Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations [Archive] - Page 2

Openmindedskeptic

15th August 2013, 20:35

NSA, DEA, IRS Lie About Fact That Americans Are Routinely Spied On By Our Government: Time For A Special Prosecutor

It seems that every day brings a new revelation about the scope of the NSA’s heretofore secret warrantless mass surveillance programs. And as we learn more, the picture becomes increasingly alarming. Last week we discovered that the NSA shares information with a division of the Drug Enforcement Agency called the Special Operations Division (SOD). The DEA uses the information in drug investigations. But it also gives NSA data out to other agencies – in particular, the Internal Revenue Service, which, as you might imagine, is always looking for information on tax cheats.

The Obama Administration repeatedly has assured us that the NSA does not collect the private information of ordinary Americans. Those statements simply are not true. We now know that the agency regularly intercepts and inspects Americans’ phone calls, emails, and other communications, and it shares this information with other federal agencies that use it to investigate drug trafficking and tax evasion. Worse, DEA and IRS agents are told to lie to judges and defense attorneys about their use of NSA data, and about the very existence of the SOD, and to make up stories about how these investigations started so that no one will know information is coming from the NSA’s top secret surveillance programs.

“Now, wait a minute,” you might be saying. “How does a foreign intelligence agency which supposedly is looking for terrorists and only targets non-U.S. persons get ahold of information useful in IRS investigations of American tax cheats?” To answer that question, let’s review this week’s revelations.

Back in 2005, several media outlets reported that NSA has direct access to the stream of communications data, carried over fiber optic cables that connect central telephone switching facilities in the U.S. with one another and with networks in foreign countries. Reports suggested that the NSA had installed equipment referred to as “splitter cabinets” at main phone company offices, where they make a copy of all data traveling on the fiber optic cable and route it into a secret room where computers scan through the information – searching for names and terms that are themselves secret — as it goes by. For years, the federal government refused to comment on these reports. But on August 8, an unnamed senior administration official confirmed this practice to the New York Times.

We also learned that the NSA can grab information off these fiber optic cables in near real time using a tool called XKeyscore (XKS). Searching the firehose of Internet and telephone data as it flows takes an immense amount of computing power. The XKS system dumps a portion of the communications information NSA snatches into a truly immense local storage “cache.” This cache can keep network information for a few days, depending on the amount of traffic. This gives the NSA’s computers time to search through what otherwise would be an unmanageable torrent of emails, phone calls, chats, social network posts, and other communications. And importantly, XKS searches do not involve just communications “metadata”. The XKS system searches the contents of our Internet and telephone communications. Which is directly at odds with repeated Administration statements suggesting that NSA mass surveillance was limited to metadata.

To seize and search through all of this information without a warrant, the agency must comply with just a few legal limitations. Under the FISA Amendments Act, the NSA is not allowed to intentionally collect purely domestic information. That is, the NSA can search communications it believes begin or terminate in another country, either based on the facility where the information is collected (for example, an undersea cable) or other signifier, like an IP address that suggests origination abroad. Of course, these determinations are subject to error, particularly when the surveilled facility is in the U.S. and carries a substantial amount of purely domestic traffic.

To reduce the amount of purely domestic traffic that ends up on the desks of NSA analysts, the agency relies on post-seizure “minimization” procedures. For several reasons, however, these procedures are fundamentally inadequate to protect communications privacy. First, the minimization procedures are themselves secret. Moreover, by law, purely domestic communications that the NSA inadvertently collects need be deleted only if they “could not be” foreign intelligence information – a provision that requires the NSA to delete very little. Some minimization procedures have been leaked to the public, and these show that the government may “retain and make use of “inadvertently acquired” domestic communications if they contain usable intelligence, information on criminal activity, threat of harm to people or property, are encrypted, or are believed to contain any information relevant to cybersecurity.” Even otherwise privileged communications between individuals and their lawyers are not deleted. The agency merely stores those in a separate database so they are not sent to a law enforcement agency for use in a criminal case.

Once the NSA identifies the subset of international or “one-end” foreign communications (i.e., those where a foreigner is either a sender or recipient), analysts are supposed to search only for “foreign intelligence” information. But since “foreign intelligence” includes anything relevant to the conduct of U.S. foreign affairs, this limitation alone imposes no real restraint on NSA’s warrantless spying. Certainly, the NSA isn’t limited to counterterrorism operations.

In undertaking their searches, NSA analysts use either “strong” or “soft” selectors. “Soft” selectors are a broad kind of search that pulls up messages based on content or even the language in which a message is written. When the NSA uses soft selectors, it can search the vast amounts of information it collects to retrieve all Internet users’ discussions of particular topics or in particular languages. The potentially very broad scope of searches using soft selectors is quite frightening, as ordinary Americans’ communications are likely to show up in search results.

“Strong” selectors pull up information associated with a particular known individual. The Obama Administration has repeatedly assured us that these strong selectors may only target non-U.S. persons. But screenshots of the user interface for submitting selector queries tell a different story. Published by the Guardian, they show that NSA analysts are presented with dropdown lists of preapproved factors the NSA accepts as sufficient proof that a person is a foreigner, including being “in direct contact with (a) target overseas” or the use of storage media (like a server located abroad) seized outside the U.S. So any U.S. person who talks to a foreigner that the NSA has identified as a target, or who stores data on a server outside the U.S. (as someone might well do if emailing from a foreign hotel room) may be presumed to be a foreigner. And that’s not even the worst of it. Leaked NSA documents also suggest that the agency will presume that a person is a foreigner whenever there is no information suggesting otherwise. That sort of willful blindness gives the NSA a lot of leeway to target Americans.

Worse, we now know that the NSA’s assertion that it does not “target” U.S. persons is either a lie, or is about to become one. Leaked NSA documents show that in 2011, the NSA changed its “minimization” rules to allow its operatives to search for individual Americans’ communications using their name or other identifying information. Such a change would turn “minimization” into a blanket authority to warrantlessly spy on Americans – in defiance of specific legal restrictions prohibiting this sort of domestic spying. Senator Ron Wyden has said that the law provides the NSA with a loophole potentially allowing “warrantless searches for the phone calls or emails of law-abiding Americans”, and raised the issue when he met with President Obama on August 1. This is the first time we’ve had evidence that the NSA has — or will have — the authority to warrantlessly search its databases with the specific intent of digging up information on specific U.S. individuals.

We can sum up very simply – at this moment, the NSA enjoys virtually unrestricted power to spy on Americans, without a warrant or any particular suspicion that any person spied upon has done anything wrong. Our phone, email and potentially other records are fair game for bulk collection. The contents of our communications with people overseas are also fair game, so long as there is an approved foreign intelligence purpose for the collection. The NSA does not believe that any stored emails are protected by the Fourth Amendment, so it can collect them from providers with little restraint. As far as we know, the only category of information the NSA currently believes is off limits to mass surveillance are the contents of phone calls it knows in advance are solely between Americans.

This is an astonishing development in the U.S., a nation that, until recently, carefully restricted the power of its domestic spying agencies by forcing them to submit narrow requests for spying authority to a court, which would issue a warrant if the government showed probable cause to believe that the surveillance target was engaged in some sort of wrongdoing. At this point, it’s clear those limits are gone. The United States is now a mass surveillance state.

In last week’s press conference, President Obama reassured the nation that “America isn’t interested in spying on ordinary people.” In other words, do not worry, because the information will only be used for narrow counterterrorism or broader foreign intelligence purposes. But the latest revelations show that these assurances too are a lie. Under current U.S. surveillance law, the NSA may share with domestic law enforcement information obtained both through authorized surveillance, and information unlawfully but unintentionally collected, if it contains evidence of a crime. This rule was worrisome when the NSA was only conducting targeted surveillance of foreign powers. It is terrifying now that the NSA scans virtually all American cross-border communications. And this is especially true in light of the recent reports showing that any number of other three-letter agencies are howling for access to NSA data for use in investigations of Americans’ drug use, tax evasion, and even copyright infringement. Usually, these agencies would need at least warrants based on probable cause that an individual was committing a crime before they could obtain the contents of our communications, and would need to certify to a public court that email or phone records are relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation before it could collect such traffic data. But if they get their hands on NSA data, all these bothersome civil liberties protections simply vanish.

Which brings us to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). As we noted previously, the DEA has a secret division called the Special Operations Division or SOD. The SOD receives intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records from its partner agencies, of which the NSA is just one, to distribute to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans. The SOD gets information from the NSA and shares it with, among other agencies, the IRS.

And this is where things get truly ugly. When agents receive SOD information and rely on it to trigger investigations, they are directed to omit the SOD’s involvement from investigative reports, affidavits, discussions with prosecutors and courtroom testimony. Agents are instructed to then use “normal investigative techniques to recreate the information provided by SOD.” IRS agents receiving SOD data, which presumably can include information from the NSA, have been similarly instructed. They are instructed, in other words, to create a fake investigative file, and to lie. To lie, in particular, to defense lawyers and to judges, about the source of the evidence used in criminal prosecutions.

By hiding the fact that information comes from NSA surveillance, the government both masks the extent to which NSA’s domestic spying is used to trigger investigations of Americans, and prevents legal challenges to highly questionable surveillance practices like bulk phone record collection, warrantless access to American communications with friends and family overseas, and retention and use of illegally obtained domestic calls and emails.

This is outrageous conduct. It is the sort of thing you expect from the Chinese government, or one of the now-vanished governments of the Warsaw Pact. And there is no stronger proof of the dangers of the NSA’s domestic spying effort than the fact that the government has consistently lied about it and attempted to cover it up. Think for just a moment about the stories J. Edgar Hoover could have plausibly concocted about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. or any other civil rights activist with this kind of detailed information. The Obama Administration has gone after leakers, and the journalists at outlets like the Associated Press or the New York Times who use them as sources, with unprecedented force. Think about what the current Attorney General, Eric Holder, could do to bring down these reporters who cover – sometimes in ways the Obama Administration doesn’t like — the conduct of American foreign policy. At this point, it’s plain to see that the Obama Administration has no intention of honestly fixing this mess. So it’s time now for Congress to act. A good first step would be to appoint a Special Prosecutor with wide power to subpoena Administration officials, and to bring criminal indictments where appropriate. Congress should then begin the process of reforming surveillance law to make absolutely clear that the NSA has no power to conduct warrantless mass surveillance of Americans.

First they came for the terrorists and the foreigners, and no one did anything. Then they came for the drug dealers. Then the tax cheats. Then the journalists. And that’s just what we know about. How much worse does it have to get before we say enough is enough?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennifergranick/2013/08/14/nsa-dea-irs-lie-about-fact-that-americans-are-routinely-spied-on-by-our-government-time-for-a-special-prosecutor-2/

Cidersomerset

15th August 2013, 21:35

NSA & Obama says we were going to reform anyway ......BS...LOL

After Snowden leaks NSA replaces people with computers

N4VCiqFMXqk

Published on 15 Aug 2013

Late last week, President Obama addressed the NSA's surveillance program leaks
and declared a thorough review of the agency's operations before Edward Snowden
leaked the information to The Guardian, but now the NSA is going to fire 90 percent
of its system administrators to minimize the number of people who have access to
sensitive classified information. RT's Meghan Lopez has more.

===================================================

The Resident: American Revolution 2.0 has begun

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Published on 15 Aug 2013

As more and more Americans get fed up with headlines about their government
over-regulating, spying, or otherwise being invasive, they're starting to take it
upon themselves to opt out of systems where the government has stepped in.
Project Meshnet intends on forming a new internet from scratch, which could
offer an escape from the NSA's prying eyes. Occupy Money Cooperative hopes
to offer another banking system that isn't fueld by Wall St and government
corruption and greed. And there are many other examples. With all of these
movements starting, is it safe to say a new kind of American Revolution has
begun? The Resident (aka Lori Harfenist) discusses.

ThePythonicCow

16th August 2013, 05:56

Cidersomerset

16th August 2013, 11:50

http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.48.3/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png

16 August 2013 Last updated at 03:53

Edward Snowden documents show NSA broke privacy rules

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69312000/jpg/_69312745_69e319bf-b2a7-4667-9825-6852a9efde60.jpg

The National Security Agency headquarters in a file photo The National Security
Agency is based in Fort Meade, Maryland, outside Washington DC Continue reading
the main story

The US National Security Agency (NSA) broke privacy rules and overstepped its
legal authority thousands of times in the past two years, according to documents
leaked by Edward Snowden.The incidents resulted in the unauthorised electronic
surveillance of US citizens, according to documents published by the Washington
Post.Mr Snowden, a former NSA contractor, has leaked top secret documents to the
US and British media.

He has been given asylum in Russia.

On Thursday, the Washington Post posted on its website a selection of documents it
said had been provided by Mr Snowden, who fled the US in June after providing
documents detailing NSA surveillance programmes to the Guardian and Washington
Post newspapers.

'Operator error'

The documents purport to show that the unauthorised interception of telephone
calls and emails of Americans and foreign nationals on US soil resulted from errors
and departures from standard agency processes, including through a data collection
method that a secret US surveillance court later ruled unconstitutional.

The documents offer more detail into the agency practices than is typically shared
with members of Congress, the US justice department, and the Office of the
Director of National Intelligence.

An internal audit dated May 2012 counted 2,776 incidents of unauthorised data
collection over the previous 12 months.

Read More...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23721818

Cidersomerset

16th August 2013, 13:23

After Snowden leaks NSA replaces people with computers

N4VCiqFMXqk

Published on 15 Aug 2013

Late last week, President Obama addressed the NSA's surveillance
program leaks and declared a thorough review of the agency's
operations before Edward Snowden leaked the information to The
Guardian, but now the NSA is going to fire 90 percent of its system
administrators to minimize the number of people who have access
to sensitive classified information. RT's Meghan Lopez has more

Roisin

16th August 2013, 13:47

Openmindedskeptic

16th August 2013, 16:56

More proof that Edward Snowden is a whistleblower and not just a leaker.

NSA Broke Privacy Rules Thousands of Times Per Year, Audit Finds

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

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.

And then there's this incredible line in the article.

James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, has acknowledged that the court found the NSA in breach of the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, but the Obama administration has fought a Freedom of Information lawsuit that seeks the opinion.

This is an outrage! Our founding fathers are probably turning in their graves knowing that our generation lacks the courage to fight for our inalienable right to privacy. It's sad to admit but it appears that liberty died in the US when the Patriot Act was signed.

Agape

16th August 2013, 18:57

Dear NSA,

I’m sending this email to my own email address because I know that you’re already going to read this message anyway wherever I send it -- but about my ranting in an email to my Aunt Wilma last year about how our gov’t knew ahead of time that the twin towers were going to be bombed by terrorists on 9/11, I didn’t mean a word of it and I was only joking, OK?? Honest to G-d, I’m telling you the absolute truth on that and just wanted to let you know.

Sincerely Yours,
Roisin

(note to self: check to see if can purchase lead lined envelopes anywhere)

Dear NSA,

when I tried to respond to my friend who is graphic editor of local mag that allegedly ( I can't trust even my own eyes anymore ) published my data few years ago , I failed on both attempts and was notified that my IP address is on blackmail list on local servers .
Please kindly inform 'local host' who obviously does not like you reading his emails that me and the other person are Friends . F.r.i.e.n.d.s . It's means just that . We 're not spying on each other neither mean to do so .

I hope the issue can be resolved soon, tomorrow will do . Thank you for appreciating my useful comments .

I'm also not in any terrorist group or similar . When i see a terrorist i run.

Sincerely

Agape

:panda:

Cidersomerset

16th August 2013, 20:26

Violation Nation: NSA broke surveillance laws 'thousands of times per year'

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Published on 16 Aug 2013

The NSA has violated the rules on surveillance - and even US court
ulings - thousands of times per year, for several years. It's emerged
from fresh revelations, based on data leaked by Edward Snowden.
Live to Washington and our correspondent Gayane Chichakyan.

Openmindedskeptic

17th August 2013, 13:57

House panel withheld document on NSA surveillance program from members :eek:

A letter drafted by the Obama administration specifically to inform Congress of the government’s mass collection of Americans’ telephone communications data was withheld from lawmakers by leaders of the House Intelligence Committee in the months before a key vote affecting the future of the program.

And then there's this.

A spokeswoman for the House committee, Susan Phalen, declined to say whether the panel had voted to withhold the letter or if the decision was made by Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.).

Here's a link to the entire article which I suggest reading because this may blow up in to something bigger soon.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-panel-withheld-document-on-nsa-surveillance-program-from-members/2013/08/16/944e728e-0672-11e3-9259-e2aafe5a5f84_story.html?wpmk=MK0000203

Cidersomerset

17th August 2013, 15:46

NSA audit confirms abuse despite Obama's claim

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Published on 16 Aug 2013

On Thursday, The Washington Post released a startling report disclosing
rampant abuse within the National Security Agency. According to Edward
Snowden's latest leak, the NSA broke privacy regulations thousands of
times on a yearly basis after Congress granted the agency more power
in 2008. The internal audit of the agency highlighted the practice of
unauthorized surveillance of Americans and directly contradicted
President Obama's claim of compliance. Amie Stepanovich, director
of the Domestic Surveillance Project for EPIC, has more on the latest leaks.

Cidersomerset

17th August 2013, 15:57

Sen. Wyden almost exposed NSA surveillance before Snowden leaks

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Published on 16 Aug 2013

NSA leaker Edward Snowden has brought the issue of secret
surveillance to the forefront, but in a new article published by
Rolling Stone, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) says he was on the
brink of divulging the NSA's surveillance secrets to the
American people. RT's Sam Sacks explains.

Cidersomerset

17th August 2013, 16:03

'Massive NSA surveillance violations cause political embarrassment for Obama'

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Published on 16 Aug 2013

The NSA has violated the rules on surveillance and even US
court rulings thousands of times per year, for several years.
It's emerged from fresh revelations, based on data leaked by
Edward Snowden. Intelligence analyst Glenmore Trenear Harvey
joins RT with his thoughts on all this.

Carmody

18th August 2013, 04:20

So...what's this about Snowden now leaking UFO data? Any place it can be 'officially' found? (credible mainstream release)

Cidersomerset

18th August 2013, 07:18

So...what's this about Snowden now leaking UFO data? Any place it can be 'officially' found? (credible mainstream release)

I have not come across anything........

This is a speculative vid...

Edward Snowden: Aliens Inhabit Earth! 2013 UFO Whistleblower Leak

ufD2OWSowu8

Published on 9 Aug 2013

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked information regarding aliens inhabiting
the earth. UFOs, OVNI and more!

Openmindedskeptic

18th August 2013, 14:13

From The Cobert Report: NSA Press Conference on Domestic Spying (http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/428643/august-15-2013/nsa-press-conference-on-domestic-spying?xrs=synd_twitter_081713_cn_32) ;)

Wind

19th August 2013, 05:20

Al-Qaeda 'targeting European rail network (http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/08/18/al-qaeda-targeting-european-rail-network-report/)

Al-Qaeda is plotting attacks on Europe's high-speed rail network, German mass circulation daily Bild reported on Monday, citing intelligence sources.

The extremist group could plant explosives on trains and tunnels or sabotage tracks and electrical cabling, said Bild, Europe's most widely read daily.

Bild said the information came from the National Security Agency (NSA) in the United States, which had listened in to a conference call involving top Al-Qaeda operatives.

I smell another distraction, folks.

meeradas

19th August 2013, 05:38

... German mass circulation daily Bild...

Note that Bild is the mind control 'newspaper' in DE, Springer-owned.
It consists of dis- and misinfo only, top to bottom, front to back.

You might be right.

Anchor

19th August 2013, 05:54

Partner of journalist who reported Edward Snowden's spying revelations is detained at Heathrow airport under anti-terrorism laws

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2396745/Edward-Snowden-Partner-journalist-reported-spying-revelations-detained-Heathrow-airport-anti-terror-laws.html

The partner of the journalist who broke the story of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was detained today at Heathrow Airport in London under anti-terrorism laws.

David Miranda, who lives with Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald, was stopped by officials as he passed through London on his way home to Rio de Janeiro from Berlin.

Mr Miranda, 28, was held for nine hours in what his partner Mr Greenwald says is 'a message of intimidation'.

meeradas

19th August 2013, 06:16

Partner of journalist who reported Edward Snowden's spying revelations is detained at Heathrow airport under anti-terrorism laws

Here's Glenn Greenwald's response:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/18/david-miranda-detained-uk-nsa

Cidersomerset

19th August 2013, 06:20

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19 August 2013 Last updated at 02:50

Snowden case: Brazil 'concerned' after UK detention

vid on link..http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23750289

Glenn Greenwald (right): "They spent the entire day asking about the reporting I
was doing and other Guardian journalists were doing on the NSA stories"

Brazil says the detention under British terror laws of one of its citizens at London's
Heathrow airport caused "grave concern" and was "unjustified".

David Miranda, the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald who published
documents leaked by Edward Snowden, was held at Heathrow for nine hours on his
way to Rio de Janeiro.

He reportedly had his mobile phone, laptop, DVDs and other items seized.

Mr Miranda was later released by British authorities.

Mr Greenwald called his partner's detention an "intimidation" and a "profound
attack on press freedoms".

Under the Terrorism Act 2000, UK police can hold someone at an airport for up to
nine hours - but the power must be used appropriately and proportionately and is
subject to independent scrutiny.Amnesty International says the incident shows the
law can be abused for what it described as "petty and vindictive reasons".

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69312000/jpg/_69312745_69e319bf-b2a7-4667-9825-6852a9efde60.jpg

'Serious threat'
The National Security Agency headquarters in a file photo The National Security
Agency is based in Fort Meade, Maryland, outside Washington DC
"At 08:05 on Sunday 18 August 2013 a 28-year-old man was detained at Heathrow
Airport under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000. He was not arrested. He was
subsequently released at 17:00," said a statement issued by the Metropolitan Police.

Mr Greenwald said the British authorities' actions in holding Mr Miranda amounted
to "intimidation and bullying".

"They never asked him about a single question at all about terrorism or anything
relating to a terrorist organisation," he told the BBC World Service's Newsday
programme.

"They spent the entire day asking about the reporting I was doing and other
Guardian journalists were doing on the NSA stories.

"The principal point, since they kept him for the full nine hours, is to try and send a
message of intimation and bullying.

"I don't understand why they don't realise that all it's going to accomplish is the
exact opposite effect - I'm going to report more aggressively and with a more
emboldened mind," Mr Greenwald told the BBC.The Brazilian government issued an
official statement soon after the release of Mr Miranda.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69351000/jpg/_69351945_69351944.jpg

Glenn Greenwald, US journalist Glenn Greenwald: UK is trying to send "a message
of intimidation and bullying"
The foreign ministry document says there was no justification for detaining
an "individual against whom there are no charges that can legitimate the use of
that [anti-terror] legislation".

It also says Brazil expects incidents "such as the one that happened to the Brazilian
citizen today" not to be repeated.Mr Miranda was flying back from the German
capital, Berlin, to Rio de Janeiro, where he lives with Mr Greenwald, when he was
detained in transit through Heathrow.In Germany, he had met US film-maker Laura
Poitras, who has also been working on the Snowden files with Mr Greenwald and
The Guardian. according to the newspaper.Following his detention at Heathrow,
Brazilian government officials and Guardian lawyers were called to the airport, The
Guardian says.The NSA has broken privacy rules and overstepped its legal authority
thousands of times in the past two years, according to documents leaked by
Edward Snowden.The incidents resulted in the unauthorised electronic surveillance
of US citizens, it is alleged.Mr Snowden, a former NSA contractor, has leaked top
secret documents to the US and British media.

