Nsa Contractor Identifies Himself As Source

[Scott]

I don't know how relevant this is to Snowden, but it is to NSA. It talks a little about how they track potential terrorists.

http://news.yahoo.com/terrorists-turn-online-chat-rooms-evade-us-191711838.html

[manarak]

I don't know how relevant this is to Snowden, but it is to NSA. It talks a little about how they track potential terrorists.

http://news.yahoo.com/terrorists-turn-online-chat-rooms-evade-us-191711838.html

The article really says that intercepting all emails is totally unnecessary, and that even if intercepted, the messages of serious terrorists are unlikely to be decryptable anyway.

[SinglePot]

Phew. That's a relief. NSA will be even more disinterested in my emails than they were before.

[Scott]

I have a couple of friends who send me emails, and I have never been able to decrypt them.

[SinglePot]

Try Google Translate. Arabic.

[F430murci]

I have to say the more I hear and read about this and the more that is made public makes our guy seem more deceptive and worse than Putin. Is it possible that this stuff is way over reaching and goes way beyond protecting against terrorist acts . . . Looking that way more and more.

[mania]

I have to say the more I hear and read about this and the more that is made public makes our guy seem more deceptive and worse than Putin. Is it possible that this stuff is way over reaching and goes way beyond protecting against terrorist acts . . . Looking that way more and more.

At this point I think it is generous to even call it an over-reach

This was calculated theft for reasons other than the so called war on terror

[Scott]

A post violating Fair Use policy has been deleted.

[Scott]

This thread is now running:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/661227-snowden-says-media-being-misled-to-print-false-claims-about-his-situation/#entry6722811

[Sing_Sling]

Shame the US trampled all over the natives then.

Cherokee chief would probably deal very well with matters of this nature.

NSA and Snowden. What do the Cherokees or any other native americans have to do with them?

Nothing, but it's good for obfuscation

Just pointing out that given people's concern about the US government and the Constitution, alternative methods of elected leadership have worked well in the past.

Sure . . .

[lomatopo]

NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year, audit finds

The National Security Agency has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since Congress granted the agency broad new powers in 2008, according to an internal audit and other top-secret documents.

The documents, provided earlier this summer to The Washington Post by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, include a level of detail and analysis that is not routinely shared with Congress or the special court that oversees surveillance.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-broke-privacy-rules-thousands-of-times-per-year-audit-finds/2013/08/15/3310e554-05ca-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_story.html

[lomatopo]

Court: Ability to police U.S. spying program limited

The leader of the secret court that is supposed to provide critical oversight of the government’s vast spying programs said that its ability do so is limited and that it must trust the government to report when it improperly spies on Americans.

The chief judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court said the court lacks the tools to independently verify how often the government’s surveillance breaks the court’s rules that aim to protect Americans’ privacy. Without taking drastic steps, it also cannot check the veracity of the government’s assertions that the violations its staff members report are unintentional mistakes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/court-ability-to-police-us-spying-program-limited/2013/08/15/4a8c8c44-05cd-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_story.html

[mania]

Court: Ability to police U.S. spying program limited

The leader of the secret court that is supposed to provide critical oversight of the government’s vast spying programs said that its ability do so is limited and that it must trust the government to report when it improperly spies on Americans.

The chief judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court said the court lacks the tools to independently verify how often the government’s surveillance breaks the court’s rules that aim to protect Americans’ privacy. Without taking drastic steps, it also cannot check the veracity of the government’s assertions that the violations its staff members report are unintentional mistakes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/court-ability-to-police-us-spying-program-limited/2013/08/15/4a8c8c44-05cd-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_story.html

It is as one of the comments said

Basically Fascism is now firmly in place

Also this statement by Obama like so many others dealing with this

is another falsehood

“We also have federal judges that we’ve put in place who are not subject to political pressure,” Obama said at a news conference in June. “They’ve got lifetime tenure as federal judges, and they’re empowered to look over our shoulder at the executive branch to make sure that these programs aren’t being abused.”

