWIFT, a network used by thousands of banks to send transaction information securely." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Follow the Money’: NSA Spies on International Payments, Banking, Cards

Huge Solar Drone Could Fly, Conduct Surveillance For Five Years

"A solar-powered high-altitude drone made by Titan Aerospace is intended to be able to remain in flight for about five years. When manufactured, it would have 3,000 solar panels producing about 7 kW of electricity and would be above the clouds, so it would be exposed to sunlight constantly during daylight hours. One is scheduled for completion next year. The point of having such a plane would be to keep a payload in flight long-term, presumably in a manner similar to communications satellites. They could be used for surveillance applications such as environmental monitoring, fire monitoring and disaster response, among other things." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHuge Solar Drone Could Fly, Conduct Surveillance For Five Years