He has been given asylum in Russia.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23750289

Corncrake

19th August 2013, 08:56

This seems such as ill thought out response but we should not be surprised. Remember what happened to the US investigative journalist Leah McGrath Goodman when she starting researching child abuse in the tax haven and Channel Island of Jersey. She was banned from entering the UK for over a year and only got it revoked after several politicians and petitions got involved.

Anyway, as Glenn Greenwald said:

""I don't understand why they don't realise that all it's going to accomplish is the
exact opposite effect - I'm going to report more aggressively and with a more
emboldened mind," Mr Greenwald told the BBC.

Exactly.

Cidersomerset

19th August 2013, 16:19

'Mafia tactic': UK detains Greenwald's partner under Terrorism Act for 9 hours

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Published on 19 Aug 2013

The partner of journalist Glenn Greenwald was held at Heathrow airport
under the UK Terrorism Act for the maximum time allowed before pressing
charges. Amnesty International dubbed the move an unwarranted revenge
after Greenwald revealed NSA spy programs

Cidersomerset

19th August 2013, 16:36

NSA snooping could cost US tech companies up to $35bn over 3 years

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Published on 18 Aug 2013

The role of America's intelligence boss on the panel reviewing government
surveillance programmes is causing controversy. James Clapper was expected
to lead the inquiry, which was promised to be independent - but now it looks
like he'll only have a limited part to play. And all this scrutiny of spying methods
is costing big tech companies, big money.

Cidersomerset

19th August 2013, 21:01

http://static.guim.co.uk/static/c55907932af8ee96c21b7d89a9ebeedb4602fbbf/common/images/logos/the-guardian/news.gif

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/8/19/1376913450724/05f6c67c-fce6-43f5-94e4-c14ea98fde7c-620x372.jpeg

Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald (right)| with his partner David Miranda. Photograph: AP

Miranda: I was threatened with jail

In his first interview since returning to his home in Rio de Janeiro early on Monday,
David Miranda has accused Britain of a "total abuse of power" for interrogating him
for almost nine hours at Heathrow under the Terrorism Act.You can read a piece
here based on that interview with the Guardian's Jonathan Watts.Miranda said that
British authorities had pandered to the US in trying to intimidate him and force him
to reveal the passwords to his computer and mobile phone.

He said:

They were threatening me all the time and saying I would be put in jail if I didn't co-
operate.They treated me like I was a criminal or someone about to attack the UK …
It was exhausting and frustrating, but I knew I wasn't doing anything wrong.

This is Ben Quinn taking over the live blog at this point.

read more...

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/2013/aug/19/glenn-greenwald-partner-detained-live-reaction

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19 August 2013 Last updated at 20:49

US given 'heads up' on David Miranda detentionDavid Miranda:

Vid on link...http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23761918

"I was kept in a room with six agents... asking me about everything. My whole life"

The US government has said British officials gave it a "heads up" about the
detention of the partner of a journalist who published information from US
whistleblower Edward Snowden.

But it insisted it was not involved in the decision to detain David Miranda.

It said it was a matter for British law enforcement officials and the decision was
taken "independent of our direction".

Mr Miranda, 28, was held for nine hours by police at Heathrow on Sunday.

He was detained under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000. This allows police to
hold someone at an airport, port or international rail station for up to nine hours for
questioning about whether they have been involved with acts of terrorism.

Scotland Yard have not said on what grounds Mr Miranda was detained, but have
insisted that the power is always used "appropriately and proportionally".

Mr Miranda said he was kept in a room and questioned about his "whole life".

Senior British politicians and the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation,
David Anderson QC, have called on police to explain why Mr Miranda was detained.

'Best interests'

Brazil's foreign minister Antonio Patriota has called the detention of Mr Miranda - a
Brazilian national - "not justifiable" and sought answers from his UK counterpart
William Hague.

Read More....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23761918

On What Bases Does The Police Justify David Miranda Detention?

oZY9nKVQ9MM

Openmindedskeptic

20th August 2013, 01:08

U.K. government thought destroying Guardian hard drives would stop Snowden stories

In a remarkable post, Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger describes how the British government raided the Guardian’s offices in order to destroy hard drives containing information provided by NSA leaker Edward Snowden. The British government had been pressuring the Guardian to return or destroy the Snowden documents. Rusbridger says he tried to explain that destroying hard drives would be pointless:

I explained to the man from Whitehall about the nature of international collaborations and the way in which, these days, media organisations could take advantage of the most permissive legal environments. Bluntly, we did not have to do our reporting from London. Already most of the NSA stories were being reported and edited out of New York. And had it occurred to him that Greenwald lived in Brazil?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/08/19/u-k-government-thought-destroying-guardian-hard-drives-would-stop-snowden-stories/

Corncrake

20th August 2013, 08:27

Good article by Tom Watson on David Miranda's detention at Heathrow:

They'll Be Laughing in Moscow and Beijing." A Former British Defence Minister Writes...

It was Aldous Huxley who said that "technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards." And the Snowden affair reminds us of that, as the ravenous and secret data crunching machinery of our "free" liberal democracies is laid bare.

Snowden was a brave man to take on the military industrial complex over at least two continents, but it took a particular kind of journalist to chop and dice his stolen PowerPoint files into the global story of the year. Step forward Glenn Greenwald: a pugnacious campaigner who has managed to find a living humiliating the world's security services.

https://www.nsfwcorp.com/scribble/5689/

Cidersomerset

20th August 2013, 17:32

Intimidation.............

Glenn Greenwald's partner detained at UK airport

M36GKyYJ__g

Published on 19 Aug 2013

Over the weekend, English authorities detained David Miranda for
nine hours at London's Heathrow Airport. The 28-year-old Brazilian
man is the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald who was
responsible for releasing Edward Snowden's NSA mass surveillance
leaks. Many critics believe that UK authorities are simply retaliating
against Greenwald's reports, and RT's Sam Sacks has more on the
scandalous tactics.

Cidersomerset

20th August 2013, 17:54

http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.48.3/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png

20 August 2013 Last updated at 18:02

David Miranda Heathrow detention: No 10 'kept abreast of operation

'Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger: "l think it is suspicious that he was stopped at Heathrow"
vid on link...http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23769324

No 10 was "kept abreast" of the decision to detain David Miranda, the partner of
Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, a spokesman has said.Mr Miranda was held at
Heathrow for nine hours on Sunday, while in transit from Germany to Brazil. He has
launched a legal challenge over the police's use of anti-terror laws to detain him
and seize his property.But Home Secretary Theresa May said the police must act if
someone had "highly sensitive stolen information".

Mr Miranda, a 28-year-old Brazilian national, was held at Heathrow on his way from
Berlin to Rio de Janeiro where he lives with Mr Greenwald. The Guardian said he
had been carrying "journalistic materials" but was not an employee of the
newspaper. Mr Greenwald has broken most of the stories about state surveillance
based on the leaks from fugitive Edward Snowden, who used to work at the US
National Security Agency.Mr Miranda said he was held in a room and questioned by
six agents about his "entire life". They confiscated his laptop, an additional hard
drive, two memory sticks, a mobile phone, a smart watch and a video games
console, his lawyers said.

Danny Shaw

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/48372000/jpg/_48372269_000105904-1.jpg

Home affairs correspondent, BBC News

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This case is about far more than whether police misused their powers by detaining David Miranda.

It's shone a light on the little-known Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act, brought in
before 9/11 to deal principally with Northern Ireland-based terror groups - and
used 61,145 times last year against a range of passengers, the vast majority of
whom have no connection with terrorism whatsoever.

It's demonstrated the difficulties of striking the right balance between freedom of
expression and national security - and the lengths to which the state will go to
safeguard it. And it's highlighted the way investigative journalists are now forced to
operate - criss-crossing the globe holding face-to-face meetings rather than
sending emails with sensitive material in case they're intercepted. He was required
to divulge the passwords to his personal computers, phone and encrypted storage
devices, they added.

In Germany, Mr Miranda had been staying with US film-maker Laura Poitras, who
has also reportedly been working on the Snowden files with the Guardian. DVDs of
two of her films - The Oath and My Country, My Country - were also seized at
Heathrow, the lawyers added.

Mr Miranda was detained under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000. This allows
police to hold someone at an airport, port or international rail station for up to nine
hours for questioning about whether they have been involved with acts of terrorism.
He is now taking action to challenge the legality of his detention, and to try to
prevent the police from examining the electronic items they seized from him.

His law firm Bindmans have written to the home secretary and Met Police
commissioner for assurances "there will be no inspection, copying, disclosure,
transfer, distribution or interference, in any way, with our client's data pending
determination of our client's claim".

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger wrote earlier that the transit lounge at Heathrow
was "a dangerous place to be" as a detention under section 7 offered "none of the
checks and balances that apply once someone is in Britain proper".

The legal challenge would determine whether it was "permissible for government to
use powers to be able to get material from journalists" without enabling them "to
argue their case before a court as to why they shouldn't have to answer questions
or give up that material", Mr Miranda's lawyer Matthew Ryder, a barrister at Matrix
Chambers, added.

The UK's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, David Anderson QC, has
said the length of detention was "unusual" and will meet police later.

'Briefed in advance'

But the home secretary said: "I think that it's absolutely right that if the police
believe that somebody is in possession of highly sensitive stolen information that
could help terrorists, that could risk lives, or lead to a potential loss of life, that the
police are able to act, and that's what the law enables them to do."

She continued: "I was briefed in advance that there was a possibility of a port-stop
of the sort that took place.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69389000/jpg/_69389657_69389656.jpg

David Miranda David Miranda was in transit when he was detained at Heathrow Airport

"But we live in a country where those decisions as to whether or not to stop
somebody or arrest somebody are not for me as home secretary, they are for the police to take."

A Home Office spokesperson previously said: "Those who oppose this sort of action
need to think about what they are condoning."

And Scotland Yard maintained the detention was "legally and procedurally sound",
and had been subject to a "detailed decision-making process".

It added that "contrary to some reports, the man was offered legal representation
while under examination and a solicitor attended."

Conservative MP Mark Pritchard also defended the police's actions.

"It may have inconvenienced the Guardian and those that work directly or indirectly
for the Guardian," he told BBC Radio 4's The World at One.

"But the fact is they had concerns that there may have been somebody carrying
sensitive material that may have directly or indirectly undermined our national
security. And I'm glad the police took the action they did."

'Complete rubbish'
The US government said on Monday it had been given the "heads up" before Mr
Miranda's detention.

Brazil protested to the UK government that the detention was "unjustifiable".

Mr Rusbridger also said "senior Whitehall figures" had previously put pressure on
the Guardian as it prepared to publish details of Mr Snowden's material -
threatening to injunct it.

He said he was then told he had to destroy, or hand over to the authorities, a
computer containing material which had not yet been published.

But the No 10 spokesman told the BBC that it was "complete rubbish" that they had
tried to prevent publication of the revelations.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23769324

Cidersomerset

20th August 2013, 18:05

'UK orders Guardian hard drives destroyed to gag Snowden leaks'

MneAXGkZnX0

Published on 19 Aug 2013

UK authorities reportedly raided the Guardian's office in London
to destroy hard drives in an effort to stop future publications of
leaks from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. To discuss
this, RT talks to lawyer and journalist Eva Golinger.

Cidersomerset

20th August 2013, 18:09

US given 'heads up' over David Miranda detention
.
Channel4News

DmRFMx1lDXs

Published on 20 Aug 2013

http://i1.ytimg.com/i/TrQ7HXWRRxr7OsOtodr2_w/1.jpg?v=a2bac9

The White House says the British government gave
it a "heads up" over the detention of David Miranda,
the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald,
who reported Edward Snowden leaks.

Loading icon

Cidersomerset

20th August 2013, 19:37

Govts threats to journos 'signalling rise of fascism' - WikiLeaks

O_IsThRX3JI

Published on 20 Aug 2013

The Guardian's editor Alan Rusbridger said that UK authorities
raided the paper's London office to destroy hard drives in a bid
to stop further damaging publications. He also said that intelligence
officials from the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)
had told him that he had the option of handing over all the classified
documents or seeing the newspaper's hard drives destroyed.
For more RT talks to WikiLeaks spokesperson, Kristinn Hrafnsson.

Cidersomerset

20th August 2013, 19:46

Spying Stepwise: NSA abuse 'huge' as agency revels in terror powers

zAIjY42GrKM

Published on 20 Aug 2013

Obama vowed that there are plenty of checks and balances on NSA
surveillance to keep the agency in line. But an internal audit shows
thousands of interceptions each year - that are illegal even by the
agency's admission. So how did it become so powerful?

Cidersomerset

20th August 2013, 20:02

Stonewalled: 'UK closer to police state after crackdown on Snowden files'

pQ74wRoIq8w

Published on 20 Aug 2013

The British government's attempts to stem the tide of articles on
mass surveillance have gone beyond intimidating the journalist
behind the publications. Just a day after Glenn Greenwald's partner
was detained at Heathrow airport, The Guardian's editor came
forward describing how the authorities pressured the newspaper
to destroy documents provided by NSA leaker Edward Snowden.
The UK government has reportedly confirmed the move was
sanctioned by the Prime Minister himself.

Cidersomerset

20th August 2013, 21:15

British government forces the Guardian to destroy Snowden files

hbDVdz3xYlo

Published on 20 Aug 2013

The British government has given the Guardian newspaper an ultimatum:
delete all data on Edward Snowden's leaks or risk getting shut down. A few
months ago, Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald revealed the NSA's massive
surveillance program through the media outlet and now many see the
government's move as retaliation for the leaks. Alan Rusbridger, editor for
the Guardian, justified why they chose to comply with the government's
request, and Josh Levy, Internet campaign director for Free Press, joins us
with his take on the British government's request.

Flash

20th August 2013, 21:26

the message to whistleblowers: do not trust reporters and newspapers or spread around the information you give, but then, you lose control over their publications. Museling it is.

jasontorque

20th August 2013, 22:45

As a direct comparison, this is the top story on BBC News and buried rather deep on Sky News. In fact, it was nowhere to be seen on Sky until somewhat later in the day (late evening).

Selene

20th August 2013, 22:55

Meanwhile, back in the USA, the supine New York Times is obeying its ubermasters and trying its damnedest to bury the story. Nary a word about Miranda’s detention or the blowback on their home page today. A story referring to it is played last on the international news page, just above Paris Journal: “Can the Gruff Frenchman Become the Gracious Frenchman?” The nifty detail about The Guardian having its computers smashed is buried deep in the story as well.

Ditto the Washington Post. Nary a word on front/home page. Zip. Nada. Oh, wait: an opinion piece titled “The High Price of Whistleblowing” Got that, sucker? The lead: “President Obama, in his news conference this month, said that Edward Snowden was wrong to go public with revelations about secret surveillance programs because “there were other avenues available for somebody whose conscience was stirred and thought that they needed to question government actions.”

Right. Yessir.

Too funny.

I am so enjoying watching the MSM “defenders” of freedom of the press, etc. being exposed for the hypocrites they are.

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/3372/c58w.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/20/c58w.jpg/)

Cheers,

Selene

Anchor

21st August 2013, 00:31

What the enforced destruction of the copy of data held at the Guardians premesis shows and proves beyond any doubt that anyone may have had, is that Edwards Snowdens data was all genuine and any assertions to the contrary or attempts to discredit the information by NSA spokesman will now completely fail in the eyes of the world who can see the stories.

Me thinks they have protesteth too much - LOL

Selene

21st August 2013, 01:14

Bingo, Anchor!

Exactly.

Cheers,

Selene

Water33/6

21st August 2013, 03:21

I can't believe the guardian didn't make at least one copy of the files in secret before destroying them.

Flash

21st August 2013, 03:24

Both stories were on national news, Radio Canada, in French, tonight at prime time (6h00 PM). The partner story being held at Heathrow airport and the Guardian being forced to get rid of their hard drive, specifying that both government, the British and the American, were at falt and the source of this blackmail. About the same wording was used. I was pleasantly surprised.

Well, it seems that only the American won't be made aware of it.

Cidersomerset

21st August 2013, 06:31

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21 August 2013 Last updated at 05:23

No 10 contacted Guardian over Edward Snowden secrets Guardian offices

The Guardian was approached by Britain's top civil servant Sir Jeremy Heywood Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
Miranda 'forced to give passwords'
No 10 'knew of Miranda detention'
Edward Snowden: Timeline

Number 10 was involved in discussions with the Guardian about material it had
obtained from American whistle-blower Edward Snowden, it has emerged.

Prime Minister David Cameron ordered Britain's top civil servant Sir Jeremy
Heywood to contact the newspaper.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2012/11/26/1353938120736/Sir-Jeremy-Heywood-and-Da-010.jpg

It came after the Guardian published details about secret US and British
surveillance programmes.Editor Alan Rusbridger said it was later forced to destroy
the computer hard drives storing the information.Mr Rusbridger said his
conversations with the government were with "a very senior official claiming to
represent the views of the prime minister".

But he did not say exactly who he had spoken to.

Explicit approval

The Independent and Daily Mail now report that Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy made
contact with the Guardian.

BBC political correspondent Chris Mason said these reports were accurate.

Whitehall sources emphasised it would have been a "total abdication of their
responsibilities" not to talk to the Guardian.The government feared that if secret
data held by the newspaper fell into what it called "the wrong hands" it could have
been a threat to the UK.Remains computer containing information leaked by
Edward Snowden The Guardian destroyed the computer containing information
leaked by Edward Snowden

The conversations between Whitehall and the Guardian took place with the explicit
approval of Mr Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Foreign Secretary
William Hague.Following the conversations, Mr Rusbridger agreed to what he has
called one of the most bizarre incidents in the newspaper's history.

Two GCHQ security experts oversaw the destruction in a basement of computer
files containing information from America's National Security Agency leaked by Mr
Snowden.

Files copied

Mr Rusbridger said: "We were quite clear we were not going to hand this material
back to the British government so we destroyed it ourselves under advice from a
couple of GCHQ intelligence experts, who told us which bits of the hard drive to
smash up, in what way."

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69400000/jpg/_69400258_69400246.jpg

The files had already been copied and the Guardian will continue to pursue the
Snowden story, but from the US.Mr Rusbridger believed handing the hard drives to
the government would have been a betrayal of the newspaper's source.

Alan Rusbridger: "It was made plain that the government was on the verge of
launching legal action against the Guardian"

vid on link...http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23776063

Former National Security Agency contractor Mr Snowden is now based in Russia.

Asked about the Independent's story, a spokeswoman for the Guardian told the
BBC: "We're not going to comment on this."

Meanwhile, a Brazilian man held for nine hours at Heathrow airport under anti-
terror laws on Sunday has said he was forced to divulge email and social media
account passwords.

David Miranda said his interrogators threatened that he could go to prison if he did not do so.

Mr Miranda is the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald who has covered
stories based on leaks by US whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

Mr Miranda has launched legal action over the use of the powers on him.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23776063

Cidersomerset

21st August 2013, 06:40

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21 August 2013 Last updated at 05:14

David Miranda 'forced to give passwords' at Heathrow

David Miranda told the BBC he felt very threatened during his detention
vid on link....http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23776243

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69400000/jpg/_69400410_miranda.jpg

A Brazilian man held for nine hours at Heathrow airport under anti-terror laws has
said he was forced to divulge email and social media account passwords.David
Miranda said his interrogators threatened that he could go to prison if he did not do
so.Mr Miranda is the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald who has
covered stories based on leaks by US whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

Mr Miranda has launched legal action over the use of the powers on him.

He wants his confiscated electronic equipment returned and assurances that his
private data will not be distributed on to other parties.Mr Miranda told the BBC that
disclosing his passwords made him feel as if he were "naked in front of a crowd".

'Entire life'

A Downing Street spokesman has said Number 10 was "kept abreast" of the
decision to detain Mr Miranda, 28, who was held on Sunday on his way from Berlin
to Rio de Janeiro where he lives with Mr Greenwald.

The Guardian said he had been carrying "journalistic materials" but was not an
employee of the newspaper.

Mr Greenwald has broken stories about state surveillance with information from
fugitive Mr Snowden who used to work as a contractor at the US National Security
Agency.Mr Miranda said he was held in a room and questioned by six agents about
his "entire life".

His lawyers said they confiscated his laptop, an additional hard drive, two memory
sticks, a mobile phone, a smart watch and a video games console.

Mr Miranda was detained under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

This allows police to hold someone at an airport, port or international railway
station for up to nine hours for questioning about whether they have been involved
with acts of terrorism.

'Stolen information'

His law firm Bindmans has written to Home Secretary Theresa May and the
Metropolitan Police commissioner for assurances "there will be no inspection,
copying, disclosure, transfer, distribution or interference, in any way, with our
client's data pending determination of our client's claim".

Mrs May said the police must act if someone had "highly sensitive, stolen
information".

Scotland Yard maintained the detention was "legally and procedurally sound".

Meanwhile, it has emerged that Prime Minister David Cameron ordered Britain's top
civil servant, Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood, to contact the Guardian about
material it had obtained from Mr Snowden.The discussions resulted in the
newspaper destroying computer hard drives storing the information, under the
supervision of intelligence experts from GCHQ.

The files had already been copied and the Guardian will continue to pursue the
Snowden story, but from the US. Mr Snowden is now based in Russia.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23776243

Cidersomerset

21st August 2013, 06:46

Alan Rusbridger condemns government over Snowden

qoIcPyePI54

Published on 20 Aug 2013

http://i1.ytimg.com/i/TrQ7HXWRRxr7OsOtodr2_w/1.jpg?v=a2bac9

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger tells Channel 4
News that the government is using highly
emotive language over the Snowden leaks.

Anchor

21st August 2013, 06:59

I can't believe the guardian didn't make at least one copy of the files in secret before destroying them.

Well, I suppose they want to still carry on being a newspaper in the UK, and they knew other copies existed.

What is interesting is that the governments heavy handed approach has been done in the light and not the dark.

There are wheels within wheels here.

If this was really old-school ... people would have started disappearing, committing suicide or having accidents by now. (Remember Dr David Kelly and the "Dodgy Dossier" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Dossier )

Someone somewhere, is in my humble opinion, coordinating things so that the whistle is still being blown - and now its not just on the NSA.

This is what I mean by wheels are turning within wheels.

This is an intense (chosen word purposefully) struggle.

Lots and lots of disclosure - now completely unrelated to the NSA disclosure.

Think about it!

It is scintillating.

It is a game changer.

Conchis

21st August 2013, 10:01

The Snowden snowball keeps rolling. His releases have caused some analysis that would have never occurred before his disclosures. Here is an example of the administration trying to justify its policies.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/commentary/la-oe-sensenbrenner-data-patriot-act-obama-20130819,0,1387481.story

mountain_jim

21st August 2013, 10:48

Greenwald has been a journalistic hero for me ever since he started blogging and pointing out the illegalities of the Bush/Cheney admin and how they were above the law. Snowden picked the right journalist to lead this effort imho, even though his employers are now caving to the pressure.