Edited August 16, 2013 by mania

[lomatopo]

NSA statements to The Post

Aug. 14

In July 2012, Director of National Intelligence [James R.] Clapper declassified certain statements about the government’s implementation of Section 702 in order to inform the public and congressional debate relating to reauthorization of the FISA Amendments Act (FAA). Those statements acknowledged that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) had determined that “some collection carried out pursuant to the Section 702 minimization procedures used by the government was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-statements-to-the-post/2013/08/15/f40dd2c4-05d6-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_story.html

The wheels on the NSA bus appear to be falling off all at the same time.

[manarak]

NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year, audit finds

The National Security Agency has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since Congress granted the agency broad new powers in 2008, according to an internal audit and other top-secret documents.

The documents, provided earlier this summer to The Washington Post by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, include a level of detail and analysis that is not routinely shared with Congress or the special court that oversees surveillance.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-broke-privacy-rules-thousands-of-times-per-year-audit-finds/2013/08/15/3310e554-05ca-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_story.html

in other words: "don't tell us about it, so we can continue to ignore the facts and continue to approve the program"

a classic.

[manarak]

NSA statements to The Post

Aug. 14

In July 2012, Director of National Intelligence [James R.] Clapper declassified certain statements about the government’s implementation of Section 702 in order to inform the public and congressional debate relating to reauthorization of the FISA Amendments Act (FAA). Those statements acknowledged that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) had determined that “some collection carried out pursuant to the Section 702 minimization procedures used by the government was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-statements-to-the-post/2013/08/15/f40dd2c4-05d6-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_story.html

The wheels on the NSA bus appear to be falling off all at the same time.

hilarious!

Court: "Uh-oh, looks like we are breaking the constitution"

Court: "is anybody goind to do something about it?"

...

Court: "OK, up to you, but the court considers its oversight duty fulfilled by issuing that statement to the agencies and not pursuing the matter further".

Case closed, next. ... I got to tee off at 13:52, hurry please.

[lomatopo]

NSA Defends Itself After Privacy Breaches Revealed

The NSA's director of compliance, John DeLong, repeatedly said in a conference call with reporters that the 2,776 violations reflected no willful effort to violate Americans' privacy. "NSA has a zero-tolerance policy for willful misconduct," Mr. DeLong said. "None of the incidents that were in the document released were willful."

Sens. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) and Mark Udall (D., Colo.), who have criticized the NSA's surveillance programs, called the privacy violations "just the tip of a larger iceberg."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323455104579017251271640822.html

Love how these folks parse their answers.

Of course what is unsaid is that "We've successfully buried any willful incidents", hopefully, for now.

Phew, ignorance of the law, or not breaking the law willfully, is now an acceptable excuse.

Edited August 17, 2013 by lomatopo

[lomatopo]

NSA abuses contradict Obama and congressional claims of oversight

Since the public learned in June about sweeping National Security Agency programs, government officials from President Obama on down have insisted the nation's surveillance programs are subject to layers of oversight.

"I am comfortable that the program currently is not being abused," Mr. Obama said in a press conference last week, when he announced new efforts at increasing transparency. "Part of the reason they're not abused is because these checks are in place."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57598928/nsa-abuses-contradict-obama-and-congressional-claims-of-oversight/

[mania]

"I am comfortable that the program currently is not being abused," Mr. Obama said in a press conference last week,

Obama is just another empty suit in a long line of many.

It should long be clear that 3 letter organizations like the CIA,NSA,FBI etc.

Answer to none until caught out & then it is explained away even when it is obviously more lies as

it is obvious now with this whole NSA affair.

At that point who ever might be commander in chief at the time think they have no alternative but to say

"Everything is under control" Otherwise they will of course be seen as incompetent under their watch/term

Of course it would be nice to see at least one of them stand up & say WTH we did not know such things were being done

& we will prosecute those responsible to the full extent of the law.

But, None of these empty suits have the stomach or the power actually for that nor will they bite the hands that probably got them elected.

If nothing else this should give those who consider Snowden a traitor something to chew on

Edited August 17, 2013 by mania

[lomatopo]

N.S.A. Calls Violations of Privacy ‘Minuscule’

The official, John DeLong, the N.S.A. director of compliance, said that the number of mistakes by the agency was extremely low compared with its overall activities. The report showed about 100 errors by analysts in making queries of databases of already-collected communications data; by comparison, he said, the agency performs about 20 million such queries each month.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/17/us/nsa-calls-violations-of-privacy-minuscule.html?_r=0

Twenty-million queries per month. I feel so much better.

