statism

German spy service to monitor Internet traffic ‘as closely as possible’

"Germany’s foreign intelligence service plans a major expansion of Internet surveillance despite deep unease over revelations of US online spying. The BND planned a 100 million euro ($130 million) programme over the next five years to expand web monitoring with up to 100 new staff members on a 'technical reconnaissance' team. The report came ahead of a state visit to Berlin by Barack Obama during which the German government has pledged to take up the controversy over the US phone and Internet surveillance programmes. The BND currently kept tabs on about five percent of emails, Internet calls and online chats while German law allowed up to 20 percent." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGerman spy service to monitor Internet traffic ‘as closely as possible’

Judge Napolitano: The NSA Scandal Violates the Lessons of Our History and Our Constitution

"After 9/11, Congress enacted the Patriot Act. This permitted federal agents to write their own search warrants, as if to mimic the British soldiers in the 1760s. It was amended to permit the feds to go to the FISA court and get a search warrant for the electronic records of any American who might communicate with a foreign person. In 30 years, from 1979 to 2009, the legal standard for searching and seizing private communications was lowered by Congress from probable cause of crime to probable cause of being an agent of a foreign power to probable cause of being a foreign person to probable cause of communicating with a foreign person." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJudge Napolitano: The NSA Scandal Violates the Lessons of Our History and Our Constitution

Connecticut health officials bully barber giving free haircuts to the homeless

"An 82-year-old barber who has been giving free haircuts to the homeless in exchange for hugs for 25 years was granted permission by the mayor Thursday to keep working in a city park, despite orders to leave from police and health officials. Anthony 'Joe the Barber' Cymerys has been a fixture every Wednesday for years at Bushnell Park, where he cuts hair and his friends hand out food to the needy. But shortly after Cymerys set up shop this week, he said, health officials and police confronted him and his friends and told them they had to leave because they didn’t have permits." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingConnecticut health officials bully barber giving free haircuts to the homeless

GCHQ intercepted foreign politicians’ communications at G20 summits

"Foreign politicians and officials who took part in 2009 G20 summit meetings had their computers monitored and their phone calls intercepted on the instructions of their British government hosts. Some delegates were tricked into using internet cafes which had been set up by British intelligence agencies to read their email traffic. The disclosure raises new questions about GCHQ and the National Security Agency, whose access to phone records and internet data has been defended as necessary in the fight against terrorism and serious crime. The G20 spying appears to have been organised for the more mundane purpose of securing an advantage in meetings." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGCHQ intercepted foreign politicians’ communications at G20 summits

Senators skip classified briefing on NSA snooping to catch flights home

"Many senators elected to leave Washington early Thursday afternoon instead of attending a briefing with James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, Keith Alexander, the head of the National Security Agency (NSA), and other officials. Many lawmakers were eager to take advantage of the short day and head back to their home states for Father’s Day weekend. Only 47 of 100 senators attended the 2:30 briefing, leaving dozens of chairs in the secure meeting room empty as Clapper, Alexander and other senior officials told lawmakers about classified programs to monitor millions of telephone calls and broad swaths of Internet activity." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSenators skip classified briefing on NSA snooping to catch flights home

Effort to block NDAA indefinite detention fails in U.S. House

"Indefinite detention remains in effect, but this week an effort was made to fix the problem with the Smith-Gibson amendment to the 2014 NDAA act. This bi-partisan amendment, sponsored by Republican Chris Gibson of New York and Democrat Adam Smith of Washington, would have guaranteed any detainee a trial and prohibited the transfer of anyone arrested in the United States to military custody. As happened with the substantially similar Smith-Amash amendment last year, this effort failed by a close 226 to 200 vote on the floor of the House." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEffort to block NDAA indefinite detention fails in U.S. House

NSA admits listening to U.S. phone calls without warrants

"The National Security Agency has acknowledged in a new classified briefing that it does not need court authorization to listen to domestic phone calls. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, disclosed this week that during a secret briefing to members of Congress, he was told that the contents of a phone call could be accessed 'simply based on an analyst deciding that.' If the NSA wants 'to listen to the phone,' an analyst's decision is sufficient, without any other legal authorization required, Nadler said he learned. The same legal standards that apply to phone calls also apply to e-mail messages, text messages, and instant messages." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA admits listening to U.S. phone calls without warrants

Secret Court Ruling Put Tech Companies in Data Bind

"In a secret court in Washington, Yahoo’s top lawyers made their case. The government had sought help in spying on certain foreign users, without a warrant, and Yahoo had refused, saying the broad requests were unconstitutional. The judges disagreed. That left Yahoo two choices: Hand over the data or break the law. So Yahoo became part of the National Security Agency’s secret Internet surveillance program, Prism, according to leaked N.S.A. documents, as did seven other Internet companies. Like almost all the actions of the secret court, the details of its disagreement with Yahoo were never made public beyond a heavily redacted court order." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSecret Court Ruling Put Tech Companies in Data Bind

Tech Companies Concede to NSA Surveillance Program

"When government officials came to Silicon Valley to demand easier ways for the world’s largest Internet companies to turn over user data as part of a secret surveillance program, the companies bristled. In the end, though, many cooperated at least a bit. The negotiations shed a light on how Internet companies, increasingly at the center of people’s personal lives, interact with the spy agencies that look to their vast trove of information — e-mails, videos, online chats, photos and search queries — for intelligence. They illustrate how intricately the government and tech companies work together, and the depth of their behind-the-scenes transactions." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTech Companies Concede to NSA Surveillance Program