Cidersomerset

21st August 2013, 11:33

'Snowden data destruction won't harm our reporting' - Guardian's Alan Rusbridger

eHgWqGuGOAw

Published on 20 Aug 2013

The British government's attempts to stem the tide of articles on mass surveillance
have gone beyond intimidating the journalist behind the publications. Just a day after
Glenn Greenwald's partner was detained at Heathrow airport, The Guardian's editor,
Alan Rusbridger, came forward describing how the authorities pressured the newspaper
to destroy documents provided by NSA leaker Edward Snowden. Mr. Rusbridger has
explained why he gave in to pressure from government agents, and destroyed
hard-drives carrying information obtained from Edward Snowden.

Cidersomerset

22nd August 2013, 11:28

NSA unaware of the extent of Snowden's leaks

Published on 21 Aug 2013

NmhQIHTVclo

It has been nearly two and a half months since Edward Snowden
leaked crucial information on the National Security Agency's mass
surveillance program. According to reports, the NSA is still unsure
of the magnitude of information that Snowden was able to obtain.
Recently, it was learned that the agency has the capacity to sift
nearly 75 percent of all domestic Internet activity. Brian Duggan,
technologist for Open Technology Institute, and Shayana Kadidal,
senior attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights, have more
on the latest NSA developments.

Cidersomerset

22nd August 2013, 11:40

Ron Paul supports Snowden and Manning in Larry King interview

Odt5g9k_Rr0

Published on 21 Aug 2013

With Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in prison for his
role in releasing sensitive military information to WikiLeaks
and the US government's hunt for Edward Snowden for
revealing the NSA's spying program, being a whistleblower
isn't an easy task. As some people see the two individuals
as traitors, some people believe that these leaks are essential
to gaining full government transparency. In an interview with
Larry King, former Congressman Ron Paul expresses his
appreciation for the leaked information.

Cidersomerset

22nd August 2013, 17:33

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22 August 2013 Last updated at 18:22

David Miranda: Police inquiry over 'sensitive' materialDavid Miranda

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69389000/jpg/_69389657_69389656.jpg

David Miranda was in transit when he was detained at Heathrow Airport Continue
reading the main story Police have launched a criminal inquiry after seizing
thousands of classified intelligence documents from the partner of a Guardian
journalist.Scotland Yard says it is examining the "highly sensitive material" after
detaining David Miranda at Heathrow airport on Sunday.An injunction limits them
from looking at, copying or sharing any information except to protect national
security.The government's independent reviewer of terrorism laws is to probe the case.

Independent reviewer of terrorism legislation

He was detained for nine hours at Heathrow on Sunday under schedule 7 of the
Terrorism Act 2000.The law allows police to hold someone for up to nine hours for
questioning about whether they have been involved with acts of terrorism.
The Met Police issued a statement after Mr Miranda sought a High Court injunction
to stop examination of the material "until the legality of that seizure has been
determined".

It said: "We welcome the decision of the court which allows our examination of the
material - containing thousands of classified intelligence documents - to continue in
order to protect life and national security...

"Initial examination of material seized has identified highly sensitive material, the
disclosure of which could put lives at risk. As a result the Counter Terrorism
Command has today begun a criminal investigation."

Judges at the High Court ruled the authorities could examine the seized material for
the defence of national security and also to investigate whether Mr Miranda is a
person who is or has been concerned with the commission, preparation or
instigation of acts of terrorism.Later, the government's independent reviewer of
terrorism legislation, David Anderson QC, announced he was carrying out an
investigation into the detention of Mr Miranda.

He said his inquiry would "concentrate on the use made by police of the schedule 7
powers in this case, from the moment when their use was first considered until the
release of Mr Miranda".

He said: "This will inevitably involve consideration of whether the powers were
lawfully, appropriately and humanely used, of the processes that were applied in
order to ensure that this was the case and of any alternatives that were or might
have been considered."

The independent reviewer of terror legislation reports annually on the operation of
the terrorism acts. Initial meetings have already been held with the police and Mr
Anderson said he has requested full access to personnel and relevant classified
material held by Home Secretary Theresa May.A Home Office spokesman said: "It
is right that the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation examines cases like
this to ensure that the law has been applied properly."

The judicial review proceedings at the High Court involved the Home Office and the
police.A lawyer for the police revealed during the court hearing that they were
launching a criminal investigation after examining some of the material.

David Miranda's lawyer: "We consider this to be a partial victory"

Vid on link....http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23803189

But Jonathan Laidlaw QC did not give any details about the investigation.

Lord Justice Beatson and Mr Justice Kenneth Parker were told Home Secretary
Theresa May believed it was necessary to examine the documents "without delay in
the interests of national security".

Steven Kovats QC said Mrs May had given "careful consideration" to Mr Miranda's
requests and had offered "more narrowly defined" undertakings which the court
should accept.

But he said: "Material taken from the claimant includes material the unauthorised
disclosure of which would endanger national security of the UK and put lives at risk."

There will be a full hearing on the question of continuing police inspections on 30
August.

A spokesman for the publisher of the Guardian newspaper said: "We welcome this
partial victory but have grave concerns that today's judgment allows police to
examine without any legal oversight journalistic material seized from David
Miranda. It remains our position that David Miranda was involved in legitimate journalistic activity."

Speaking outside the High Court, Mr Miranda's lawyer, Gwendolen Morgan,
said: "The Home Office and police now have seven days to prove that there is a
genuine threat to national security, rather than make mere assertions as they have
done today."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23803189

Cidersomerset

22nd August 2013, 17:41

David Miranda's lawyer hails 'partial victory'

O3vX0xebE2U

Published on 22 Aug 2013

After a "partial victory" in the High Court, David Miranda's lawyer says
it is now up to the police to prove there is a genuine threat to national
security over the data they seized from him.

Outside court, solicitor Gwendolen Morgan, of law firm Bindmans, which
is representing Mr Miranda, said the Government now has seven days
to "prove there is a genuine threat to national security".

She was speaking after lawyers acting for the journalist's partner held
for nine hours under anti-terror laws won an order to stop the Government
and police "inspecting, copying or sharing" data seized from him - except
"for the purpose of protecting national security".

David Miranda's legal team were granted the order, which will run until
Friday August 30.

The High Court will then consider further Mr Miranda's application for an
interim injunction to stop examination "until the legality of that seizure
has been determined by this court".

Cidersomerset

22nd August 2013, 18:02

Home Secretary Theresa May says she was briefed ahead of the
detention of David Miranda...

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http://i1.ytimg.com/i/TrQ7HXWRRxr7OsOtodr2_w/1.jpg?v=a2bac9

Published on 20 Aug 2013

Home Secretary Theresa May says she was
briefed ahead of the possible detention of
David Miranda, the partner of a Guardian
journalist, at Heathrow airport.

Cidersomerset

22nd August 2013, 18:12

Young Turks article .....

Glenn Greenwald Fires Back After Partner Detained At Heathrow

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https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8EmOV6Uyan8/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAAAA/lsr2usyFUO0/s48-c-k/photo.jpg

Published on 19 Aug 2013

Journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote a scathing piece in The Guardian
in response to the questionable circumstances under which his
partner David Miranda was detained ("under Schedule 7 of the
Terrorism Act of 2000"*) at Heathrow airport by UK authorities.
Greenwald says it was a failed attempt at intimidation in light of
Greenwald's revelations regarding NSA spying leaks from Edward Snowden.

Cidersomerset

22nd August 2013, 19:54

Did police act legally over Miranda arrest?

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http://i1.ytimg.com/i/TrQ7HXWRRxr7OsOtodr2_w/1.jpg?v=a2bac9

Published on 22 Aug 2013

An investigation's been launched into whether police acted
legally when they used anti terror laws to detain the Brazilian
partner of a Guardian journalist at Heathrow airport for nine hours.

Cidersomerset

23rd August 2013, 08:41

Miranda Rights: UK takes flak over detention of Greenwald's partner, file destruction

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Published on 22 Aug 2013

A judge has ruled British police won't be able to fully inspect
a lap-top or other items taken from the partner of a journalist
who was involved in publishing NSA spy leaks. David Miranda
was detained and questioned for nine hours under the Terrorism
Act in London. The government's been under fire ever since
detaining him, as well as forcing the Guardian newspaper to
destroy files containing NSA data.

Cidersomerset

23rd August 2013, 10:08

Secret FISA court documents show scope of NSA spying

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Published on 22 Aug 2013

The NSA surveillance scandal has many questioning the authority and
power of the agency, and now the Obama administration has released
documents of a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Ruling from 2011.
The documents released this week aggressively attack the NSA for illegally
collecting 56,000 emails of innocent people on an annual basis over a
three year period. RT's Sam Sacks joins us with more on the latest NSA development.

Cidersomerset

23rd August 2013, 12:16

NSA files 'were not a threat to national security'

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Published on 23 Aug 2013

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-3481FOdiSDE/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAAAA/Ni8N8DV1qHM/s48-c-k/photo.jpg

Guardian's Glenn Greenwald tells Channel 4 News
that it is "completely idiotic" to say UK national
security was threatened by classified documents
carried by his parner David Miranda.

Cidersomerset

24th August 2013, 12:26

Obama: NSA 'accidentally' accessed citizens' emails

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Published on 23 Aug 2013

Edward Snowden's revelation of the NSA's spying programs has
showed how the agency broke court-ordered rules to spy on
American citizens. In a new interview , President Obama claimed
that the NSA had "accidentally" pulled the emails on some
Americans, but is this true? RT's Erin Ade has more on the fallout
of the NSA scandal.

Openmindedskeptic

3rd September 2013, 14:14

Many of our members in Brazil now have even more reason to be distrustful of the US Intelligence Agencies.

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superconsciousness

3rd September 2013, 15:02

keep in mind that there are more powers than the NSA reading our stuff. I just assume they can access whatever they want, understanding that the farther they reach inside you, the more they will be lost when all they touch is love.

understand also that the different agencies and foreign powers are more interested in each other than you. direct your focus inward on strengthening your ability to rule yourself while simultaneously opening your heart to the universal One, creating safe haven for yourself and all who enter the vibration of love with you. as well, this must be coupled with directed focus and purpose. I have found certain mantras to be invaluable at creating resonance fields to ground intent. also Bob Dratch's holoform technology ...and friends/healers/foods/tinctures/plants when the slap of don juan's hand is not around. :)

i have heard that snowden does not exist as the same person anymore. the last i had heard was his father went to visit him and was refused audience.

Openmindedskeptic

3rd September 2013, 19:55

Edward Snowden is alive and well. Here is Jacob Appelbaum sharing his words at a recent whistleblower award ceremony.

cW8lRCqYI6U

Cidersomerset

4th September 2013, 06:24

AT&T partners with DEA to spy on Americans

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Published on 3 Sep 2013

While the NSA has been in the news recently for spying on Americans,
the Drug Enforcement Agency's "Hemisphere Project" is far bigger. The
DEA database tracks every call that goes through an AT&T switch dating
back to 1987. Not only that, the Hemisphere Project goes even further
than NSA records because it includes location information. The project
works by using AT&T employees, paid by the government, to gather
data for police officers and agents, using administrative - not judicial
- subpoenas that are not overseen by a judge. Heidi Boghosian,
executive director of the National Lawyers Guild, joins us to discuss
the legality of the Hemisphere Project.

Openmindedskeptic

4th September 2013, 13:57

Here's more on the at&t story from Democracy Now.

In Secret AT&T Deal, U.S. Drug Agents Given Access to 26 Years of Americans’ Phone Records (http://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/3/in_secret_at_t_deal_us)

This revelation and the information exposed by whistleblower Edward Snowden make it clear that what we need here in the United States is something like the US Senate's Church Committee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Committee) hearings of the 1970's.

Cidersomerset

5th September 2013, 18:49

'Russia's only choice is to permit Snowden to live here' - Putin

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Published on 5 Sep 2013

Ahead of the G20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin
sat down for an interview with AP and Channel 1. Among many issues, the
leader spoke about Snowden, Syria, and Russia's controversial gay propaganda law.

Cidersomerset

5th September 2013, 18:54

Beware Spyware: Wikileaks exposes surveillance industry trackers

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Published on 4 Sep 2013

A huge new revelation from Wikileaks this hour has exposed a sweeping
surveillance industry, which has been developing spyware for governments
to track and control their citizens. RT was among the very few media outlets
given access to the documents prior to their release.

Cidersomerset

5th September 2013, 19:55

Just noticed this thread in my archive, posting here for reference......

MENWITH HILL: NSA's Spy Center in the UK - 2012 Report ( This is not new) !!

I have touched on this in a previous post....This will also explain why any leaks
about this place will be treated as a violation of National Security ......and
why the US/UK are so interlinked at this level, it goes back to WW11 thru
the cold war to today. A massive defence bureaucracy that needs an enemy
or the fear of one.

http://franceslaing.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/menwith-hill-from-sky.jpg

British Big Bro: UK spy agency & NSA 'siblings', share mined data

YN36sKUCDjk

Published on 22 Jun 2013

With the US grappling with privacy debates over its recently exposed surveillance
tactics President Obama has nominated James Comey to lead the FBI. He is a
former high ranking Justice Department official under President George W. Bush.
RT talks about this surveillance issue with Glenmore Treaner Harvey, editor in chief
of the World Intelligence Review website.

====================================================

MENWITH HILL: NSA's Spy Center in the UK - 2012 Report

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Published on 10 Jun 2013

From March of 2012:

America's largest eavesdropping centre in Britain, Menwith Hill in North Yorkshire,
is being expanded in a multimillion-pound programme as it becomes increasingly
vital to US intelligence and military operations, according to a study of the
controversial base released on Thursday.

The base, which plays a key role in the global network of the National Security
Agency (NSA), GCHQ's American partner, now includes 33 radomes -- commonly
called "golf balls" after the white sheeting protecting the satellite receiving and
transmission stations -- and is undergoing a big construction programme.

The study describes the programme, called Project Phoenix, as "one of the largest
and most sophisticated high technology programmes carried out anywhere in the
UK over the last 10 years". Work on it has been reserved for US-based arms
corporations including Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, and their
personnel with high-level security clearance, it notes.

Though the base is officially called RAF Menwith Hill, most of the staff there are US
employees of the NSA. The total number of people working there is due to increase

from 1,800 last year (of whom 400 were British) to 2,500 in 2015.

The costs to Britain of servicing Menwith Hill, like other American bases in Britain,
are confidential under cost-sharing arrangements between the UK and the US. The
total cost of the equipment at the base, and running it, is classified.

However, official figures released in the US show that this year the NSA is spending
$68m (£43m) just on a generator plant to provide power for new supercomputers
at the base.Computers at the base are capable of carrying out 2m intercepts an
hour, according to the Federation of American Scientists, an independent US body.
The report on the base was commissioned by the Yorkshire Campaign for Nuclear
Disaarmament (CND) and funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. It said
the base was being expanded "to provide qualitatively new capabilities for
intelligence-led warfare".

Menwith Hill will combine its traditional role of eavesdropping on communications
and missile tests to "co-ordinate real-time military operations such as covert
warfare, using a variety of intelligence sources".

Satellite communications and imagery and supercomputers at the base "can
provide real-time surveillance to support US military operations", according to the
new study. It said Menwith Hill would be "fully operational as an upgraded, active
intelligence hub by 2015".

Steve Schofield, the study's author, said: "It is no longer possible to think of
Menwith Hill as simply carrying out traditional military, diplomatic and commercial
electronic spying for the United States, but rather to recognise its role as an active
provider of integrated intelligence to support new forms of warfare."

He added: "This paradigm shift towards permanent surveillance from space and
real-time military interventions anywhere in the world through remotely-controlled
weapons raises profound questions about the western way of war but questions
that are, as yet, barely being addressed."

The RAF describes Menwith Hill's primary mission as providing "intelligence support
for UK, US and allied interests". Satellite communications also provide data for the
US missile defence system, the RAF says.

It would be "inappropriate to go into any detail about operations carried out at RAF
Menwith Hill in support of national security", it says.

"Public and parliamentary scrutiny of RAF Menwith Hill is provided through clear
lines of ministerial responsibility and by the intelligence and security committee
(ISC)."

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/images/2008/06/400603.jpg

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/images/2008/09/408483.jpg

2aI-aqJ01Nk

http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?60355-MENWITH-HILL-NSA-s-Spy-Center-in-the-UK-2012-Report---This-is-not-new----

Openmindedskeptic

6th September 2013, 18:00

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A new exposé based on the leaks of Edward Snowden have revealed the National Security Agency has developed methods to crack online encryption used to protect emails, banking and medical records. "Encryption is really the system that lets the internet function as an important commercial instrument all around the world," says Glenn Greenwald of The Guardian, which collaborated with The New York Times and ProPublica on the reporting. "It's what lets you enter your credit card number, check your banking records, buy and sell things online, get your medical tests online, engage in private communications, it's what protects the sanctity of the internet." Documents leaked by Snowden reveal the NSA spends $250 million a year on a program which, among other goals, works with technology companies to "covertly influence" their product designs. "The entire system is now being compromised by the NSA and their British counterpart, the GCHQ," Greenwald says. "Systematic efforts to ensure that there is no form of human commerce, human electronic communication, that is ever invulnerable to their prying eyes."

Cidersomerset

6th September 2013, 18:34

Thanks Openmindedskeptic for keeping this thread ticking along. National security
is open ended,and can be used or abused according to the agenda at the time. The
US/UK as per the MENWITH HILL article above have been acting hand in hand with
other partners since WW11, which in principle is fine as it has stopped another
major conflict in Europe. But it is open to abuse and no one seems to know, who is
policing the 'Watchers & Listens' ?

There has always been a fine line between freedom and oppression as we see
somewhere in the world. 9/11 and other events shows that the world elites are still
manipulating thru the 'War on Terror' controls on peace and freedom of the world.
After all there is no profit in peace .The mil ind complex and Banksters need blood
to be spilled to generate profits. Then you could go into other agendas
why the elites must keep the human population in fear and under control.

Anyway slightly gone off topic, I posted a topic from the BBC about

There was a article on the BBC yesterday talking about super inscription security.
But that will open a challenge to a new set of 'Hackers'....

http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.48.3/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png

4 September 2013 Last updated at 18:09

'Uncrackable' codes set for step upBy Melissa Hogenboom

Science reporter, BBC News

Zeroes and ones Quantum cryptography is a way to share secret digital keys
Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
Quantum code sent on common fibre
Uncrackable codes get flash trick
Tricking the perfect code machine

A system that allows electronic messages to be sent with complete secrecy could be
on the verge of expanding beyond niche applications.

A team of British scientists has discovered a way to build communications networks
with quantum cryptography at a larger scale than ever before.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69648000/jpg/_69648594_cc000689.jpg

Quantum cryptography has the potential to transform the way sensitive data is protected.

Read more.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23946488

Cidersomerset

8th September 2013, 12:06

NSA able to bypass basic Internet privacy safeguards

mIlNuYaMcdE

Published on 7 Sep 2013

One of the only ways to communicate securely and privately online was thought
to be through encrypted technology. But the government has been able to crack
encryption codes online since 2000, according to the latest secret documents
leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. The documents go on to say
the government made a breakthrough in 2010 when it found a way to monitor
large amounts of data sent through fiber optic cables, and data sent through
virtual private networks, used to conceal IP addresses. RT's Ameera David has
more information on how you can protect your private messages from the
prying eyes of the government.

Cidersomerset

8th September 2013, 12:18

Who's the 'BOSS': DHS close to perfecting facial recognition system

C_Lw_m3wBOg

Published on 6 Sep 2013

The Department of Homeland Security's latest surveillance tool is the Biometric
Optical Surveillance System, or BOSS, and consists of two cameras that are
capable of taking stereoscopic images of people's faces. Facial recognition
technology matches the 3-D pictures captured and compares them to images
stored in the system's database, like driver's license photos. Privacy advocates
have expressed their concerns regarding the technology, and RT's Adriana Usero
explains the latest developments in surveillance.

Cidersomerset

12th September 2013, 06:22

Documents reveal NSA didn't know what they were doing

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Published on 11 Sep 2013

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper released hundreds
of documents about the NSA's telephone call surveillance program
on Tuesday, the reports showed the oversight mechanism in place
at the agency and at the FISA court. RT's Sam Sacks dives deeper
into the NSA documents with Marcy Wheeler, an investigative
reporter with Emptywheel.net.

Cidersomerset

12th September 2013, 06:33

NSA 'routinely' shares Americans' data with Israel - Snowden leak

xM4K0nuSx-U

Published on 11 Sep 2013

US has been sharing unfiltered intelligence with Israel,
including the private data of American citizens - according
to a confidential document that was part of whistleblower
Edward Snowden's leaks. It shows that Washington set no
limits as to how its ally could use the information.
RT's Paula Slier joins us LIVE from Tel Aviv. READ MORE:

Cidersomerset

12th September 2013, 06:40

http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.48.3/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png

11 September 2013 Last updated at 14:48

NSA 'altered random-number generator'Continue reading the main story

US intelligence agency the NSA subverted a standards process to be able
to break encryption more easily, according to leaked documents.

It had written a flaw into a random-number generator that would allow
the agency to predict the outcome of the algorithm, the New York Times reported.

The agency had used its influence at a standards body to insert the backdoor,
said the report.

The NSA had made no comment at the time of writing.

According to the report, based on a memo leaked by former NSA contactor
Edward Snowden, the agency had gained sole control of the authorship of the
Dual_EC_DRBG algorithm and pushed for its adoption by the National Institute
of Standards and Technology (Nist) into a 2006 US government standard.

The NSA had wanted to be able to predict numbers generated by certain
implementations of the algorithm, to crack technologies using the specification,
said the report.

Nist standards are developed to secure US government systems and used globally.

The standards body said that its processes were open, and that it "would not
deliberately weaken a cryptographic standard".

"Recent news reports have questioned the cryptographic standards development
process at Nist," the body said in a statement.

"We want to assure the IT cybersecurity community that the transparent, public
process used to rigorously vet our standards is still in place."

Impact

It was unclear which software and hardware had been weakened by including
the algorithm, according to software developers and cryptographers.

For example, Microsoft had used the algorithm in software from Vista onwards, but
had not enabled it by default, users on the Cryptography Stack Exchange pointed out.

The algorithm has been included in the code libraries and software of major
vendors and industry bodies, including Microsoft, Cisco Systems, RSA, Juniper,
RIM for Blackberry, OpenSSL, McAfee, Samsung, Symantec, and Thales,
according to Nist documentation.

Whether the software of these organisations was secure depended on how the algorithm
had been used, Cambridge University cryptographic expert Richard Clayton told the BBC.

"There's no easy way of saying who's using [the algorithm], and how," said Mr Clayton.

Moreover, the algorithm had been shown to be insecure in 2007 by Microsoft cryptographers
Niels Ferguson and Dan Shumow, added Mr Clayton.

"Because the vulnerability was found some time ago, I'm not sure if anybody is using it," he said.

A more profound problem was the possible erosion of trust in Nist for the development of future
standards, Mr Clayton added.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24048343

Cidersomerset

12th September 2013, 06:53

Secret NSA and FISA Court documents released

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Published on 11 Sep 2013

On Tuesday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
released approximately 1,800 pages of documents that shed
light on the constitutionality of the NSA's domestic surveillance
programs. The documents reveal that the NSA had been running
an automated "alert list" on selected phone numbers.
RT correspondent Ameera David breaks down the latest
revelations in this report.