[manarak]

If nothing else this should give those who consider Snowden a traitor something to chew on

à propos, where is our ThaiVisa-assigned unofficial NSA spokesman? haven't read anything from him in some days now, seems very unusual.

[simple1]

If nothing else this should give those who consider Snowden a traitor something to chew on

à propos, where is our ThaiVisa-assigned unofficial NSA spokesman? haven't read anything from him in some days now, seems very unusual.

Snowden provided a copy of PRISM to Chinese intelligence, was identified as a spy for exposing Chinese strategic policy in an internet forum, located, then renditioned to Chinese custody

Edited August 17, 2013 by simple1

[manarak]

This thread grew quiet :-)

Apparently the UK newspaper The Guardian was pressured to destroy all their harddisks with Snowden data on them, and the life partner of their lead journalist for the case was held by UK spooks for 9 hours without charge and without suspicion under terrorism charges.

Ah, the UK, little lapdog of the USA, would do everything for their master.

Anyone saying this is not worrying must be blind. A country whose police force considers journalism to be terrorism has serious problems as a democracy.

The US probably figured that since Putin has forbidden Snowden to reveal more stuff while Snowden is under asylum in Russia, that they could try to prevent publication of the remaining data.

Note to journalists: publish everything you got at once, unless you want to be ordered to destroy your evidence.

[Scott]

The discussion to which you refer is in this thread:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/661929-husband-of-nsa-leak-reporter-detained-under-uk-anti-terror-law/page-2#entry6737920

[lomatopo]

Certainly shouldn't come as a surprise...not sure why these folks can't cover 100%, fire 'em?

New Details Show Broader NSA Surveillance Reach

Programs Cover 75% of Nation's Traffic, Can Snare Emails

WASHINGTON—The National Security Agency—which possesses only limited legal authority to spy on U.S. citizens—has built a surveillance network that covers more Americans' Internet communications than officials have publicly disclosed, current and former officials say.

The system has the capacity to reach roughly 75% of all U.S. Internet traffic in the hunt for foreign intelligence, including a wide array of communications by foreigners and Americans. In some cases, it retains the written content of emails sent between citizens within the U.S. and also filters domestic phone calls made with Internet technology, these people say.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324108204579022874091732470.html

Finally, more whistle-blowers/patriots are coming forward, hopefully they are prepared for the "Spanish Inquisition".

Details of these surveillance programs were gathered from interviews with current and former intelligence and government officials and people from companies that help build or operate the systems, or provide data. Most have direct knowledge of the work.

[Publicus]

There are two sides to this Edward Snowden coin. Sorry to be a party pooper, but here's a glance at the other side of the coin.

Edward Snowden is charged by the U.S. Department of Justice in a U.S. District Court of violations of the Espionage Act.

I say, espionage.

The Espionage Act reads, in part, that espionage consists of "obtaining information respecting the national defense with intent or reason to believe that the information to be obtained is to be used to the injury of the United States"

Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at American University in Washington, is an expert on the Espionage Act

“The government doesn’t have to show that someone who violates the Espionage Act meant to harm the United States or meant to help a foreign power or had some kind of bad faith motive,” Vladeck said.

“All the government has to show is that the defendant knew or should have known that the information, if it got out, would harm the United States or would help a foreign power.”

That includes terrorists and terrorist organizations.

Survey says: Snowden hurt national security

A survey conducted by ClearanceJobs.com showed that 75 percent of defense community professionals think Edward Snowden’s disclosures have been harmful to national security, according to FCW

.

Forty percent of the 300 professionals surveyed held a Defense Department secret clearance, and 60 percent identified themselves as senior-level career professionals with over 10 years of experience, FCW reported.

Seventy percent doubted that Snowden’s actions were an act of conscience, with 83 percent saying that they would not grant him asylum if they were in charge of such a decision.

http://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2013/08/12/agg-defense-snowden-survey.aspx

NSA, Snowden leaks could hurt US cybersecurity: Experts

Weeks of revelations about secret United States surveillance programmes could stymie progress on negotiations over new laws and regulations meant to beef up the country’s defences against the growing threat of cyber attacks, cyber security experts say.