Anchor

12th September 2013, 23:39

A redditor has compiled a list of all the leaks so far from Snowden

http://www.reddit.com/r/NSALeaks/

Warning: Although this subreddit is currently ok, if you don't know about Reddit,
be warned other parts of it are often very much not safe for work or children or sensitive people.
Don't go exploring other subreddits without being aware of this in mind!

Leaks in chronological order:

http://www.reddit.com/r/NSALeaks/comments/1ma0iu/nsaleaks_as_of_91213_but_in_chronological_order/

Openmindedskeptic

13th September 2013, 21:20

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Openmindedskeptic

3rd October 2013, 23:24

NEWSNIGHT: Glenn Greenwald full interview on Snowden, NSA, GCHQ and spying

f1Zvo8N3G94

norman

3rd October 2013, 23:44

Glen is doing his best but I don't think he's a great voice for balanced intelligent reason.

Openmindedskeptic

4th October 2013, 01:14

norman

4th October 2013, 01:16

Openmindedskeptic

4th October 2013, 01:35

Glen is doing his best but I don't think he's a great voice for balanced intelligent reason.
I suggest everyone watch the video for themselves because I think Glenn Greenwald makes some strong points.

He does, but I hope others can do a better job of it.
We have several other eloquent NSA whistleblowers speaking out besides Edward Snowden including William Binney, Thomas Drake, Kurt Wiebe and Russ Tice. Here's a video of Mr. Tice making some scathing accusations.

d6m1XbWOfVk

Pretty obvious to the rest of the world that the US Intelligence Agencies are doing their best to replicate East Germany's Stasi.

norman

4th October 2013, 01:40

Pretty obvious to the rest of the world that the US Intelligence Agencies are doing their best to replicate East Germany's Stasi.

...... OR....... soft sell big brother.

Carmody

4th October 2013, 19:02

Pretty obvious to the rest of the world that the US Intelligence Agencies are doing their best to replicate East Germany's Stasi.

...... OR....... soft sell big brother.

Recall that the USA brought back General Markus Wolf to the US to train their highest levels of the FBI, and to cascade those methodologies and mindsets throughout the FBI. At the very least.

His 'Curriculum Vitae' (resume) Includes being the head of the East German Spy agency,and being remarkably effective in that posting.

From his wiki bio:

Shortly before German reunification Wolf fled the country, and sought political asylum in Russia and Austria. When denied, he returned to Germany where he was arrested by German police. Wolf claimed to have refused an offer of "seven figures", a new identity and a home in California from the Central Intelligence Agency to defect to the United States.[5]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markus_Wolf

Thus, the bush/nazi replication of the Stazi ~IN~ the USA is directly attempted and run, as a program.

Also note that Joseph Farrell (in his books) illustrates that the agreement was, after WWII, to leave the NAZI German spy organization intact, and running under it's own steam, through it's own original Nazi spies and spy masters. to leave the entire organization intact, as it was behind the 'iron curtain'.

when you add in the point of the Federal reserve banks gathering together and financing the Nazis via a banking concern created for that reality (Run by a Bush family Member) and then 'skull and bones members' (Kerry, Bush I&II, Dulles brothers, etc) running that banking concern..and the direct connection to the CIA (run by Bush I and oe Dulles Brother-It was the OSS back then), via the Dulles brothers who ran Project paperclip to bring Nazi scientists back to the US to work in many many black ops projects and advanced science that is still under wraps...well...you begin to get an understanding of what is going on.

Real Nazi's, real fascists, real highly advanced scientific black ops, real societal control, real hidden agendas, real evidence, all properly supported and backed up.

That fascism has a solid and near inescapable history of turning to totalitarianism, and ultimately totalitarianism...turns to bloodbaths of population reduction.

(the point is that the public record has him turning down the CIA. The rumour mill and evidence has him showing up being connected to training the FBI)

My point is that they already have replicated the East German Stazi (which evidence supports as being fascist).....with the same methods and the same PEOPLE.

Communists, as we have seen in this world so far, are more akin to fascists with tight controls and limits. I see little to no difference between the two. I see organized systems of societal control and manipulation where one bears a striking resemblance to the other. Capitalism run rampant tends to look the same. Which is why America has turned fascist, as it was and has been, as a slow conversion in it's public face.

Fascism has to HIDE itself inside of and via other cloaks... as it is known by the world that it is probably one of the most dangerous ideologies to ever emerge.

Openmindedskeptic

7th October 2013, 02:37

CIA contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden should be on a hit list rather than a list of names recently nominated for a Prize for Freedom of Thought. That was a joke made by former NSA director Michael Hayden. But his humor has sparked a wave of criticism. He told RT's Marina Portnaya he was misunderstood.

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Openmindedskeptic

10th October 2013, 23:56

'US unchained itself from constitution': Whistleblowers on RT after meeting Snowden

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Edward Snowden's revelations about the activities of NSA forced him to go on the run and seek sanctuary from US intelligence agencies. But it also won him a lot of support and praise. Just yesterday he received the Sam Adams prize for 'Integrity in Intelligence'. RT welcomes whistleblowers and activists Jesselyn Radack, Thomas Andrews Drake, Ray McGovern and Coleen Rowley in the studio. They saw the whistleblower in Moscow and presented him with the award.

Thanks to brave whistleblower Edward Snowden it appears the winds of change may finally be blowing here in the US.

Patriot Act author prepares bill to put NSA bulk collection 'out of business'

The conservative Republican who co-authored America's Patriot Act is preparing to unveil bipartisan legislation that would dramatically curtail the domestic surveillance powers it gives to intelligence agencies.

Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, who worked with president George W Bush to give more power to US intelligence agencies after the September 11 terrorist attacks, said the intelligence community had misused those powers by collecting telephone records on all Americans, and claimed it was time "to put their metadata program out of business".

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/10/nsa-surveillance-patriot-act-author-bill

Cidersomerset

14th October 2013, 14:51

http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.51.6/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png

10 October 2013 Last updated at 13:12

NSA deputy Chris Inglis pledges 'more transparency'By Gordon Corera

Security correspondent, BBC News

National Security Agency Deputy Director Chris Inglis testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on 18 June 2013

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70389000/jpg/_70389372_inglis.jpg

National Security Agency Deputy Director Chris Inglis discussed the agency's efforts
to increase transparency with the BBC The US electronic spy agency is committed
to being more transparent, a senior official has told the BBC.

In a rare interview on a recent visit to London, National Security Agency (NSA)
Deputy Director Chris Inglis spoke to the BBC about cyber-security.His comments
came in the wake of revelations about the agency's work from former contractor
Edward Snowden.Mr Snowden's leaks sparked a debate about secrecy and the scale
of the agency's powers.

In the interview, Mr Inglis said there was a need to consider the balance between
secrecy and transparency in order to have the public's confidence.

'Destructive acts'

With the world becoming more reliant on the internet, Mr Inglis outlined concerns
over three threats in cyberspace: the theft of intellectual property and secrets;
disruption of networks (for instance, attacks that have taken websites of American
banks offline in recent months); and destructive acts such as those that targeted
Saudi Aramco last year, destroying tens of thousands of computers.

NSA Deputy Director

Snowden's father arrives in Russia

"There is no failure of imagination in this space," he said of those seeking to exploit
the internet.

Dealing with threats requires more being done by both the private sector and the
government to better defend networks and deter adversaries, he said.

Responses to cyber attacks - such as those on American banks, which many
commentators believe came from Iran - needed to be carefully thought through and
might involve a range of tools, the NSA's number-two said.

"If at the end of the day we were to determine that those were attributable to
another nation state, then surely we might think that is then the crossing of a red
line," Mr Inglis said. "But the response should be proportionate," adding that it may
come from the private sector rather than government.

Dealing with commercial espionage in cyberspace, he said, might also involve a
range of measures including private or public diplomatic pressure and the targeting
of individuals for criminal prosecution.

The job of the NSA, Mr Inglis said, was to exploit networks to collect intelligence in
cyberspace and to defend certain networks - but not carry out destructive acts.

"NSA had a responsibility from way back, from our earliest days, to both break
codes and make codes," he said. "We have a responsibility to do intelligence in a
space we once called the telecommunications arena - now cyberspace - and the
responsibility to make codes or to defend signals communications of interest.

"That's different than what most people conceive as offence or attack in this space."

'People are nervous'

That task of destructive cyber attack, if ordered, lies with the US military's rapidly
expanding Cyber Command.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70389000/jpg/_70389369_alexander.jpg

National Security Agency Director General Keith Alexander and NSA Deputy
Director John Chris Inglis testified on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on 18 June
2013 National Security Agency Director General Keith Alexander (right) testified
before the House Select Intelligence Committee in June 2013 However, both the
NSA and Cyber Command are led by the same man - General Keith Alexander -
because the three fields of exploiting, defending and attacking are closely related.

"We realised a long time ago that the predicate for all those actions is first
understanding how cyberspace works," Mr Inglis said. "Second: finding, fixing,
holding in your mind's eye the thing that you would either defend, or exploit or
attack. And then - and only then - do you make that final choice about what you
are going to do about that.

"At least in the military component, the US has chosen to invest all those things in
a single person such that that person may then orient and synchronise those
activities in a way that they complement each other."

Mr Inglis has worked for more than 25 years in the NSA, the last seven as deputy
director, the highest-ranking civilian.

There is no doubt that the last few months will have been the most difficult as the
NSA - which was so secret people used to joke that its initials stood for "no such
agency" - has been thrust into an uncomfortable spotlight by the leaks by Mr
Snowden.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70389000/jpg/_70389629_62cfb13a-e80f-4c66-a693-ffff407f59f8.jpg
NSA headquarters, Fort Meade, Maryland The NSA is based at Fort Meade outside Washington DC

"I do think there needs to be more transparency," Mr Inglis told the BBC.

"We've had a discussion many times across the summer about the need to perhaps
rebalance the balance between national security and civil liberties," he said.

"I don't think that is the case. I think that both of those must be given equal and
full support. I don't think that we trade one for the other.

"But I do think we have to consider the balance between secrecy and transparency
in order to have the public's confidence or [that of] those who stand in the shoes of
the public and act on their behalf, say in the Congress," Mr Inglis added. "There
needs to be greater transparency and we are committed to that."

The revelations from Mr Snowden have indicated a scale of capability that has
surprised even close observers of the NSA and its British partner GCHQ, and this
has raised concerns over whether the capabilities are sufficiently accountable.

"I can appreciate that people are nervous," Mr Inglis said.

"And we ourselves at NSA need to respect that and therefore offer up whatever is
necessary in terms of transparency to secure the confidence of our overseers and
beyond them the American public - and for that matter allies."

Decryption denial

One of the tensions for the NSA over many years is the balance between its two
roles of defending networks and exploiting them for intelligence.

Edward Snowden Edward Snowden fled to Russia this year with a wealth of secret
data about the NSA The most controversial revelation within the cyber security
community was the claim that the NSA had been deliberately weakening some of
the security protocols surrounding encryption, either by introducing back doors or
by modifying international standards to ensure it could gain access to gather
intelligence on its targets.

"What we have found over time is that our adversaries are using precisely the same
communication systems, services, pathways as our citizens," Mr Inglis told the BBC.

"But in pursuing our adversaries we must also defend our citizens," he said. "We
must not hold them at risk. And so we do try to crack the encryption used by
terrorists and other adversaries in that system. We need to make sure that we do
not hold at risk the encryption that is used by US citizens."

"So that's rule one and we do in fact find ways to do precisely that," he added. "It
is false to imagine or say that NSA broadly has the capability to decrypt most of the
encryption that is used by any citizen in the world but in particular US citizens."

The revelations by the Guardian newspaper that the NSA was collecting metadata
about US communications raised concerns that the agency was getting involved in
domestic surveillance.

Mr Inglis argued that this collection operated under constraints.

"Beyond saying that I'm not Big Brother I think we are committed to demonstrating
we are not Big Brother," he said, adding that this would involve illuminating the
controls on the NSA's actions and performance statistics on those controls.

Even beyond the revelations by Mr Snowden, the role of the NSA in cyberspace and
the resulting questions of where responsibility lies for defence, intelligence
gathering and attack mean the agency is unlikely to be able to retreat back into the
secrecy that it enjoyed for so long.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24470450

Cidersomerset

14th October 2013, 14:57

http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.51.6/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png

11 October 2013 Last updated at 12:16

Snowden leaks 'worst ever loss to British intelligence'

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70414000/jpg/_70414952_70358375.jpg

Sir David Omand Sir David called the leaks the "most catastrophic ever"

Leaked surveillance programme details have been the "most catastrophic loss to
British intelligence ever", a senior UK security expert has said.

Former No 10 adviser Sir David Omand said he assumed data leaked by ex-US
intelligence worker Edward Snowden was being analysed by Russia and China.

He said the breach was worse than that by the Cambridge spy ring in the 1950s.

The Guardian has said it will continue to publish leaks by Mr Snowden, who is now
in Russia.

Meanwhile, Business Secretary Vince Cable said the newspaper had performed "a
very considerable public service" - appearing to contradict his party leader Nick
Clegg who described the publication of the leaks as damaging.

But former Home Secretary Jack Straw hit out at the Guardian saying its stance
was "indulgent irresponsibility" which did not help protect the public.

'Proper oversight'

Sir David, the former head of the UK's communications surveillance centre GCHQ,
told the Times: "You have to distinguish between the original whistleblowing intent
to get a debate going, which is a responsible thing to do, and the stealing of 58,000
top-secret British security documents and who knows how many American
documents, which is seriously, seriously damaging.

"The assumption the experts are working on is that all that information or almost
all of it will now be in the hands of Moscow and Beijing.

"It's the most catastrophic loss to British intelligence ever, much worse than
Burgess and Maclean."

Donald Duart Maclean and Guy Burgess were among a group of British officials who
met at Cambridge University and passed information to the Soviet Union during
World War II and into the 1950s, other notable members being Kim Philby and
Anthony Blunt.

In May, Mr Snowden leaked information to the Guardian about mass surveillance
programmes such as the US National Security Agency's Prism and GCHQ's Tempora
operations.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/63723000/jpg/_63723066_maclean_burgess_ap_comp.jpg

Cambridge Spies Donald Maclean, left, and Guy Burgess, right Maclean, left, and
Burgess passed western secrets to the Soviet Union.

Mr Cable told BBC Radio 4' Today programme: "I think Mr Snowden's contribution
is two-fold. One is a positive one - the whistleblowing, the other is more worrying
which is a large amount of genuinely important intelligence material does seem to
have been passed across.

"We do need to have proper political oversight of the intelligence services and
arguably we haven't until now."

On Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Mr Clegg said stories in the Guardian about
GCHQ "would have been of immense interest to people who want harm".

There was however a legitimate debate to be had about the use of mass
surveillance programmes, he added.

Earlier this year, the government's Intelligence and Security committee's powers to
scrutinise the work of the security services were increased.

But a source close to Mr Clegg denied a suggestion made by Mr Cable on Today
that the deputy prime minister was seeking a specific review of the system of
political oversight of the intelligence services.

He said that in the coming months there would only be discussions within
government about some of the issues thrown up the Snowden case.

Mr Straw's comments came in an interview to be broadcast on the BBC's Sunday
Politics Wales.

He said the Guardian had a "sense of power of having these secrets and
excitement... about these secrets has gone to their heads".

"They are blinding themselves about the consequence and also showing an
extraordinary naivety and arrogance in implying that they are in a position to judge
whether or not particular secrets which they publish are - are or not - likely to
damage the national interest," said Mr Straw.

Temporary asylum

On Tuesday the director general of the security service MI5, Andrew Parker, warned
in a speech the disclosure of the "reach and limits" of GCHQ's capabilities was
a "gift" to terrorists.

Mr Parker dismissed suggestions that the agencies were trawling through people's
private lives for anything that looked interesting as "utter nonsense".

Asked about Mr Parker's suggestion, Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger said: "They
will always say that. You read histories of intelligence and you go back to the 1990s
and the security people were saying the same."

Mr Snowden has been given temporary asylum in Russia. In the US, he faces
charges of theft of government property, unauthorised communication of national
defence information and wilful communication of classified intelligence.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24486649

Cidersomerset

14th October 2013, 15:05

Three similar articles, but are different.............

WikiLeaks releases video of Snowden in Moscow

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Published on 11 Oct 2013

Video of NSA leaker Edward Snowden surfaced late Friday. Snowden was last seen
on video back in June, when he appears on camera for The Guardian discussing the
reasons for releasing the details of the NSA's surveillance programs. Since then,
Snowden received asylum in Russia and just recently was awarded the Sam Adams
Associates for Integrity in Intelligence award. RT's Ameera David has more on the footage.

Z5Kc6Cp1HHw

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

lesFHt0Cs-U

Published on 12 Oct 2013

Edward Snowden hasn't been seen by the wider public since he received political
asylum in Russia until now. Wikileaks has released new footage of the NSA
whistleblower. They did not reveal exactly where it was filmed though, because of
concerns about his security.

Cidersomerset

14th October 2013, 15:18

Assange: Snowden safe but journalists dealing with him at risk

Julian assange explains why the US is miffed at being caught out blackmailing
Latin American countries and more......

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Published on 11 Oct 2013

Edward Snowden is safe in Russia, but the fates of journalists who helped him and
published his leaks are now of more concern for WikiLeaks, Julian Assange said in an
exclusive interview with RT Spanish 'Behind the News' host Eva Golinger

Openmindedskeptic

14th October 2013, 15:53

In a Democracy Now special, we spend the hour with four former U.S. intelligence officials -- all whistleblowers themselves -- who have just returned from visiting National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden in Russia. They are former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, former FBI agent Coleen Rowley, former National Security Agency senior executive Thomas Drake, and former U.S. Justice Department ethics advisor Jesselyn Radack, now of the Government Accountability Project. On Wednesday, the group presented Snowden with an award from the Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence. "In our visit, we told Edward Snowden that he had begun the debate by disclosing to American citizens what was going on -- this massive spying upon American citizens," Rowley says. "We were happy to tell him the debate has begun, but he is very concerned, and this is actually the reason he has sacrificed so much: he wants to see these laws, these secret interpretations of the law, I should say, fixed."

uH_bL5U0080

Cidersomerset

14th October 2013, 15:55

Jesse Ventura: Shutdown is 'despicable,' pardon Manning and Snowden

SvNxgqNIkBQ

Published on 2 Oct 2013

Politics has hijacked the United States and still lawmakers on both sides of the
aisle have yet to come closer to an agreement that would put nearly 1 million
government employees back to work. According to a recent poll, 72 percent
of Americans are opposed of the Republican strategy to shut down the
government in spite of "Obamacare." And as the dysfunction continues,
former Independent Governor Jesse Ventura sounds off on the Capitol Hill
shenanigans with RT's Sam Sacks.

Anchor

16th October 2013, 10:03

Evangeline Lilly narrates a nice summary of "the problem".

The visuals and mashup presentation here is pretty good if you have the time, and its a great summary of what has been exposed so far.

2YsZoqwRnKE

mountain_jim

16th October 2013, 13:25

Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who Snowden brought this to at the Guardian, is moving on to create his own news organization.

I have read Greenwald since he was a lowly blogger on his own self-published site, Unclaimed Territory, early in the Bush first term. His writings documenting the lawlessness and separate laws for ruling elites verses everyone else and the decline of mainstream journalism made him a must-read for me daily for over 10 years now.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/exclusive-glenn-greenwald-will-leave-guardian-to-create-new

http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/2013-10/enhanced/webdr06/15/16/enhanced-buzz-17387-1381867524-39.jpg

Exclusive: Glenn Greenwald Will Leave Guardian To Create New News Organization

The reporter who broke the NSA story promises “a momentous new venture.” A “very substantial new media outlet” with serious backing, he says. Updated.

Glenn Greenwald, the lawyer and blogger who brought The Guardian the biggest scoop of the decade, is departing the London-based news organization, for a brand-new, large-scale, broadly focused media outlet, he told BuzzFeed Tuesday.

Greenwald, 46, published revelations from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden about the extent of American and British domestic spying and about officials’ deception about its scope. He said he is departing for a new, “once-in-a-career dream journalistic opportunity” with major financial backing, the details of which will be public soon.

“My partnership with The Guardian has been extremely fruitful and fulfilling: I have high regard for the editors and journalists with whom I worked and am incredibly proud of what we achieved,” Greenwald said in an emailed statement. “The decision to leave was not an easy one, but I was presented with a once-in-a-career dream journalistic opportunity that no journalist could possibly decline.”

Greenwald said that because the news had leaked “before we were prepared to announce it, I’m not yet able to provide any details of this momentous new venture.” It will, he said, “be unveiled very shortly.”

A Guardian spokeswoman, Jennifer Lindenauer, also stressed that the writer and his news organization are parting on good terms — though she said The Guardian is “disappointed” to lose him.

“Glenn Greenwald is a remarkable journalist and it has been fantastic working with him,” Lindenauer said in an email. “Our work together over the last year has demonstrated the crucial role that responsible investigative journalism can play in holding those in power to account. We are of course disappointed by Glenn’s decision to move on, but can appreciate the attraction of the new role he has been offered. We wish him all the best.”

The Guardian, with a tradition of rigorous, crusading, liberal reporting and experience with two extremely sensitive international investigative stories — WikiLeaks and the News Corp. phone-tapping scandals — was in some ways a perfect home for Greenwald’s reporting, which in turn offered a huge boost to The Guardian’s American and global prestige.

But Greenwald never functioned as a typical employee of a news organization. He told BuzzFeed in August that he had not shared all of Snowden’s files with The Guardian, and that “only [filmmaker] Laura [Poitras] and I have access to the full set of documents which Snowden provided to journalists.” The Guardian, facing intense pressure from the British government, has continued to publish Snowden’s revelations at a deliberate pace in recent weeks; but Greenwald has moved more quickly on his own, publishing stories in Brazil and India. He said recently that he will also publish stories soon in Le Monde.

Greenwald declined to comment on the precise scale of the new venture or on its budget, but he said it would be “a very well-funded … very substantial new media outlet.” He said the source of funding will be public when the venture is officially announced.

Politico reported later Tuesday that a “philanthropist” would fund the venture. A spokesman for George Soros, perhaps the most famous philanthropist of the American left, ruled Soros out as the backer. “They have had no contact,” Soros spokesman Michael Vachon said of Greenwald.

“My role, aside from reporting and writing for it, is to create the entire journalism unit from the ground up by recruiting the journalists and editors who share the same journalistic ethos and shaping the whole thing — but especially the political journalism part — in the image of the journalism I respect most,” he said.

Greenwald will continue to live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he said, and would bring some staff to Rio, but the new organization’s main hubs will be New York City; Washington, D.C.; and San Francisco, he said.

The venture, which he said had “hired a fair number of people already,” will be “a general media outlet and news site — it’s going to have sports and entertainment and features. I’m working on the whole thing but the political journalism unit is my focus.”

Greenwald said he looked forward to creating a new organization with “no preexisting institutional strictures on what you can do.”

And he said his move is driven solely by the opportunity presented.

“When people hear what it is, there is almost no journalist who would say no to it,” he said.