Current and former cybersecurity officials say they worry the ongoing disclosures about secret National Security Agency spying programmes by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden could trigger hasty or rash actions by Congress or the private sector, hampering efforts to enact an effective cyber policy.

The Obama administration, lawmakers and the private sector in recent years have been negotiating how the government and industry should partner to protect critical infrastructure like power plants against a growing threat of cyber attacks.

http://www.todayonline.com/world/americas/nsa-snowden-leaks-could-hurt-us-cybersecurity-experts

Officials: How Edward Snowden Could Hurt the U.S.

As the U.S. intelligence community struggles to complete a damage assessment over the secret information allegedly stolen by NSA leaker Edward Snowden, sources told ABC News there is a growing consensus within the top circles of the U.S. government that the 30-year-old contractor could deal a potentially devastating blow to U.S. national security.

...

Before he fled Hawaii for Hong Kong in late May, Snowden allegedly downloaded significant amounts of information about some of the country’s most sensitive secrets — specifically how the U.S. government does surveillance abroad. One source told ABC NEWS that as an information specialist with security clearance “he understood the framework of how the whole U.S. surveillance network works.”

...

Beyond technical systems, U.S. officials are deeply concerned that Snowden used his sensitive position to read about U.S. human assets, for example spies and informants overseas as well as safe houses and key spying centers.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3035148/posts

[philw]

We owe Snowden, pure and simple, and we should thank ( should support ) him for disclosing the extent of the governments illegal surveillance of us.

What he has done is public service and should be commended.

[Publicus]

We owe Snowden, pure and simple, and we should thank ( should support ) him for disclosing the extent of the governments illegal surveillance of us.

What he has done is public service and should be commended.

There are two issues here.

One is that Snowden revealed a lot of domestic surveillance by national security services that are focused domestically and in a few documented instances abuses of domestic laws and Constitutional rights.

Another issue is that Snowden is charged by the U.S. Department of Justice in a U.S. District Court with violations of the Espionage Act. His providing foreign governments which are not friends of the United States and its allies with vital national and global security information and documents is a serious and high crime.

Snowden may deserve some credit for the domestic matter, which is why to some people Snowden is a hero.

Snowden does definitely get the blame for grievous harm to the national and global security of the United States and its allies in his revelations of highly classified national and global security information, processes, techniques, methods. For this Snowden is definitely a traitor.

Given that both instances of the domestic surveillance and the foreign surveillance are against the government of the United States, Snowden appears to be something of a fanatical anarchist. Snowden may be some kind of extreme anarchist, but when it came to his own arse, he certainly started petitioning governments anywhere for asylum. Or maybe it's only the government of the United States that he hates.

[lomatopo]

Secret Court Castigated N.S.A. on Surveillance

By CHARLIE SAVAGE and SCOTT SHANE

Published: August 21, 2013

WASHINGTON — A federal judge sharply rebuked the National Security Agency in 2011 for gathering and storing tens of thousands of Americans’ e-mails each year as it hunted for terrorists and other legitimate foreign targets, according to the top secret court ruling, which was made public on Wednesday.

The 85-page ruling by Judge John D. Bates, then serving on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, involved an N.S.A. program that searches Americans’ international Internet communications for discussion of foreigners under surveillance. Judge Bates found that the agency had violated the Constitution for several years and declared the problems part of a pattern of “misrepresentation” by agency officials in submissions to the secret court.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/22/us/2011-ruling-found-an-nsa-program-unconstitutional.html?_r=0

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/08/22/us/22nsa-opinion-document.html

[lomatopo]

NSA collected thousands of e-mails by Americans

WASHINGTON — The nation's top intelligence official on Wednesday declassified three secret U.S. court opinions and other classified documents that reveal how the National Security Agency intercepted thousands of e-mails from Americans with no connection to terrorism.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper authorized the release and the agency published the documents on a newly created Tumblr page dubbed IC on the Record.

The latest revelations come amid growing criticism from members of Congress and privacy groups about the NSA surveillance programs and charges that the agency has far overstepped its bounds in collecting information on U.S. citizens. There are already bipartisan efforts in Congress to rein in the programs and increase oversight of the intelligence agencies.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/08/21/nsa-collected-thousands-of-us-communications/2681809/