Cidersomerset

17th October 2013, 22:07

NSA is collecting Americans' online contact list in

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Published on 16 Oct 2013

National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden released more documents this week
about another of the agency's bulk data collection programs. This time around, the NSA is
collecting data on millions of e-mail address books and instant messaging "buddy lists,"
including those belonging to Americans. The NSA doesn't need legal justification for this
program because the data is stored in overseas servers belonging to e-mail services, like
Google or Yahoo, or social media sites, like Facebook. The NSA is collecting the information
as it is transmitted into the US. RT's Sam Sacks has more on Snowden's latest NSA leaks.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Snowden leak: NSA heavily involved in CIA's drone warfar

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Published on 17 Oct 2013

The latest leaked documents by National Security Agency whistleblower
Edward Snowden show the extent the NSA has been involved with CIA
counterterrorism activities, specifically drone strikes. In the past, the
drone-strike program was presented as an exclusive initiative of the
CIA, but the Snowden documents show that the program depends
heavily on the NSA's ability to collect information from e-mails, phone
calls and a myriad of other sources. In the meantime, Snowden's father
Lon was able to visit the former government contractor in Russia this week,
and arrived back in the US on Wednesday. RT's Ameera David has the
NSA's response to the leaks about their involvement in drone warfare,
as well as the advice Lon Snowden gave his son.

Cidersomerset

17th October 2013, 22:11

Grilling Guardian: 'Cameron declares war on investigative journalism'

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Published on 17 Oct 2013

The British Prime Minister has called for an investigation into
whether the Guardian newspaper broke the law - by publishing
the Edward Snowden leaks that sent shockwaves about American
surveillance worldwide. A parliamentary committee is now
looking into it. Tony Gosling joins RT to discuss David Cameron's
gunning for The Guardian.

Anchor

17th October 2013, 22:30

If the law is not clear enough to know easily if it has been broken or not in this context, the I would say it is a bad law.

One can conclude then that this is a witch hunt/retaliation.

It aims sends a very clear message to any media that seeks to step out of line.

(I think I am stating the obvious here - this is not supreme insight is it?)

Prodigal Son

17th October 2013, 22:54

Well, the jury was out for awhile, but as far as I'm concerned, Edward Snowden (SnowJOB) is a confirmed controlled disinfo shill/CIA asset, and here's why:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/to-hunt-osama-bin-laden-satellites-watched-over-abbottabad-pakistan-and-navy-seals/2013/08/29/8d32c1d6-10d5-11e3-b4cb-fd7ce041d814_story.html

The disclosures about the hunt for the elusive founder of al-Qaeda are contained in classified documents that detail the fiscal 2013 “black budget” for U.S. intelligence agencies, including the NSA and the CIA. The documents, provided to The Washington Post by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, make only brief references to the bin Laden operation. But the mission is portrayed as a singular example of counterterrorism cooperation among the U.S. government’s numerous intelligence agencies.

Eight hours after the raid, according to the documents, a forensic intelligence laboratory run by the Defense Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan had analyzed DNA from bin Laden’s corpse and “provided a conclusive match” confirming his identity. The budget further reveals that satellites operated by the National Reconnaissance Office performed more than 387 “collects” of high-resolution and infrared images of the Abbottabad compound in the month before the raid — intelligence that was “critical to prepare for the mission and contributed to the decision to approve execution.”

A "conclusive match" my A$$!! They still think we're a bunch of effin idiots!

Not a WORD about anything that really matters. Nothing about 911, nothing about the nuclear tsunami's in Indonesia and Japan, nothing about media hoaxes Sandy Hook, Batman, DC Navy Yard or Boston, nothing about Hurricane FrankenSandy, nothing about UFO disclosure, NADA! ZILCH! Just a bunch of crap we ALREADY KNEW!

A REAL whistleblower will never get widespread attention from the mainstream media.... NEVER!!

Anchor

17th October 2013, 23:56

Well, the jury was out for awhile, but as far as I'm concerned, Edward Snowden (SnowJOB) is a confirmed controlled disinfo shill/CIA asset, and here's why:
...
A REAL whistleblower will never get widespread attention from the mainstream media.... NEVER!!

For the, the balance of probabilities seems to suggest ES being the real deal. I dont see how this changes anything because we have not seen all the data. Also there may well be some self censoring going on on the part of those who are releasing ES's data.

Openmindedskeptic

18th October 2013, 00:07

Edward Snowden is legit. The NSA spying on everyone in the world is shocking enough. Why on Earth would the Guardian, Washington Post and New York Times discredit the serious information he's leaked by writing about UFO's?

mountain_jim

18th October 2013, 15:42

I also think he's legit. Just the fact he chose Greenwald tells me he was paying attention these last few years to who was doing the real journalism in the USofA. As was I.

I also suspect Greenwald and Laura Poitras might have more conspiracy-controversial stuff in there that they did not feel safe about releasing, yet. Or did not want to discredit the important info and resultant world awareness about the key, unconstitutional, immoral spying that they have already proved with the releases.

Now that Greenwald is moving on and it's clear the Guardian has been kneeling to pressure from the UK we will have to wait and see.

However, I suspect if Snowden had proof of 9/11 in his doc set everyone who came into contact with it would be dead by now.

The NSA may have kept it's deepest, darkest secrets (9/11, Bin Laden, etc.) a little closer to the vest such that only a very small cabal within had access to this info, I theorize.

Cidersomerset

19th October 2013, 10:23

http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.51.6/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png

18 October 2013 Last updated at 09:15

oUERDz421eE

Edward Snowden 'took no secret files to Russia'

Edward Snowden said he had acted in the public interest

US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has insisted he took no classified
documents to Russia when he fled to Moscow from Hong Kong in June.

He told the New York Times he had given all the papers to journalists in Hong Kong
and had kept no copies.Mr Snowden, who worked for two US spy agencies, also
said no confidential information had been passed to China.The US authorities want
Mr Snowden extradited to face trial, but Russia has refused to hand him over.
The Russian authorities gave him a one-year visa earlier this year after he claimed
asylum.Mr Snowden told the US newspaper that he did not take any of the
documents because it would not have been in the public interest.

Snowden leaks timeline
5 June: First leak published in the Guardian saying the NSA is collecting the
telephone records of millions of Americans
6 June: Details of the Prism programme published by Guardian and Washington Post
9 June: Guardian identifies Edward Snowden as source of the leaks, at his own request
14 June: US files criminal charges against Mr Snowden
23 June: Mr Snowden leaves Hong Kong for Moscow
12 July: Mr Snowden gives news conference saying he is seeking asylum in Russia
1 August: Mr Snowden leaves airport after being awarded Russian asylum
Who is Edward Snowden?
Leaks timeline
Q&A: Prism

"What would be the unique value of personally carrying another copy of the
materials onward," he said.Claims had surfaced in media reports that China was
likely to have gained some intelligence from the former National Security Agency
(NSA) contractor before he left Hong Kong.

Some analysts had suggested he was working with Chinese intelligence, while
others said he was working with the Russians.

But Mr Snowden rebuffed these claims, saying: "There's a zero per cent chance the
Russians or Chinese have received any documents."

He said his last job for the NSA had focused on China, and he had "access to every
target", so he felt confident that the data was safe from Chinese agencies.

The New York Times report said its interview was conducted over several days via
encrypted networks.

The information leaked by Mr Snowden has led to claims of systematic spying by
the NSA and CIA on a global scale of governments, businesses and members of the
public.

Targets have included rivals like China and Russia, as well as close allies like the EU
and Brazil.

The NSA was also forced to admit it captured email and phone data from millions of
Americans.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24577758

Cidersomerset

19th October 2013, 10:40

Snowden says he kept NSA documents from Russian, Chinese intelligence

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Published on 18 Oct 2013

National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden spoke out for the first time since
seeking asylum in Russia in an extensive, encrypted interview with James Risen of the
New York Times. Snowden denied accusations that he had leaked NSA secrets to the
Russians and Chinese, thereby committing treason. He said that he gave all the classified
documents to journalists in Hong Kong, and did not keep any copies for himself "because
it wouldn't serve the public interest." Last week, privacy advocates visited Snowden in
Russia, where he received the Sam Adams Award for Integrity in Intelligence Work.
RT's Ameera David speaks with Jesselyn Radack with the Government Accountability Project.

Cidersomerset

25th October 2013, 13:05

NSA spied on 35 world leaders' phones with help from White House

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Published on 24 Oct 2013

A new report by The Guardian says the NSA used information from the White
House, State Department and Pentagon to acquire - then monitor - the phone
numbers of 35 world leaders. On Wednesday, Germany became the latest ally to
protest the scope of the National Security Agency spying scandal, when Chancellor
Angela Merkel called President Barack Obama personally after finding out the NSA
may have wiretapped her cell phone. Germany joins France, China, India, Mexico
and Brazil as an ally the NSA targeted in its surveillance program. RT's Sam Sacks
talks to Lizzie Phelan, head of the newsroom for Ruptly, about the latest diplomatic
scandal brought on by the NSA leaks by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Cidersomerset

25th October 2013, 13:12

Gov. Gary Johnson slams NSA spying

8VMCCCl2EgQ

Published on 24 Oct 2013

The White House is defending its record against terrorism on two different fronts
this week. A report released by ProPublica on Wednesday calls into question the
National Security Agency's claim that its surveillance programs thwarted 54 terror
attacks. Several human rights organizations also released reports this week,
accusing the US government of conducting unlawful killings via its drone strike
programs in Yemen and Pakistan. RT's Sam Sacks asks former Libertarian
presidential candidate and New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson whether the drumbeat
against the government's tactics have reached a tipping point.

Cidersomerset

27th October 2013, 07:09

Stop Watching US: Largest anti-NSA rally scheduled for Saturday in DC

bTyw-9b7ddE

Published on 25 Oct 2013

Thousands of civil liberties activists are planning a rally in Washington, DC on Saturday
to tell the US government to stop infringing on citizens' right to privacy through the
extensive monitoring of Americans' communications by the National Security Agency.
The rally, called Stop Watching Us, will also call for the government to "reveal the full
extent of the NSA spying program." Stop Watching Us has the support of former
whistleblowers, celebrities and Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower who started
the controversy. RT's Ameera David speaks with Shahid Buttar, executive director of
the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, about the rally, and what changes supporters
are looking to enact from the protest.

Cidersomerset

27th October 2013, 07:19

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26 October 2013 Last updated at 22:35

US bugged Merkel's phone from 2002 until 2013, report claims

Vid on link......

Emily Thomas reports on protests in Washington

The US has been spying on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone since
2002, according to a report in Der Spiegel magazine.

The German publication claims to have seen secret documents from the National
Security Agency which show Mrs Merkel's number on a list dating from 2002 -
before she became chancellor.

Her number was still on a surveillance list in 2013.

Meanwhile Washington has seen a protest against the NSA's spying programme.

Several thousand protesters marched to the US Capitol to demand a limit to the
surveillance. Some of them held banners in support of the fugitive former
contractor Edward Snowden, who revealed the extent of the NSA's activities.

'No-spy deal'

The nature of the monitoring of Mrs Merkel's mobile phone is not clear from the
files, Der Spiegel says.

For example, it is possible that the chancellor's conversations were recorded, or
that her contacts were simply assessed.

Germany is sending its top intelligence chiefs to Washington in the coming week
to "push forward" an investigation into the spying allegations, which have caused
outrage in Germany.

On Friday, Germany and France said they want the US to sign a no-spy deal by the
end of the year.

As well as the bugging of Mrs Merkel's phone, there are claims the NSA has
monitored millions of telephone calls made by German and French citizens.

Demonstrators hold signs supporting fugitive former NSA contractor Edward
Snowden as they gather for the "Stop Watching Us: A Rally Against Mass
Surveillance" near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, October 26, 2013

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70735000/jpg/_70735492_019772605-1.jpg
In Washington demonstrators marched against the NSA's surveillance Details

This scandal has caused the biggest diplomatic rift between Germany and the US in
living memory.

A close ally of Mrs Merkel told the BBC that she was personally very hurt by the
idea of being spied on by American friends.

The chancellor is said to be shocked that Washington may have engaged in the sort
of spying that she had to deal with while growing up in Communist East Germany.

The documents seen by Der Spiegel give further details of the NSA's targeting of
European governments.

A unit called Special Collection Services, based in the US embassy in Pariser Platz in
Berlin, was responsible for monitoring communications in the German capital's
government quarter.

If the existence of listening stations in US embassies were known, there would
be "severe damage for the US's relations with a foreign government," the
documents said.

Similar units were based in around 80 locations worldwide, according to the
documents seen by Der Spiegel, 19 of them in European cities.

The US government had a second German spy base in Frankfurt am Main, the
magazine reports.

Mrs Merkel phoned the US president when she first heard of the spying allegations
on Wednesday.

President Barack Obama promised Mrs Merkel he knew nothing of the alleged
phone monitoring, the magazine reports. He apologised to the German chancellor,
it said.

The scandal has caused the biggest diplomatic rift between Germany and the US in
living memory, reports the BBC's Damien McGuinness in Berlin.

Mrs Merkel - an Americophile who was awarded the US Presidential Medal of
Freedom in 2011 - is said to be shocked that Washington may have engaged in the
sort of spying she had to endure growing up in Communist East Germany.

The US embassy (R) is seen next to the landmark Brandenburg Gate in Berlin (25
October 2013) The US embassy, near Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, was used to
monitor communications, the documents suggest

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24690055

Cidersomerset

27th October 2013, 07:45

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new Sunday 27th October 2013 at 06:42 By David Icke

UK PM defends spy agencies amid anger over US snooping
British Prime Minister David Cameron

Sat Oct 26, 2013 4:4PM GMT

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British Prime Minister David Cameron has defended the work of the intelligence
agencies amid growing public anger over US spying activities.

Speaking after an European Union (EU) summit in Brussels on Friday, Cameron
claimed that the tactics used by British intelligence agencies had helped to keep
people “safe” and protect European citizens from “terrorist” attacks.

He also accused American whistleblower Edward Snowden and newspapers which
publish his leaks of putting people’s lives at risk, warning that they were making it
difficult to keep people safe.

“What Snowden is doing - and to an extent, what the newspapers are doing in
helping him doing what he is doing - is frankly signaling to people who mean to do
us harm how to evade and avoid intelligence and surveillance,” Cameron said.

This comes after Snowden revealed information about the US National Security
Agency’s (NSA) espionage activities targeting friendly countries.

The daily Guardian reported on Thursday that the NSA had monitored the telephone
conversations of 35 world leaders.

Earlier in June, Snowden leaked two top secret US government spying programs,
under which the NSA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are
eavesdropping on millions of American and European phone records and the
Internet data from major Internet companies such as Facebook, Yahoo, Google,
Apple, and Microsoft.

The US intelligence whistleblower also admitted his role in the leaks in a 12-minute
video recorded interview published by the Guardian.

The classified documents revealed that Britain’s eavesdropping agency Government
Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) was secretly accessing the network of
cables, which carry the world’s phone calls and internet traffic and has been sharing
the data with the NSA.

Cameron said last week the NSA files, leaked by Snowden to the paper, have
damaged the UK's national security.

Speaking during prime minister's questions in the House of Commons, he also
urged MPs to investigate whether the newspaper has broken the law by publishing
secrets leaked by former CIA employee.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/10/26/331424/uk-pm-defends-work-of-spy-agencies/
====================================================
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British Prime Minister David Cameron reluctantly signs an EU statement deploring the US illegal spying operations.
Sun Oct 27, 2013 1:37AM GMT

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The UK government has reluctantly, but without opposition, endorsed a European
Union (EU) statement in which the member states voiced “deep concern” over
Washington’s illegal spying activities on its allies and adversaries alike.

The common EU statement was drafted by Germany and France to demand the
White House sign a “code of conduct” with Europe to make it impossible for the US
spying apparatus to conduct surveillance into all members of the European Union.

The German and French governments were also seeking to isolate Britain due to its
close cooperation with the US in global spying operations exposed by former CIA
contractor and fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden in leaks to the London-
based The Guardian newspaper.

The statement came after fresh revelations showed that a US listening post in
Berlin had been tapping into German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone.

Merkel told a Brussels summit on the conduct of US snooping activities that the
world now needs new international agreements to hold spy agencies in check.

The UK foreign spying apparatus, MI6, meanwhile, stands accused of spying on
Italy. Prime Minister David Cameron, who was attending the same summit, was
forced by 27 other European leaders to sign the common EU statement.

Angela Merkel described David Cameron’s endorsement of the EU statement
as “silent acquiescence”.

“David Cameron was present at the discussion. He listened to it. He wasn’t against
it. That is silent acquiescence as far as I go,” she said.

“Heads of state or government discussed recent developments concerning possible
intelligence issues and the deep concerns that these events have raised among
European citizens,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), which is the
UK’s domestic spying apparatus and works in parallel with the MI5, is revealed to
have been making every attempt to prevent legal challenges against it over its
illegal spying operations.

Snowden’s new revelations show the extent to which the GCHQ felt frightened of
being challenged under the Human Rights Act if details of its attacks on privacy
were leaked.

Earlier leaks indicated that the GCHQ had been running a massive project
entitled “Tempora” under which the spying agency had been able to intercept and
save for up to 30 days huge amounts of data including emails, social network posts,
phone calls and much more culled from international under-sea fiber-optic cables.

http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/

Cidersomerset

27th October 2013, 08:21

'Adult Supervision Required': NSA are 'middle-schoolers run amok'

13xXh4mD5Tk

Published on 26 Oct 2013

Word of the far-reaching NSA surveillance is still echoing throughout Europe
and will likely do major damage to the transatlantic relationship, with many
Europeans questioning their faith in US President Obama, former CIA officer
Ray McGovern told

Cidersomerset

27th October 2013, 08:26

'Wiretap double standards: Outcry as elite spied on, not citizens'

f7Cu6_S-QGE

Published on 25 Oct 2013

Spain has summoned the US ambassador, over the latest reports of NSA eavesdropping.
The agency's allegedly been snooping on Spanish government officials and the targets
may have included the Prime Minister. For more on the surveillance scandal, RT is joined
live by the leader of the UK Pirate Party, Loz Kaye.

Cidersomerset

27th October 2013, 08:33

Stop Watching Us: Largest privacy rally in US history hits DC

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Published on 26 Oct 2013

Crowds are flooding Capitol Hill in Washington DC, venting their fury against
the NSA's sweeping surveillance practices. The organisers say it's the largest
pro-privacy rally in US history

Cidersomerset

27th October 2013, 08:41

GCHQuestions: Snowden files reveal spy agency's efforts to escape legal challenge

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Published on 26 Oct 2013

British intelligence has been trying desperately to keep its surveillance practices
secret - wary of public anger and legal challenges. That's emerged from internal
documents leaked by Edward Snowden, and obtained by the Guardian newspaper.
But as RT's Sara Firth reports, the spy agencies' worst fears are already coming
true. To discuss the controversial techniques used by British intelligence, and the
ongoing backlash, former MI5 agent Annie Machon joins RT.

Cidersomerset

28th October 2013, 17:36

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US 'used its Yorkshire base to spy on Merkel' claims whistleblower
RAF Menwith Hill, run by NSA, is the biggest surveillance facility in Europe
Claims by US whistleblower J. Kirk Wiebe dragged Britain into scandal
Base works closely with Britain’s own top-secret listening station, GCHQ

By Caroline Graham and Robert Verkaik

PUBLISHED: 22:49, 26 October 2013 | UPDATED: 11:24, 27 October 2013

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The United States used a British spy base to listen in on the phone calls of Angela
Merkel and 35 other world leaders, it was claimed last night.RAF Menwith Hill in
North Yorkshire, which is run by America’s National Security Agency (NSA), is the
biggest surveillance and interception facility in Europe.The base analyses satellite
signals as well as mobile phone and electronic data from private individuals,
governments and corporations. Concern: RAF Menwith Hill in Yorkshire has now
been dragged inot the intelligence scandal Last week it was reported that American
spies had been listening in on the phone conversations of dozens of world leaders.

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Claim: NSA whistleblower J Kirk Wiebe implicated the British base

The allegations led Mrs Merkel to call Barack Obama and ask him to account for his
agents’ actions. Now fresh claims by US whistleblower J. Kirk Wiebe, who worked
for the NSA for 30 years, have dragged Britain into the scandal.Mr Wiebe believes
US agents used the base to intercept the German leader’s phone calls – with the
full knowledge of British officials.He told The Mail on Sunday it was likely agents at
Menwith Hill ‘either directly collected the data or would have processed data’ from
the bugged calls before sending the information back to Washington.

Mr Wiebe, who left the NSA in 2001 over fears it was illegally gathering ‘huge
swathes’ of electronic data from citizens in the US and globally, said: ‘If the
information didn’t come from there, it is almost a certainty that it would have been
processed there.’

He added: ‘Everything goes through there to be analysed before the information is
sent back to Washington.’

Menwith Hill, which has 33 distinctive golf ball-shaped ‘radomes’ to house satellite
dishes, was effectively handed over to the Americans in the 1950s in recognition of
the important intelligence-sharing relationship between the two countries. The base
works closely with Britain’s own top-secret listening station, GCHQ in Cheltenham.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/10/26/article-2477684-18A2F3B000000578-441_634x438.jpg
Committee: Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said there
needed to be a 'robust and easily understood legal system of control'

Any information processed or analysed at Menwith Hill is then sent back to NSA
headquarters in Fort Meade, Washington. The Ministry of Defence insists Ministers
are ‘fully briefed on the activities at RAF Menwith Hill’.But concerns have long been
expressed about the lack of scrutiny US spying operations face when they are
carried out on British soil.Responding to calls for greater transparency, the
Commons’ Intelligence and Security Committee – whose members are among a
select group of British politicians with security clearance to visit the site – has
promised to review the laws that keep a check on intelligence-gathering by Britain.
Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell, one of the MPs who sits on
the committee, said there needed to be a ‘robust and easily understood legal
system of control’.

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Listening in: Last week it was reported that the USA had listened in on world
leaders including Angela Merkel (pictured)He told The Mail on Sunday that the
current system of regulation was set up before some of the ‘far-reaching
capabilities of intelligence-gathering’ were in existence.

Sir Menzies said: ‘Parliament must therefore be ready to review whether the
existing legislation is good enough. When it comes to relations with other countries
there is a well-established relationship between the five eyes – the UK, USA,
Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

‘Of these relationships, the one between the UK and the US is by far the strongest.
But no matter the strength of any relationship, the responsibility for legality and for
review must always rest with domestic government.’

Documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in June revealed how
spies based at Menwith Hill managed to intercept Dmitry Medvedev’s calls as the
former Russian president visited Britain for the G20 summit in 2009. But Mr
Wiebe’s claim suggests that the base is used to intercept calls from politicians all
over Europe, not just those who are visiting the UK. The Ministry of Defence
said: ‘We do not comment on intelligence matters.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2477684/US-used-Yorkshire-base-spy-Angela-Merkel-claims-whistleblower.html#ixzz2j2UqH8wj
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Cidersomerset

28th October 2013, 21:56

First rule of global spying: Don't spy on the elites

ico-QUhruTA

Published on 28 Oct 2013

Anger is coming from across the Atlantic as Germany and other EU nations
demand answers from the NSA over alleged spying on heads of state. But
this anger is a far cry from the support coming from Germany a few months
ago after a Snowden leak showed the NSA was scooping up a half billion
communications of average German citizens every month with the cooperation
of German intelligence. So does that mean there's a new rule when it comes
to global spying: spy on average citizens all you want, just don't spy on the
political elite? RT's Sam Sacks looks into it.

Cidersomerset

28th October 2013, 22:09

Brazen Bugging: NSA tapped into Merkel's phone

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Published on 28 Oct 2013

Merkel made her outrage clear in a recent phone call to Obama.She said such
monitoring practices would be a 'breach of trust' - if confirmed.The Chancellor
also said that 'spying among friends does not work'.Obama apologized - and
insisted he had no previous knowledge that the NSA had been tracking her.
Merkel had been targeted by the agency for over a decade - according to the
latest leaked documents.European leaders are now pushing for a new
"spy code of conduct" with the U.S.Let's talk more on this with Sevim Dagdelen,
a lawmaker from Germany's Left Party.

Cidersomerset

28th October 2013, 22:13

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28 October 2013 Last updated at 16:36

Spain demands US explain 'monitoring'

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Spain has urged the US to give details of any eavesdropping, amid reports it
monitored 60 million Spanish telephone calls in a month.The US ambassador to
Spain, who had been summoned by its EU minister, vowed to clear the "doubts"
that had arisen about his country's alleged espionage. The minister, Inigo Mendez
de Vigo, said such practices, if true, were "inappropriate and unacceptable".
An EU delegate in Washington said there had been "a breakdown of trust".
Representatives from the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties,
Justice and Home Affairs spoke to members of the US Congress about the alleged
US spying on European leaders and citizens.

"We wanted to transmit to them first that this mass surveillance of EU citizens is a
genuine concern," British Labour MEP Claude Moraes, a member of the delegation,
told the BBC after the meetings.

"I think they're listening to that. They want to have some sort of dialogue."

But Mr Moraes said he and his fellow delegates were unsatisfied with the "stock"
responses from US officials on the issue.

"They're giving us answers, but not the answers we want," he said. "We're getting
a bit tired of this, 'Well, spying has always existed.'"

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is also sending intelligence officials to
Washington to demand answers to claims that her phones were tapped for a
decade.German media reported that the US had bugged Ms Merkel's phone for
more than a decade - and that the surveillance only ended a few months ago.
The German government hoped that trust between the two countries could be
restored, a spokesman told a news conference in Berlin.

"It would be disturbing if these suspicions turned out to be true. But Germany and
the United States can solve this problem together," Steffen Seibert said.

"We will vigorously push ahead with the clarification of this case especially because
we have a great interest in a good German-American relationships."

Meanwhile, a Japanese news agency says the US National Security Agency (NSA)
asked the Japanese government in 2011 to help it monitor fibre-optic cables
carrying personal data through Japan, to the Asia-Pacific region. The reports,
carried by Kyodo, say that this was intended to allow the US to spy on China, but
that Japanese officials refused, citing legal restrictions and a shortage of personnel.

Contents 'not recorded'

The latest allegation, published by Spain's El Mundo newspaper, is that the NSA
tracked tens of millions of phone calls, texts and emails of Spanish citizens, in
December 2012 and January 2013. The monitoring allegedly peaked on 11
December.

The White House has so far declined to comment on the El Mundo report.

It is not clear how the alleged surveillance was carried out, whether it was through
monitoring fibre-optic cables, data obtained from telecommunication companies, or
other means.

The NSA is reported to have collected the sender and recipient addresses of emails,
along with their IP addresses, the message file size, and sometimes the top or
subject line of the message. For each telephone call, the numbers of the caller and
recipient are believed to have been logged, as was its duration, time, date and
location.The contents of the telephone call itself, however, were not monitored, US
intelligence officials say. The NSA has also suggested it does not usually store the
geolocational information of mobile phone calls, which could determined by noting
which mobile signal towers were used.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24708410

Cidersomerset

28th October 2013, 23:40

UN steps in to rein in NSA surveillance

VKuEkWoDak0

Published on 28 Oct 2013

While Spain and Germany are the latest countries to complain to the US about
the scope of the National Security Agency's surveillance programs, 21 countries
(led by Germany and Brazil) are working together at the United Nations to rein
in the program. The UN General Assembly resolution being drafted would lay
out international surveillance rules moving forward. The resolution would guarantee
online privacy to civilians around the world. Meghan Lopez talks to RT's Anastasia
Churkina about the latest developments out of the UN.

Cidersomerset

29th October 2013, 19:43

'Publish & be damned!' Cameron threatens media over NSA leaks

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Published on 29 Oct 2013

British Prime Minister David Cameron has issued a veiled threat against media
organizations, calling on The Guardian and other outlets to stop publishing the
disclosures leaked by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden

Cidersomerset

29th October 2013, 19:49

'Cameron declared war on media over NSA leaks'

vbJ3ZVPzrZM

Published on 29 Oct 2013

The British government has warned it could resort to legal action,
to silence newspapers seeking to publish Edward Snowden's NSA
revelations. It's the latest in a string of attempts to block the release
of embarrassing documents. To talk more about the NSA revelations
and the UK government's attempts to curb them, I'm joined live now
from Bristol by investigative journalist Tony Gosling.

Cidersomerset

30th October 2013, 07:36

Europe mulls sanctions over NSA spying

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Published on 29 Oct 2013

The European Union is mulling sanctions on the US that would impede
the government's access to law enforcement tools that track the flow
of money associated with terrorism after revelations over the last week
that the National Security Agency has spied on the leaders of the
United States' closest allies in Europe. Sen. Dianne Feinsteinn (D-Calif.),
typically one of the NSA's staunchest defenders, condemned the practice
of spying on allied world leaders. Today, the House Intelligence Committee
held a hearing on Capitol Hill to discuss the role of the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act in the surveillance of American citizens. RT's Sam Sacks
reports live from the Hill.

KiwiElf

30th October 2013, 08:02

'Publish & be damned!' Cameron threatens media over NSA leaks

I wonder, WHY? ;)

Cidersomerset

30th October 2013, 17:22

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Glenn Greenwald asks Germany to protect Edward Snowden

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File photo showing American journalist Glenn Greenwald (L) and US whistleblower Edward Snowden (R)

Tue Oct 29, 2013 3:34PM GMT

The former Guardian reporter who broke the news of the National Security Agency's
(NSA) mass surveillance programs says Germany should protect former CIA spy
agency contractor Edward Snowden.

“Germany is precisely one of the countries that has benefited most from Snowden's
revelations, from the start,” Glenn Greenwald said in a report on public TV Monday.

This is while the German government is allowing “American authorities threaten
him and restrict his rights,” the American journalist added.

Greenwald also called on the German people to “ask themselves why their
government is acting this way and they should ask their government to ultimately
protect the basic liberties of Mr. Snowden effectively.”

Berlin need not be grateful “but it should do what it is lawfully bound to do, namely
protect people who are politically persecuted,” the Brazil-based writer said.

The statements follow a growing rift between the US and its international partners
as a response to Washington’s massive spying activities on telephone and online
communications of citizens and more than 35 world leaders, including German
Chancellor Angela Merkel. German officials said that the EU is considering a
possible imposition of sanctions including suspending a data-sharing agreement
with the US. Meanwhile, several German deputies have called for Snowden to give
testimony regarding the illegal spying practices of the NSA’s activities in Germany.

“To question Edward Snowden is obvious…He should be questioned,” Greenwald
said, adding that “he will not do it just like that, unless the German government
also champions protecting his basic rights.”

On November 18, the German parliament will assess the impact of mass US
surveillance including the alleged tapping of Merkel's phone.

Germany and Brazil are spearheading efforts to draft a resolution at the United
Nations General Assembly to condemn US spying on other countries. The measure
is gaining international support as 21 countries including France and Mexico have
so far joined talks to hammer out the resolution.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/331956.html

Cidersomerset

30th October 2013, 20:43

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30 October 2013 Last updated at 10:53 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page

US spy leaks: How intelligence is gatheredUS embassy in Berlin

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Documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden suggest the US government
has undertaken mass surveillance operations across the globe - including
eavesdropping on US allies.

The claims have led US Senate's intelligence committee to pledge to review the way
the country's biggest intelligence organisation - the National Security Agency
(NSA) - undertakes surveillance.

According to the leaks, what are the key methods the spy agency uses?

1. Accessing internet company data

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70783000/jpg/_70783499_prism_how_it_works_624.jpg

How the Prism system is reported to work
In June, the leaked documents revealed how the NSA had backdoor access to major
technology companies.The files showed the agency had access to the servers of
nine internet firms, including Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, in order to
track online communication under a surveillance programme known as Prism.
They claimed the project gave the NSA - along with the UK's eavesdropping station
GCHQ - access to email, chat logs, stored data, voice traffic, file transfers and
social networking data.However, the companies denied they had offered the
agency "direct access" to their servers. Some experts have also questioned Prism's
real power. Digital forensics professor Peter Sommer told the BBC such access may
be more akin to a "catflap" than a "backdoor", with intelligence agencies able to tap
into servers only to collect intelligence on a named target.

Yahoo logo Yahoo collects personal information when users sign up for products or
services including name, address, birth date, post code and occupation. It also
records information from users' computers, including IP addresses.

Google logo Personal details are required for sign-up to Google accounts, including
name, email address and phone number. Google email - Gmail - stores email
contacts and email threads for each account, which have a 10 GB capacity. Search
queries, IP addresses, telephone log information and cookies which uniquely
identify each account are also stored. Chat conversations are also collected unless a
user selects 'off the record' option.

Facebook logo Facebook requires personal information on sign-up, such as name,
email address, date of birth and gender. It also collects status updates, photos or
videos shared, wall posts, comments on others posts, messages and chat
conversations. Friends' names, and the email details of those friends who have
provided addresses on their profiles, are also recorded. Tagging information about
users from friends is recorded, and GPS or other location information is also stored.

Paltalk logo Paltalk is an instant chat, voice and video messaging service. Users
must provide contact information including email address. The company employs
cookies to track user behaviour, with the aim of delivering targeted advertising.

YouTube logo YouTube is owned by Google and the company applies the same
data collection methods. Users logged in via their Google accounts will have their
YouTube searches, playlists and subscriptions to other users' accounts recorded.

Skype logo Skype is part of Microsoft, and its instant messaging service replaced
Microsoft's Messenger this year. Users submit personal data including name,
username, address when signing up. Further profile information such as age,
gender and preferred language are also recorded as options. Contacts lists are
stored, as is location information from mobile devices. Instant messages, voicemail
and video messages are generally stored by Skype for between 30 and 90 days,
though users can opt to preserve their instant messaging history for longer.

AOL AOL collects personal information for users signing up or registering for its
products and services, but its privacy policy states that users who do not make
themselves known to the company by these methods are "generally anonymous."

Apple Users signing up for Apple ID's - required for services such as iTunes , or to
register products - must submit personal data including name, address, email
address and phone number. The company also collects information about the
people who Apple users share content with, including their names and and email
addresses.

Continue reading the main story
2. Tapping fibre optic cables

In June, further leaked documents from GCHQ published in the Guardian revealed
the UK was tapping fibre-optic cables carrying global communications and sharing
the data with the NSA, its US counterpart.The documents claimed GCHQ was able
to access 200 fibre-optic cables, giving it the ability to monitor up to 600 million
communications every day.

The information on internet and phone use was allegedly stored for up to 30 days in
order for it to be sifted and analysed.GCHQ declined to comment on the claims but
said its compliance with the law was "scrupulous".

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70797000/gif/_70797493_broadband_cables_624_coloured.gif

Graphic showing all international network of undersea fibre-optic cables
In October, the Italian weekly L'Espresso published claims that GCHQ and the NSA
had targeted three undersea cables with terminals in Italy, intercepting commercial
and military data.

The three cables in Sicily were named as SeaMeWe3, SeaMeWe4 and Flag Europe-Asia.

3. Eavesdropping on phones

In October, German media reported that the US had bugged German Chancellor
Angela Merkel's phone for more than a decade - and that the surveillance only
ended a few months ago.

Der Spiegel magazine, again quoting documents leaked by whistleblower Edward
Snowden, suggested the US had been spying on Mrs Merkel's mobile phone since 2002.

The documents quoted by the magazine claimed a US listening unit was based
inside its Berlin embassy - and similar operations were replicated in 80 locations
around the world.

Investigative journalist Duncan Campbell explains in his blog how windowless areas
on the outside of official buildings could be "radio windows". These external
windows - made of a special material that does not conduct electricity - allow radio
signals to pass through and reach collection and analysis equipment inside.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70784000/jpg/_70784115_70783504.jpg

US embassy in Berlin The German press has published claims that the US taps
communications from a small windowless room at its embassy in Berlin
Der Spiegel said the nature of the monitoring of Mrs Merkel's mobile phone was not
clear from the leaked files.

However, later reports claimed that two of the chancellors phones had been
targeted - one unencrypted phone she used for party business as well as her
encrypted device used for government work.

According to security experts, standard mobile phone encryption systems can be
vulnerable because their scrambling system is, in software terms, separate from
the program used to create a message.

It is possible for an eavesdropper to position themselves between the message-
making software and the encryption system at either end of a conversation and see
information before it is scrambled or after it is unscrambled.

End-to-end encryption, now adopted by many, closes this gap by having the
message-making software apply the scrambling directly. In addition, many of these
systems run a closed network so messages never travel over the public internet
and are only decrypted when they reach their intended recipient.

How encryption systems work

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End-to-end encryption
As well as the bugging of the chancellor's phone, there are claims the NSA has
monitored millions of telephone calls made by German and French citizens along
with the emails and phone calls of the presidents of Mexico and Brazil.

The Guardian later reported that the NSA had monitored the phones of 35 world
leaders after being given their numbers by another US government official. Again,
Edward Snowden was the source of the report.

4. Targeted spying

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Telecom network cables
Der Spiegel magazine published claims in June that the NSA had also spied on
European Union offices in the US and Europe.

The magazine said it had seen documents leaked by Edward Snowden showing that
the US had spied on EU internal computer networks in Washington and at the 27-
member bloc's UN office in New York.

The files allegedly suggested that the NSA had also conducted an eavesdropping
operation in a building in Brussels, where the EU Council of Ministers and the
European Council were located.

Then, in July, the Guardian published claims in further leaked documents that a
total of 38 embassies and missions had been "targets" of US spying operations.

Countries targeted included France, Italy and Greece, as well as America's non-
European allies such as Japan, South Korea and India, the paper said.

EU embassies and missions in New York and Washington were also said to be under
surveillance.

The file is said to have detailed "an extraordinary range" of spying methods used to
intercept messages. They included bugs, specialised antennae and wire taps.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24717495

Cidersomerset

30th October 2013, 20:54

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The Snowden leaks explained30 October 2013 Last updated at 00:19 GMT

The leaking of classified documents by former CIA and NSA contractor Edward Snowden continues to ignite controversy.

Since late May, a variety of news outlets have reported on the contents of those documents.

The BBC takes a look at just exactly what allegations have been levelled so far - and what response, if any, the US has given.

Short Video on link.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-24737793

Cidersomerset

31st October 2013, 07:33

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Vatican also targeted by NSA spying

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Cardinals stand on a balcony as Pope Francis, the new pope, is announced at the Vatican. (File photo)

Thu Oct 31, 2013 5:46AM GMT

The US National Security Agency (NSA) spied on cardinals ahead of a Vatican
conclave in March to elect a new pope, a report says.

Italy’s weekly magazine Panorama reported on Wednesday that the US spy agency
would listen in to phone calls to and from the Vatican. The NSA also wiretapped the
pope, the report added.

The NSA intercepted calls included those of the Vatican accommodation housing
cardinal, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, before he was elected Pope Francis.

“There are apparently also calls from and to the Vatican,” the Italian magazine said,
adding, “It is feared that the great American ear continued to tap prelates'
conversations up to the eve of the conclave.”

The Panorama report comes after surveillance website Cryptome recently stated
that the United States secret services intercepted more than 45 million phone calls
in Italy in December 2012 and January 2013.

The report also states that cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina had been a person of
interest to the US secret services “since 2005, according to Wikileaks.”

The magazine claimed that the eavesdropped conversations fell into four
categories, “leadership intentions”, “threats to financial systems”, “foreign policy
objectives” and “human rights.”

The allegations follow recent revelations indicating that the US spied on European
Union citizens, governments and politicians, including German Chancellor Angela
Merkel.

Concerns over US spying activities rose after Edward Snowden, a former NSA
contractor, leaked two top secret US government spying programs, under which the
NSA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are eavesdropping on millions of
American and European phone records and the Internet data from major Internet
companies such as Facebook, Yahoo, Google, Apple, and Microsoft.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/10/31/332202/vatican-also-targeted-by-nsa-spying/

Openmindedskeptic

31st October 2013, 13:20

Vatican also targeted by NSA spying

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/10/31/332202/vatican-also-targeted-by-nsa-spying/

This is outrageous! The NSA even spies on the Vatican! How does that make us any better than the radical Islamists our government claims to be fighting against?

Snowflower

31st October 2013, 14:29

Us? They aren't "us" even if we live in the same geographical location. They are not nationalists. The are corporatists, and corporatists are transnational.

Cidersomerset

31st October 2013, 19:57

Denial File: NSA claims EU Intel agencies willingly shared data

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Published on 30 Oct 2013

In the US, political opinion towards the spying practices that caused a storm of global criticism
looks to be shifting. Both Republicans and Democrats have called for reform of the NSA - with
lawmakers proposing a ban on the agency collecting data in bulk. The intelligence community
is however strongly opposed. Testifying before the House Intelligence Committee, NSA director
General Keith Alexander forcefully warned against limiting the surveillance program. This view
was echoed by the U.S. Intelligence Chief, who said reforms would lead to greater risks. This
is all happening against the backdrop of a growing diplomatic row - with America's EU allies
demanding answers over allegations their citizens and leaders were spied on. Our European
correspondent Tesa Arcilla brings the details. NSA claims that EU intelligence agencies willingly
shared data are backed by the latest leaks published in Spain. El Mundo - the paper that earlier
revealed more than sixty million calls were tracked by the NSA within a month - now says this
was done in collaboration with Spanish intelligence services.

Cidersomerset

31st October 2013, 20:03

Employ-Ed: Snowden gets job at major Russian website

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Published on 31 Oct 2013

Former US spy agency contractor, Edward Snowden, is set to start
working for an Internet site in Russia, according to his Russian lawyer.
The name of the website hasn't been disclosed for 'security reasons.

Cidersomerset

31st October 2013, 20:09

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31 October 2013 Last updated at 17:55

Net giants face NSA questions, says Tom Watson

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Tom Watson says the Guardian "acted courageously" over Snowden leaks Continue
reading the main story

Telecoms firms should say whether they were obliged by law to give spies access to
the world's main internet cables, a Labour MP said.Tom Watson pointed to
Washington Post stories claiming the National Security Agency could freely collect
data sent from Google and Yahoo email accounts.The newspaper said the NSA had
been aided by the UK's secret listening post GCHQ in Cheltenham.

Mr Watson said the firms should reveal how this was allowed to happen.

'Wonderful thing'

Speaking in a debate in Westminster Hall, he said: "The telecoms companies had to
have knowledge and probably collaborate with the procedure. Was any member of
the UK government aware of this?

"Let me be clear what the Washington Post are saying: telecoms companies have
been illicitly aiding the security services to tap into data being processed by
internet companies with whom they have a commercial relationship.

"These telecoms companies, who are the backbone of this wonderful thing called
the internet, that has allowed two decades of free expression and creativity to
explode into the lives of our citizens, have been operating in the shadows, to allow
our security services to tap all of it.

"The security services have clearly made the trade-off that intelligence obtained is
worth the invasion of privacy. They are judged on the quality of the intelligence
they obtain and little else.

"But I want to know if the telecoms companies have voluntarily entered into this

agreement or if they have been obliged to under UK or USA law."

'Courageously'

Mr Watson, a former minister for digital engagement and until recently Labour's
election campaign chief, said the Tempora data collection programme had
been "mining our internet communications data without public knowledge on a
colossal scale".

"We only know of the existence of the Tempora programme because of Edward
Snowden and the Guardian newspaper," he added.

"I think they have acted courageously in the public interest to uncover and reveal a
secret government programme that has gained access to the private
communications of millions of individuals without their knowledge."

Mr Watson sought assurances from Security Minister James Brokenshire that phone
records were handed to GCHQ and the NSA as a matter of routine.

Conservative MP Dominic Raab, a former Foreign Office lawyer who said he worked
with the intelligence services, warned about the "exponential" increase in
surveillance over British citizens.

'Sleepwalking'

He claimed the legal basis for the GCHQ Tempora programme was "thin at best",
adding: "Parliament certainly had no idea of the scale of the use of these powers."

Hitting back at claims by his own party leader, David Cameron, and other senior
ministers that the Guardian revelations had seriously harmed national security, Mr
Raab said: "If national security were materially breached, why hasn't anyone at the
Guardian been charged or even arrested since the search of their offices back in
July?"

Lib Dem MP Julian Huppert warned Britain was in danger of "sleepwalking" into a
surveillance state and called for an independent investigation "into powers already
available to the intelligence and security services" and whether they were too wide-
ranging.

He said the Guardian newspaper had been "deeply responsible" in its handling of
the Snowden leaks, liaising closely with officials to ensure national security was not
breached.

But Tory MP Ben Wallace, a former intelligence worker, questioned whether the
newspaper had a valid public interest defence in publishing the Snowden
revelations, beyond saying to its readers: "Look at how exciting technology is, look
what we can do".

"Well, that is not a public interest defence," he told MPs. "That's trying to sell more
newspapers."

Mr Wallace said Britain spied on other countries to protect itself and to further its
interests.He told MPs: "Not only do we do it well, we do it better than most across
the globe and it gives Britain a place at the top table."

He suggested companies such as Google and Facebook posed a greater risk to
personal data than the security services - yet he said he had not had any demands
from fellow MPs to regulate the private sector.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24755219

Cidersomerset

31st October 2013, 20:16

CrossTalk: Taming NSA?

A good discussion.......

v1vXhqO1_2A

Published on 30 Oct 2013

With the US global surveillance program under scrutiny,
what are the possible diplomatic and economic repercussions?
Is France and Germany's anger justified or is it being blown
out of proportion? Why would the US spy on its allies? And
is the US Department of Defense lying about economic
espionage? CrossTalking with Karen Hudes and Daniel McAdams.

Cidersomerset

31st October 2013, 20:55

Latest Snowden leak: NSA hacked into Google, Yahoo data streams

kHABoKE35j4

The National Security Agency has infiltrated the links between Yahoo and
Google data centers worldwide, according to the latest leaks by NSA
whistleblower Edward Snowden. Tapping into these links allows them
to secretly siphon off information from those companies' data streams.
The links between data centers are not encrypted, though Google
announced in September that they will begin encrypting their links.
Gen. Keith Alexander, head of the NSA, says that, to his knowledge,
this program does not exist. RT's Sam Sacks has more information on
how the latest revelations are different from the previously disclosed
Prism surveillance program.

Openmindedskeptic

31st October 2013, 21:23

Latest Snowden leak: NSA hacked into Google, Yahoo data streams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHABoKE35j4

The National Security Agency has infiltrated the links between Yahoo and
Google data centers worldwide, according to the latest leaks by NSA
whistleblower Edward Snowden. Tapping into these links allows them
to secretly siphon off information from those companies' data streams.
The links between data centers are not encrypted, though Google
announced in September that they will begin encrypting their links.
Gen. Keith Alexander, head of the NSA, says that, to his knowledge,
this program does not exist. RT's Sam Sacks has more information on
how the latest revelations are different from the previously disclosed
Prism surveillance program.
Thank you so much for posting this as this information should serve as a wake-up call to anyone on the planet who uses the Internet. The NSA and GCHQ are out of control and must be put back in check immediately.

Anchor

1st November 2013, 07:38

The links between data centers are not encrypted, though Google
announced in September that they will begin encrypting their links.

Not encrypting those links is, IMO, criminally negligent.

Cidersomerset

1st November 2013, 11:54

NSA accused of spying on the Pope

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Published on 31 Oct 2013

The National Security Agency spied on the internal communications of the Vatican,
along with the ingoing and outgoing phone calls of the future Pope Francis during
the papal conclave in March, according to Italian magazine Panorama. The NSA
categorized communications from Vatican City with titles such as "foreign policy
objectives" and "threats to the financial system." "We don't know anything about
this, and in any case we don't have any concerns about it," Father Federico Lombardi,
the director of the Holy See press office, said. The NSA denies the assertions from
Panorama. RT's Ameera David speaks with Jimmy Akin, senior apologist for
Catholic.com, about the Catholic Church's response to the allegations about the NSA.

Cidersomerset

1st November 2013, 11:59

Washington's Answers Don't Justify NSA Spying

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Published on 31 Oct 2013

EU diplomats who traveled to Washington over the NSA's spy program have
been left with their questions unanswered. The US insisted all the intelligence
gathered in Europe was related to warzones in the Middle East and would continue.

Cidersomerset

1st November 2013, 12:26

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1 November 2013 Last updated at 11:16

John Kerry: Some NSA spying went too far

US Secretary of State John Kerry has said that in some cases,
US spying has gone too far. Mr Kerry is the most senior Obama
administration official to have commented directly on an issue
that has upset America's European allies.He said he will work
with the president to prevent further inappropriate acts by the
National Security Agency.

His comments come as Asian countries have protested at claims
that Australia was involved in a US-led spy network.

China has demanded an explanation of the reports, while Indonesia
has summoned the Australian ambassador to Jakarta.

In other developments:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24768717

Cidersomerset

1st November 2013, 15:03

1 November 2013 Last updated at 13:19

Germany hopes for Snowden meeting on US spying

The German government says it is keen to hear directly from the fugitive NSA
whistleblower Edward Snowden about the US spy agency's activities.

"If the message is that Mr Snowden wants to give us information then we'll
gladly accept that," said German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich.

Mr Snowden's lawyer said a meeting could occur in Moscow, but not Germany.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24770430

Cidersomerset

1st November 2013, 15:20

Dark Mail Alliance works on NSA-proof email

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Published on 31 Oct 2013

Email encryption services Silent Circle and Lavabit are joining forces to start a new
email encryption service, called the Dark Mail Alliance. Dark Mail will be an open-source
protocol expected to launch in 2014, and will give control of encryption to individual
users, which means e-mail providers could not be compelled to provide unencrypted
user data to the government, to prevent government snooping. Ameera David asks
RT web producer Andrew Blake if encrypted e-mail is the way of the future.

Cidersomerset

1st November 2013, 21:02

NSA security row - key questions

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Published on 1 Nov 2013

Channel 4 News speaks to Bruce Schneier, a US security expert,
and asks if the NSA have gone too far? .

Cidersomerset

1st November 2013, 22:17

Snowden may testify in Germany against NSA

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Published on 1 Nov 2013

German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich confirmed Friday that
he wants to bring Edward Snowden, the whistleblower at the heart
of the National Security Agency scandal, to Germany from Russia to
serve as a witness against the NSA. Previously, Green Party member
Hans-Christian Strobele met with Snowden in Moscow, and received
a letter from Snowden to be shared with German authorities. However,
if Snowden leaves Russia, he will lose his temporary asylum there.
RT's Sam Sacks has more information on what it would take for
Snowden to help German authorities.

Anchor

1st November 2013, 22:29

Nice try NSA.

Who is kidding whom?

He should testify by video-conference (encrypted session naturally - LOL).

Cidersomerset

1st November 2013, 22:31

Senate NSA reform gives agency even more spying powers

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Published on 1 Nov 2013

The Senate Intelligence Committee approved a bill called the FISA
Improvement Act on Thursday. Committee chair Sen. Dianne Feinstein
(D-Calif.) called the reforms "prudent, responsible and meaningful,"
but critics say the bill actually gives the National Security Agency
more legal protections to continue its bulk data collection. Previously,
the NSA used its own interpretation of Section 215 of the Patriot Act
to spy on American citizens, and the FISA Improvement Act would
codify that program into law. There is a separate, competing bill
introduced earlier this week that would end the NSA's ability to
conduct bulk collection of phone records. RT's Sam Sacks to Elizabeth
Goitein, co-director of the Brennan Center for Justice's Liberty and
National Security Program, about what NSA reform efforts should look like.

Cidersomerset

1st November 2013, 22:36

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Published on 1 Nov 2013

The German government has said it would like to hear from the
US whistleblower Edward Snowden if he could shed any light on
the alleged hacking of Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone calls.
His lawyers say he can't go to Germany for fear of extradition.

Cidersomerset

1st November 2013, 22:44

Snowden's lawyer: Edward will lose refugee status if goes to Germany

xP9brN7ek5U

Published on 1 Nov 2013

Edward Snowden passed a letter addressed to the German
government and federal public prosecutor where he allegedly
said he is ready to testify over Washington's probable
wiretapping of Merkel's phone. For more on this, RT talks
to Anatoly Kucherena - the lawyer representing Edward
Snowden in Russia.

Cidersomerset

1st November 2013, 22:56

Escobar: 9/11 excuse for NSA - gift that keeps on giving

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Published on 31 Oct 2013

Snowden's revelations about the NSA has seen US
intelligence bosses go to great lengths to justify their
activities. Officially they've been told to use 9/11 as
their main argument, according to a document leaked
in the media. And some politicians are happy to follow
that advice. Pepe Escobar joins RT to discuss this issue.

Kristin

1st November 2013, 23:27

Officially they've been told to use 9/11 as
their main argument

The irony... :doh:

Cidersomerset

1st November 2013, 23:31

The irony...

I know it would be funny if not so serious, the Neo Cons
and their lacky's must be laughing their socks off, that's
why I posted it separately. It makes you want to scream !!! ..LOL...

http://jimcraven10.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/american-madness-5-laughingneocons.jpg

KiwiElf

2nd November 2013, 00:29

Snowden wants to help German probe, testify in US
AFP Updated November 2, 2013, 5:16 am

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/19642984/snowden-wants-to-help-german-probe-testify-in-us/

Moscow (AFP) - Intelligence leaker Edward Snowden is ready to assist a German probe into US spying on Chancellor Angela Merkel but also wants to talk directly to the US Congress, a German lawmaker who met the fugitive said Friday.

Snowden had late on Thursday met German Green party lawmaker Hans-Christian Stroebele at an undisclosed location in Moscow to discuss his revelations that Washington for years monitored Merkel's mobile phone, which has caused an uproar in Europe.

On his return to Germany, Stroebele published a letter from Snowden and said the American was ready to testify to the US Congress to shed light on "possibly serious offences".

The former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, who began work at an undisclosed Russian Internet firm on Friday, was granted asylum in Russia in August to the fury of the United States, where he faces trial on charges under the Espionage Act.

In the letter, a copy of which was posted on Stroebele's website, Snowden said he was prepared to provide details of US spying to Germany and he was "heartened" by the global response to his leaks despite the unrelenting US pressure.

"I hope that when the difficulties of this humanitarian situation have been resolved, I will be able to cooperate in the responsible finding of fact regarding reports in the media, particularly in regard to the truth and authenticity of documents," he wrote.

"I look forward to speaking with you in your country when the situation is resolved."

Speaking to reporters in Berlin on Friday after his return from Moscow, Stroebele said that the American also wanted to testify in front of the US Congress.

"He said first up he would prefer to lay the facts on the table in front of the US Congress, in front of a committee of the US Congress and explain," he said in English.

"Mr Snowden didn't appear to me as anti-American or an enemy of America or some such, but quite the opposite."

The letter was addressed to the German government, the Bundestag lower house of parliament and the federal public prosecutor, Stroebele's office said.

'Snowden will not go to Germany'

Snowden's Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said his client would not be able to travel to Germany for security reasons but was willing to help with the probe.

"Snowden will not go to Germany. This is not possible because he has no right to cross Russian borders," Kucherena told the popular Echo Moscow radio.

"If he does that, he can lose temporary asylum."

But the Kremlin-friendly lawyer added: "Within the framework of international agreements Snowden can give testimony in Russia but this should be decided by the German authorities."

Media reports based on Snowden's disclosures of mass US surveillance -- including eavesdropping on nearly three dozen foreign leaders -- have strained Washington's ties with key allies.

German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said on Friday that the government would like to speak to Snowden.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Snowden's contacts with Germans.

'He received many job offers'

Snowden spent more than a month in the transit zone of a Moscow airport before receiving a year-long temporary asylum in August after exposing the massive surveillance by the NSA.

President Vladimir Putin has said Snowden was welcome to stay in Russia as long as he did not harm US interests.

Security expert Pavel Felgenhauer suggested Russian security services were likely to control Snowden's access to foreign officials.

"Security services and the Kremlin will decide what he can and cannot say publicly."

Also Friday, Snowden began providing IT support for an unnamed Russian Internet company, Kucherena told AFP, refusing to say whether he would be working from home.

"It's a security issue."

Kucherena added that Snowden had had many job offers. "He is hugely popular in our country."

One of those offers came from the country's top social network VKontakte (In Touch), after Snowden won asylum in Russia.

But the company on Friday refused to say whether Snowden was now working for them. "We do not comment on this information," VKontakte spokesman Georgy Lobushkin told AFP.

Two other major Russian Internet companies, Mail.ru Group and Yandex, have earlier said they have not hired Snowden.

Anchor

2nd November 2013, 03:08

Here is the full text of NSA whistleblower's letter on US surveillance to chancellor Angela Merkel, the German parliament and federal prosecutors, passed on by German politician Hans-Christian Ströebele

Published in theguardian.com, Friday 1 November 2013 23.48 AEST http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/01/edward-snowden-letter-to-german-government-in-full-nsa

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German politician Hans-Christian Ströebele (right) with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in Russia; Photograph: Hans-Christian Ströbele/EPA.

To whom it may concern,

I have been invited to write to you regarding your investigation of mass surveillance.

I am Edward Joseph Snowden, formerly employed through contracts or direct hire as a technical expert for the United States National Security Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, and Defense Intelligence Agency.

In the course of my service to these organizations, I believe I witnessed systemic violations of law by my government that created a moral duty to act. As a result of reporting these concerns, I have face a severe and sustained campaign of persecution that forced me from my family and home. I am currently living in exile under a grant of temporary asylum in the Russian Federation in accordance with international law.

I am heartened by the response to my act of political expression, in both the United States and beyond. Citizens around the world as well as high officials – including in the United States – have judged the revelation of an unaccountable system of pervasive surveillance to be a public service. These spying revelations have resulted in the proposal of many new laws and policies to address formerly concealed abuses of the public trust. The benefits to society of this growing knowledge are becoming increasingly clear at the same time claimed risks are being shown to have been mitigated.

Though the outcome of my efforts has been demonstrably positive, my government continues to treat dissent as defection, and seeks to criminalize political speech with felony charges that provide no defense. However, speaking the truth is not a crime. I am confident that with the support of the international community, the government of the United States will abandon this harmful behavior. I hope that when the difficulties of this humanitarian situation have been resolved, I will be able to cooperate in the responsible finding of fact regarding reports in the media, particularly in regard to the truth and authenticity of documents, as appropriate and in accordance with the law.

I look forward to speaking with you in your country when the situation is resolved, and thank you for your efforts in upholding the international laws that protect us all.

With my best regards,

Edward Snowden

31 October 2013

Cidersomerset

2nd November 2013, 11:07

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GCHQ and European spy agencies worked together on mass surveillance

Edward Snowden papers unmask close technical cooperation and loose alliance
between British, German, French, Spanish and Swedish spy agencies

Follow Julian Borger by emailBeta

Julian Borger

The Guardian, Friday 1 November 2013 17.02 GMT

BND NSA GCHQ DGSE

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2013/11/1/1383322071158/BND-NSA-GCHQ-DGSE-008.jpg

In this photo illustration, the logos of intelligence agencies the NSA, BND, GCHQ,
DGSE are displayed on folders. Photograph: Ulrich Baumgarten via Getty Images

The German, French, Spanish and Swedish intelligence services have all developed
methods of mass surveillance of internet and phone traffic over the past five years
in close partnership with Britain's GCHQ eavesdropping agency.

The bulk monitoring is carried out through direct taps into fibre optic cables and the
development of covert relationships with telecommunications companies. A loose
but growing eavesdropping alliance has allowed intelligence agencies from one
country to cultivate ties with corporations from another to facilitate the trawling of
the web, according to GCHQ documents leaked by the former US intelligence
contractor Edward Snowden.

The files also make clear that GCHQ played a leading role in advising its European
counterparts how to work around national laws intended to restrict the surveillance
power of intelligence agencies.

The German, French and Spanish governments have reacted angrily to reports
based on National Security Agency (NSA) files leaked by Snowden since June,
revealing the interception of communications by tens of millions of their citizens
each month. US intelligence officials have insisted the mass monitoring was carried
out by the security agencies in the countries involved and shared with the US.

The US director of national intelligence, James Clapper, suggested to Congress on
Tuesday that European governments' professed outrage at the reports was at least
partly hypocritical. "Some of this reminds me of the classic movie Casablanca: 'My
God, there's gambling going on here,' " he said.

Sweden, which passed a law in 2008 allowing its intelligence agency to monitor
cross-border email and phone communications without a court order, has been
relatively muted in its response.

The German government, however, has expressed disbelief and fury at the
revelations from the Snowden documents, including the fact that the NSA
monitored Angela Merkel's mobile phone calls.

After the Guardian revealed the existence of GCHQ's Tempora programme, in which
the electronic intelligence agency tapped directly into the transatlantic fibre optic
cables to carry out bulk surveillance, the German justice minister, Sabine
Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, said it sounded "like a Hollywood nightmare", and
warned the UK government that free and democratic societies could not flourish
when states shielded their actions in "a veil of secrecy".

'Huge potential'

However, in a country-by-country survey of its European partners, GCHQ officials
expressed admiration for the technical capabilities of German intelligence to do the
same thing. The survey in 2008, when Tempora was being tested, said the Federal
Intelligence Service (BND), had "huge technological potential and good access to
the heart of the internet – they are already seeing some bearers running at 40Gbps
and 100Gbps".

Bearers is the GCHQ term for the fibre optic cables, and gigabits per second (Gbps)
measures the speed at which data runs through them. Four years after that report,
GCHQ was still only able to monitor 10 Gbps cables, but looked forward to tap new
100 Gbps bearers eventually. Hence the admiration for the BND.

The document also makes clear that British intelligence agencies were helping their
German counterparts change or bypass laws that restricted their ability to use their
advanced surveillance technology. "We have been assisting the BND (along with
SIS [Secret Intelligence Service] and Security Service) in making the case for
reform or reinterpretation of the very restrictive interception legislation in
Germany," it says.

The country-by-country survey, which in places reads somewhat like a school
report, also hands out high marks to the GCHQ's French partner, the General
Directorate for External Security (DGSE). But in this case it is suggested that the
DGSE's comparative advantage is its relationship with an unnamed
telecommunications company, a relationship GCHQ hoped to leverage for its own
operations.

"DGSE are a highly motivated, technically competent partner, who have shown
great willingness to engage on IP [internet protocol] issues, and to work with GCHQ
on a "cooperate and share" basis."

Noting that the Cheltenham-based electronic intelligence agency had trained DGSE
technicians on "multi-disciplinary internet operations", the document says: "We
have made contact with the DGSE's main industry partner, who has some
innovative approaches to some internet challenges, raising the potential for GCHQ
to make use of this company in the protocol development arena."

GCHQ went on to host a major conference with its French partner on joint internet-
monitoring initiatives in March 2009 and four months later reported on shared
efforts on what had become by then GCHQ's biggest challenge – continuing to carry
out bulk surveillance, despite the spread of commercial online encryption, by
breaking that encryption.

"Very friendly crypt meeting with DGSE in July," British officials reported. The
French were "clearly very keen to provide presentations on their work which
included cipher detection in high-speed bearers. [GCHQ's] challenge is to ensure
that we have enough UK capability to support a longer term crypt relationship."

Fresh opportunities

In the case of the Spanish intelligence agency, the National Intelligence Centre
(CNI), the key to mass internet surveillance, at least back in 2008, was the
Spaniards' ties to a British telecommunications company (again unnamed.
Corporate relations are among the most strictly guarded secrets in the intelligence
community). That was giving them "fresh opportunities and uncovering some
surprising results.

"GCHQ has not yet engaged with CNI formally on IP exploitation, but the CNI have
been making great strides through their relationship with a UK commercial partner.
GCHQ and the commercial partner have been able to coordinate their approach.
The commercial partner has provided the CNI some equipment whilst keeping us
informed, enabling us to invite the CNI across for IP-focused discussions this
autumn," the report said. It concluded that GCHQ "have found a very capable
counterpart in CNI, particularly in the field of Covert Internet Ops".

GCHQ was clearly delighted in 2008 when the Swedish parliament passed a bitterly
contested law allowing the country's National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA) to
conduct Tempora-like operations on fibre optic cables. The British agency also
claimed some credit for the success.

"FRA have obtained a … probe to use as a test-bed and we expect them to make
rapid progress in IP exploitation following the law change," the country assessment
said. "GCHQ has already provided a lot of advice and guidance on these issues and
we are standing by to assist the FRA further once they have developed a plan for
taking the work forwards."

The following year, GCHQ held a conference with its Swedish counterpart "for
discussions on the implications of the new legislation being rolled out" and hailed
as "a success in Sweden" the news that FRA "have finally found a pragmatic
solution to enable release of intelligence to SAEPO [the internal Swedish security
service.]"

GCHQ also maintains strong relations with the two main Dutch intelligence
agencies, the external MIVD and the internal security service, the AIVD.

"Both agencies are small, by UK standards, but are technically competent and
highly motivated," British officials reported. Once again, GCHQ was on hand in 2008
for help in dealing with legal constraints. "The AIVD have just completed a review
of how they intend to tackle the challenges posed by the internet – GCHQ has
provided input and advice to this report," the country assessment said.

"The Dutch have some legislative issues that they need to work through before
their legal environment would allow them to operate in the way that GCHQ does.
We are providing legal advice on how we have tackled some of these issues to
Dutch lawyers."

European allies

In the score-card of European allies, it appears to be the Italians who come off the
worse. GCHQ expresses frustration with the internal friction between Italian
agencies and the legal limits on their activities.

"GCHQ has had some CT [counter-terrorism] and internet-focused discussions with
both the foreign intelligence agency (AISE) and the security service (AISI), but has
found the Italian intelligence community to be fractured and unable/unwilling to
cooperate with one another," the report said.

A follow-up bulletin six months later noted that GCHQ was "awaiting a response
from AISI on a recent proposal for cooperation – the Italians had seemed keen, but
legal obstacles may have been hindering their ability to commit."

It is clear from the Snowden documents that GCHQ has become Europe's
intelligence hub in the internet age, and not just because of its success in creating
a legally permissive environment for its operations. Britain's location as the
European gateway for many transatlantic cables, and its privileged relationship with
the NSA has made GCHQ an essential partner for European agencies. The
documents show British officials frequently lobbying the NSA on sharing of data
with the Europeans and haggling over its security classification so it can be more
widely disseminated. In the intelligence world, far more than it managed in
diplomacy, Britain has made itself an indispensable bridge between America and
Europe's spies.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/01/gchq-europe-spy-agencies-mass-surveillance-snowden

Cidersomerset

3rd November 2013, 11:09

Terrorist & Spy? Greenwald's partner accused by UK for carrying Snowden docs

nHY3r3v3fIE

Published on 2 Nov 2013

British authorities say the partner of a newspaper reporter who's been publishing
Edward Snowden's leaks, was involved in espionage and terrorism. The accusation
was made in a Scotland Yard document which is being used as evidence in a London
court hearing. A hearing for David Miranda's legal challenge is scheduled for next week.
Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, joins RT to talk about how
it may play out.

Anchor

3rd November 2013, 11:37

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/01/us-uk-nsa-idUSBRE9A013O20131101

At a London court hearing this week for Miranda's lawsuit, a document called a "Ports Circulation Sheet" was read into the record. It was prepared by Scotland Yard - in consultation with the MI5 counterintelligence agency - and circulated to British border posts before Miranda's arrival. The precise date of the document is unclear.

"Intelligence indicates that Miranda is likely to be involved in espionage activity which has the potential to act against the interests of UK national security," according to the document.

"We assess that Miranda is knowingly carrying material the release of which would endanger people's lives," the document continued. "Additionally the disclosure, or threat of disclosure, is designed to influence a government and is made for the purpose of promoting a political or ideological cause. This therefore falls within the definition of terrorism..."

So you dont have to be killing people or blowing things up - you just have to disagree with the government! :eek:

Openmindedskeptic

3rd November 2013, 12:58

Cidersomerset

3rd November 2013, 15:15

A good time to unveil new spy plane ....LOL..

Spy plane SR-72 to fly six times the speed of sound

pogWW6g7Zd4

Published on 1 Nov 2013

Defense contractor Lockheed Martin has unveiled a new spy plane.
The SR-72 can fly at the hypersonic speed of six times the speed of
sound. It is the successor to the SR-71 Blackbird, which could only
fly at the supersonic speed of three times the speed of sound. RT's
Sam Sacks has more information on what types of spying the new
plane will be used for.

Tesla_WTC_Solution

4th November 2013, 06:15

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/03/world/europe/edward-snowden-manifesto/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

(CNN) -- Leaked classified documents show the U.S. National Security Agency and its British counterpart are among the "worst offenders" of mass surveillance without oversight, according to an open letter purportedly written by Edward Snowden and published Sunday by the German magazine Der Spiegel.

The publication of the letter, titled "A Manifesto for the Truth," comes as leaks by the former NSA contract analyst have roiled U.S.-European relations amid allegations that the NSA and the UK's Government Communications Headquarters monitored the communication data of some world leaders.

"The world has learned a lot in a short amount of time about irresponsibly operated security agencies and, at times, criminal surveillance programs. Sometimes the agencies try to avoid controls," Snowden wrote, according to the news magazine.

"While the NSA and GCHQ (the British national security agency) appear to be the worst offenders -- at least according to the documents that are currently public -- we cannot forget that mass surveillance is a global problem and needs a global solution."

Might Snowden testify in Germany, U.S.? Edward Snowden's new job Glenn Greenwald on NSA spying on allies

The letter, published in German by Der Spiegel, was written on Friday in Moscow and provided to Der Spiegel through a "locked channel," the news magazine said. It was published in German and has been translated by CNN.

Snowden, 30, has admitted in interviews he was the source behind the leak of classified NSA documents, which revealed the existence of top-secret surveillance programs that collect records of domestic e-mails and telephone calls in the United States and monitor the cell phone and Internet activity of overseas residents. He is wanted in the United States on espionage charges.

A recent report by Der Spiegel, citing documents provided by Snowden, alleged the NSA monitored German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone. Some reports also suggest the United States carried out surveillance on French and Spanish citizens.

The allegations have prompted some European countries to call for investigations. It also has prompted congressional hearings in the United States, where some are calling for more transparency and more oversight of American spy programs.

'Witch hunt'

The letter also accused governments of trying to squash debate about mass surveillance "with a never before seen witch hunt" that threatens journalists and criminalizes the publication of details about the programs.

In the letter, Snowden purportedly writes that his actions were bringing about change.

"The debate they wanted to avoid is now taking place in countries around the world," the letter said.

"And instead of causing damage, the use of this new public knowledge is causing society to push for political reforms, oversight and new laws."

Snowden has been in Moscow since June after fleeing from Hong Kong. In August, Russia granted him asylum for one year.

The release of the open letter is the second in a matter of days from Snowden, who released a letter to German authorities through an intermediary.

Last week, Hans-Christian Stroebele, a member of Germany's parliament, met with Snowden in Russia. Stroebele returned from the meeting with a letter from Snowden to German authorities, which was distributed to the media.

In it, Snowden said he is confident that with international support, the United States would abandon its efforts to "treat dissent as defection" and "criminalize political speech with felony charges."

"I hope that when the difficulties of this humanitarian situation have been resolved, I will be able to cooperate in the responsible finding of fact regarding reports in the media, particularly in regard to the truth and authenticity of documents, as appropriate and in accordance with the law," he wrote.

'Face justice'

The White House did not immediately respond to Snowden's claims in the letter.

But earlier Sunday, White House Senior Adviser Dan Pfeiffer said on ABC's "This Week" that there has been no discussion of granting Snowden clemency.

"Mr. Snowden violated U.S. law," Pfeiffer said. "And our belief has always been that he should return to the U.S. and face justice."

It was a sentiment echoed by the heads of the House and Senate intelligence committees.

"He had an opportunity -- if what he was, was a whistle-blower -- to pick up the phone and call the House Intelligence Committee, the Senate Intelligence Committee, and say, 'I have some information,'" Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation."

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Michigan, said Snowden has to "own up with what he's done."

"If he wants to come back and open up to the responsibility of the fact that he took and stole information, he violated his oath, he disclosed classified information -- that by the way has allowed three different terrorist organizations, affiliates of al Qaeda to change the way they communicate -- I'd be happy to have that discussion with him," Rogers said on "Face the Nation."

Anchor

5th November 2013, 02:04

"He had an opportunity -- if what he was, was a whistle-blower -- to pick up the phone and call the House Intelligence Committee, the Senate Intelligence Committee, and say, 'I have some information,'" Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Sunday on CBS'

LOL

I wonder, if deep down in her heart she really can truly believe this would have been effective ? I wonder if she knows how silly what she says here sounds in the light of all the "official" spin, lies and deceit that has been woven into this issue.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Michigan, said Snowden has to "own up with what he's done."

He has - and done it in a way you can't cover up or spin.

"If he wants to come back and open up to the responsibility of the fact that he took and stole information, he violated his oath, he disclosed classified information -- that by the way has allowed three different terrorist organizations, affiliates of al Qaeda to change the way they communicate -- I'd be happy to have that discussion with him," Rogers said on "Face the Nation."

It seems like the definition of the word terrorist has been rather fluid recently. It seems that it now means people trying to effect political change.

Let the light of truth shine, and let it be encrypted :)

Cidersomerset

5th November 2013, 16:17

Watchful Friends: Latest revelation shows GCHQ has listening post in Berlin

pdG12eNBrcI

Published on 5 Nov 2013

Among the frustrations in the Million-Mask March are the goings on
by the NSA, exposed by Edward Snowden. The latest revelation is
that the UK has had its very own listening post in the heart of Berlin
to keep a watch on Germany's leadership. Let's get the details now
from Peter Oliver.

Cidersomerset

5th November 2013, 16:28

'Encrypted services easier to hack than typewriters - for safety go back to basics'

XKZnfbSkPfI

Published on 4 Nov 2013

As the international diplomatic crisis over NSA surveillance widens, the US is
scrambling to justify its actions. While we're waiting to learn exactly what
Obama wanted to hear in the conversations of German Chancellor Angela Merkel,
the question remains. Will mass surveillance be rolled back? Or will the world
have to accept the presence of this one Big Brother? Our guest today is British
Labour MEP, Claude Moraes, head of the European delegation that went to
Washington to seek clarification for the NSA's actions

Cidersomerset

5th November 2013, 16:34

http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.54.3/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png

5 November 2013 Last updated at 16:09

Germany calls in British ambassador over spy claimsThe Berlin flag flies next to a
white structure that, according to media reports, contains sophisticated electronic
surveillance equipment and stands on top of the British embassy

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70925000/jpg/_70925052_embassy_getty.jpg

The UK is allegedly using hi-tech equipment housed on its embassy roof

The British ambassador in Berlin has been called in to Germany's foreign ministry
to respond to spying allegations.The UK's Independent newspaper says the British
embassy in Berlin may be being used as a "top-secret listening post".

It cites leaked US National Security Agency (NSA) documents suggesting the UK
could be using hi-tech equipment housed on the embassy roof.Any such activity
would be against international law, Berlin says.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle had requested the attendance of UK
ambassador Simon McDonald to respond to the claims, a ministry spokesman said.

"The head of the European department asked for a response to current reports in
the British media, and pointed out that the interception of communications from the
premises of a diplomatic mission would be behaviour contrary to international law,"
he said.The Independent report was based on NSA documents leaked by US
whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The report said the NSA documents, in conjunction with aerial photographs and
information about past spying activities in Germany, suggest that Britain is
operating a covert listening station close to the Bundestag, Germany's parliament,
and Chancellor Angela Merkel's offices.

The British Foreign Office has made no comment on the alleged spying.

It follows revelations that the US has listened to mobile phone calls made by Mrs
Merkel since 2002.

The row has led to a serious diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24824633

===================================================

Prying Eyes: Germany demands UK ambassador explain spy nest

CY9lXU1YM6M

Published on 6 Nov 2013

As the privacy campaigners stood their ground, another Edward Snowden leak
emerged. It turns out that it's not just the US that might have been prying into
Germany's classified affairs. Laura Smith's in London with the details. Jens Stomber
from Germany's Pirate Party doesn't think his country's an entirely-innocent victim.

Openmindedskeptic

5th November 2013, 20:37

Shouting '9/11' in a Crowded Internet (http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/11/05/shouting_911_in_a_crowded_internet?page=0,0)

Consider also a June 24 NSA document, obtained by Al Jazeera America via a Freedom of Information Act request, titled: "Media Leaks Master TPs (talking points)." The very first one, under "sound bites that resonate," reads "I much prefer to be here today explaining these programs, than explaining another 9/11 event that we were not able to prevent." This 25-page document of behind-the-scenes media guidance for "Congress, the media and anyone else within the Obama administration surrounding the leak of information related to NSA surveillance activities," only confirmed what Americans have been hearing all along from senior officials: rationalize NSA, CIA, DOD, DHS, or FBI conduct by repeating 9/11.

Cidersomerset

5th November 2013, 22:18

Face Time: Hundreds march in DC in Anonymous inspired protest

lnWW4u_Y5fk

Published on 5 Nov 2013

People in hundreds of cities across the world are taking part in mass
rallies planned by the global protest group - Anonymous. The day of
action is called the Million Mask March - it's uniting those, protesting
against the violation of online privacy, as well as corporate greed and
corrupt governments. Protesters wearing Guy Fawkes masks - are
demonstrating their allegiance with the Anonymous hacktivist
group - infamous for its online anti-government actions. One of the
biggest rallies is underway in Washington DC - RT's Gayane Chichakyan
joined the protesters there.

Cidersomerset

5th November 2013, 22:23

"First, how did we get here? How did we end up here? 9/11 -- 2,996 people were killed in 9/11. We all distinctly remember that. What I remember the most was those firemen running up the stairs to save people, to there themselves lose their lives. We had this great picture that was created afterward of a fireman handing a flag off to the military, and I'd say the intelligence community, and the military and the intelligence community said: ‘We've got it from here.'"

Sorry, Keith: the NSA was not created on Sept. 12, 2001, but came into existence on Nov. 4, 1952. Its purpose was -- and, in theory, still is -- to collect and process communications intelligence in order to identify threats and opportunities for a range of diplomatic, military, and economic activities. (Preceded by the Armed Forces Security Agency, established in 1949, the Army's Signal Intelligence Service (1930), and the Army's Cipher Bureau (1917), the NSA was established with NSC Intelligence Directive No. 9 and authorized to be responsible for all national communications intelligence gathering.) It has been resourced and supported through its success and failures by senior decision-makers ever since for the unique information advantages that only it can provide. But, employing a selective narrative of the tragedy of 9/11 for political advantage, and rationalizing the NSA's activities by directly linking them to Ground Zero should be condemned.

Likewise, General Alexander claimed that terrorist fatalities have never been higher:

"If you look at the trends in the [counterterrorism] arena, in 2012, it was the highest globally that it's been ever. Over 15,000 people killed.... And yet, there has not been a mass casualty here in the U.S. since 2001."

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/11/05/shouting_911_in_a_crowded_internet?page=0,0

A good article OMS' and as time goes by it becomes even more obvious 9/11 was a inside job.....

Openmindedskeptic

7th November 2013, 13:49

C.I.A. Is Said to Pay AT&T for Call Data

http://moscow57blog.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/new-york-times-logo.jpg?w=119&h=37

Published: November 7, 2013

WASHINGTON — The C.I.A. is paying AT&T more than $10 million a year to assist with overseas counterterrorism investigations by exploiting the company’s vast database of phone records, which includes Americans’ international calls, according to government officials.

The cooperation is conducted under a voluntary contract, not under subpoenas or court orders compelling the company to participate, according to the officials. The C.I.A. supplies phone numbers of overseas terrorism suspects, and AT&T searches its database and provides records of calls that may help identify foreign associates, the officials said. The company has a huge archive of data on phone calls, both foreign and domestic, that were handled by its network equipment, not just those of its own customers.

The program adds a new dimension to the debate over government spying and the privacy of communications records, which has been focused on National Security Agency programs in recent months. The disclosure sheds further light on the ties between intelligence officials and communications service providers. And it shows how agencies beyond the N.S.A. use metadata — logs of the date, duration and phone numbers involved in a call, but not the content — to analyze links between people through programs regulated by an inconsistent patchwork of legal standards, procedures and oversight.

Because the C.I.A. is prohibited from spying on the domestic activities of Americans, the agency imposes privacy safeguards on the program, said the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because it is classified. Most of the call logs provided by AT&T involve foreign-to-foreign calls, but when the company produces records of international calls with one end in the United States, it does not disclose the identity of the Americans and “masks” several digits of their phone numbers, the officials said.

Still, the agency can refer such masked numbers to the F.B.I., which can issue an administrative subpoena requiring AT&T to provide the uncensored data. The bureau handles any domestic investigation, but sometimes shares with the C.I.A. the information about the American participant in those calls, the officials said.

Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the C.I.A., declined to confirm the program. But he said the agency’s intelligence collection activities were lawful and “subject to extensive oversight.”

“The C.I.A. protects the nation and upholds privacy rights of Americans by ensuring that its intelligence collection activities are focused on acquiring foreign intelligence and counterintelligence in accordance with U.S. laws,” he said. “The C.I.A. is expressly forbidden from undertaking intelligence collection activities inside the United States ‘for the purpose of acquiring information concerning the domestic activities of U.S. persons,’ and the C.I.A. does not do so.”

Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman, said: “We value our customers’ privacy and work hard to protect it by ensuring compliance with the law in all respects. We do not comment on questions concerning national security.”

The C.I.A. program appears to duplicate work performed by the N.S.A. But a senior American intelligence official, while declining to address whether the AT&T alliance exists, suggested that it would be rational for the C.I.A. to have its own program to check calling patterns linked to overseas terrorism suspects.

With on-the-ground operatives abroad seeking to disrupt terrorist activities in “time-sensitive threat situations,” the official said, the C.I.A. requires “a certain speed, agility and tactical responsiveness that differs” from that of other agencies. “That need to act without delay is often best met when C.I.A. has developed its own capabilities to lawfully acquire necessary foreign intelligence information,” the official said.

Since June, when documents leaked by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden began to surface, an international debate has erupted over the scope of N.S.A. surveillance and the agency’s relationships with American companies that operate networks or provide Internet communications services. Many of the companies have protested that they are legally compelled to cooperate. The AT&T-C.I.A. arrangement illustrates that such activities are not limited to the N.S.A., and that cooperation sometimes is voluntary.

While officials in Washington are discussing whether to rein in the N.S.A. on American soil, governments in Europe are demanding more transparency from the companies and threatening greater restraints. AT&T is exploring a purchase of Vodafone, a European cellphone service provider, and European regulators and politicians have vowed to intensely scrutinize such a deal.

AT&T has a history of working with the government. It helped facilitate the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program by allowing the N.S.A. to install secret equipment in its phone and Internet switching facilities, according to an account by a former AT&T technician made public in a lawsuit.

It was also one of three phone companies that embedded employees from 2003 to around 2007 in an F.B.I. facility, where they used company databases to provide quick analysis of call records. The embedding was shut down amid criticism by the Justice Department’s inspector general that officers were obtaining Americans’ call data without issuing subpoenas.

And, for at least the past six years, AT&T has embedded its employees in federally funded drug investigation offices to analyze call records, in response to subpoenas, to track drug dealers who switch phones. A briefing document for that program said AT&T had records of calls handled by its switches — including “a tremendous amount of international numbers that place calls through or roam on the AT&T network” — dating back to 1987, and described efforts to keep its existence “under the radar.”

The history of the C.I.A. program remains murky. It began sometime before 2010, and was stopped at some point but then was resumed, according to the officials. They said the House and Senate Intelligence Committees had been briefed about it.

While the N.S.A. is separately vacuuming up call metadata abroad, most scrutiny in the United States has focused on its once-secret program that uses court orders to domestic phone companies under the Patriot Act to assemble a comprehensive database of Americans’ calls.

Some lawmakers have proposed modifying it to have the phone companies, not the N.S.A., control the data, similar to how the C.I.A. has been operating.

Still, there may be limits to comparisons. The N.S.A. is subject to court-imposed rules about the standard that must be met before its analysts may gain access to its database, which contains records from multiple providers. The C.I.A. appears to have a freer hand, and officials said it had submitted significantly more queries to AT&T for data.

In addition, while both programs analyze cross-border calls of Americans, the N.S.A.’s Patriot Act database does not include purely foreign calls, while AT&T does not use purely domestic calls in analyzing links for the C.I.A., officials said.

Absent an emergency, phone companies are usually legally forbidden to provide customers’ calling records to the government except in response to a subpoena or a court order, and the C.I.A. has a mandate to focus overseas. Lawyers who reviewed the program, officials said, concluded that AT&T’s partial masking of American phone numbers satisfied those restrictions, citing a statutory exception to data privacy laws covering “the acquisition by the United States government of foreign intelligence information from international or foreign communications.”

That same exception has come to public attention before. It was apparently invoked by a still-secret Jan. 8, 2010, memo written by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. A 2010 inspector general’s report described the memo as allowing the F.B.I. to obtain call records “on a voluntary basis from providers, without any legal process or a qualifying emergency.”

While the bureau said it would not use that memo, the report warned that the existence of the government’s still-classified legal theory created a “significant gap” in “accountability and oversight” and urged Congress to modify the statute. Lawmakers have not acted on that recommendation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/07/us/cia-is-said-to-pay-att-for-call-data.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&smid=tw-share

Cidersomerset

7th November 2013, 17:03

The Empire strikes back .......The Three Stooges in front of a Commons committee

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70974000/jpg/_70974788_70972641.jpg

http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.54.3/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png

UK intelligence work defends freedom, say spy chiefs GCHQ director Sir Iain Lobban:

"We don't want to delve into innocent emails and phone calls"

Britain's security services defend - rather than undermine - freedom and
democracy, the head of MI5 has said.

Andrew Parker was being grilled alongside GCHQ director Sir Iain Lobban and MI6
chief Sir John Sawers in an unprecedented public hearing.

He said 34 terror plots had been disrupted since the 7 July, 2005, attacks in London.

The three men were quizzed on the work of their organisations by the Intelligence
and Security Committee.

"We don't want to delve into innocent emails and phone calls"

Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
Spy chiefs face public grilling
Web inventor criticises spy agencies
Spy fact mirrors fiction

Read more, short vids on link...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24847399

Cidersomerset

7th November 2013, 17:10

UK Called to Heel: GCQH chiefs to stand grilling in wake of Snowden revelations

QffCsgu6ZF8

Published on 7 Nov 2013

Hot on the heels of American intelligence bosses insisting they've done
nothing wrong, it's time to hear from Britain. UK spy chiefs are going
public for the first time, to testify on Britain's collaboration on global
spying. RT's Sara Firth report from London

Cidersomerset

7th November 2013, 22:52

Westminster Whitewash: UK spy chiefs deny data harvesting, say Snowden aided Al-Qaida

FFpAns3ZRyg

Published on 7 Nov 2013

Well most experts predicted the intelligence bosses were unlikely to
find themselves in hot water - unlike the journalists who released
Snowden's documents. Let's take a look at efforts the British
government has made to plug the leaks. RT's Sara Firth - who's
been following the historic public testimony by the UK intelligence
chiefs for us.

Cidersomerset

7th November 2013, 22:55

Premiere! Going Underground: UK's GCHQ Hush (ft. Pepe Escobar)

CSoW7xWG0hw

Published on 6 Nov 2013

WATCH OTHER EPISODES http://www.youtube.com/user/GoingUnde...
Afshin Rattansi goes underground on Britain's reputation abroad following
the Edward Snowden revelations -- with the help of journalist Pepe Escobar;
discusses the cuts to Legal Aid - a top lawyer calls for an overhaul of the
entire justice system. Plus, Simon Cowell's in bed with... The Israeli Defence Forces?!

Cidersomerset

7th November 2013, 23:05

CIA pays AT&T for data

_q05DOWZCyQ

Published on 7 Nov 2013

The CIA is paying AT&T more than $10 million a year to assist with
its overseas counterterrorism investigations by handing over call
data without a subpoena or court order, according to a new article
by the New York Times. Also this week, the Silk Road, the online,
underground market that the FBI raided and shut down four weeks
ago, is back up and running. Silk Road is notorious for selling illegal
goods like drugs and guns by using the online currency BitCoin, but
a new posting says that Silk Road is also used to raise money for
charities. RT's Meghan Lopez talks to Ladar Levison, founder of
former email encryption service Lavabit, about these topics, his
new encryption service called Dark Mail Alliance and more in this
week's Tech Report

Cidersomerset

7th November 2013, 23:12

http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.54.3/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png

7 November 2013 Last updated at 14:56

Web creator Sir Tim Berners-Lee criticises spy agencies....

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70960000/jpg/_70960664_70960659.jpg

Sir Tim Berners-Lee Sir Tim Berners-Lee said important issues had
been raised by recent leaks

The British computer scientist who created the world wide web has
said encryption cracking by UK and US spy agencies is "appalling and foolish".

Sir Tim Berners-Lee told the Guardian that the practice undermined efforts
to fight cybercrime and cyberwarfare.

He called for a "full and frank public debate" on internet surveillance.

It comes as a parliamentary committee has quizzed the heads of the
UK's spying agencies - GCHQ, MI5 and MI6 - together in public for the first time.

Read More....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24844427

Cidersomerset

9th November 2013, 13:39

http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.54.3/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png

November 2013 Last updated at 22:36

Guardian editor to face MPs over Snowden intelligence leaksAlan Rusbridger

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71008000/jpg/_71008526_reuters.jpg

Alan Rusbridger has edited the Guardian since 1995 Continue reading the main story

Related Stories
We defend freedom - UK spy chiefs
Web inventor criticises spy agencies
Journalism no defence, court hears

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger is to be questioned by MPs over the newspaper's
publication of leaks by ex-US security contractor Edward Snowden.Mr Rusbridger
will give evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee next month, a Guardian
spokesman confirmed.The Guardian has published information about how British
and US spy agencies monitor communications.The decision to publish the leaks was
criticised by the leaders of UK security services on Thursday.

Documents leaked to the Guardian newspaper by Mr Snowden - who is currently in
Moscow where he has sought asylum - revealed that agencies are able to tap into
the internet communications of millions of ordinary citizens through GCHQ's
Tempora programme.

Services 'defend freedom'

MI6 chief Sir John Sawers warned the Intelligence and Security Committee earlier
this week that "our adversaries were rubbing their hands with glee, al-Qaeda is
lapping it up" in the wake of the Snowden revelations, adding: "The leaks from
Snowden have been very damaging, they've put our operations at risk".

The Guardian, though, has defended its decision to publish the information, saying
that the paper's coverage of British and US surveillance had prompted "necessary
debate".

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70962000/gif/_70962677_nsa_promo.gif

On Friday, a spokesman said: "Alan has been invited to give evidence to the Home
Affairs Select Committee and looks forward to appearing next month."

Mr Sawers, along with the head of MI5 Andrew Parker and GCHQ director Sir Iain
Lobban, were questioned by MPs in public after coming under pressure to be more
open after the leaks by Mr Snowden revealed widespread spying by GCHQ and the
US National Security Agency.

Mr Parker argued that the security services defend, rather than undermine
freedom, and pointed to 34 terror plots that had been disrupted by the security
services since the terror attacks in London on 7 July 2005.

'Devastating assessment'

News of Mr Rusbridger's appearance before the committee comes as Conservative
MPs Julian Smith and Stephen Phillips called on him to clarify whether he
had "acted on every security concern raised by government" over the news stories.

They also asked him to confirm whether anyone at the Guardian had "directed,
permitted, facilitated or acquiesced" in the transfer of the files obtained by Mr
Snowden to anyone in the US or elsewhere.

Mr Smith and Mr Phillips said Mr Rusbridger's response to a letter from 28 Tory MPs
had failed to "acknowledge the devastating assessment of the damage done to the
national security of the United Kingdom by the Guardian's reporting of the Snowden
leaks", citing the evidence given by the security chiefs.

They continued: "Secondly, it fails to address the question of whether you have
acted on every security concern raised by government and whether the
Government has felt that it had adequate time to respond to the matters which you
have reported."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24876725

Cidersomerset

9th November 2013, 13:47

Snowden used coworkers' passwords to get NSA info

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Published on 8 Nov 2013

Former government contractor Edward Snowden persuaded 20 to 25 colleagues to
give him their login information, including passwords, so that he could do his job as
a computer systems administrator, a new report by Reuters says. Snowden used
the information he gained through those coworkers to gather the information on
the National Security Agency that he then leaked to newspapers starting in June.
Last month, Reuters also reported that the NSA had failed to install the most up-to-
date anti-leak software at the site in Hawaii where Snowden worked. Also last
month, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder
asking that Glenn Greenwald, the reporter who broke the NSA scandal stories, be
able to enter the US to meet with Grayson without being arrested. RT's Ameera
David takes a closer look at why Grayson wants to meet with Greenwald.

Openmindedskeptic

10th November 2013, 04:18

Surveillance expert tells Bill Moyers: Edward Snowden is ‘a true hero and a patriot’

On Thursday a New York Times article reported that the CIA has been paying AT&T more than $10 million a year to access the telecommunications giant's phone records -- including Americans' international phone calls. It's the latest in a series of reports over the past few months on US spying allegations in the name of counterterrorism.

Executive director of the National Lawyers Guild, Heidi Boghosian, joins Bill for a conversation on what we all need to know about surveillance in America. Boghosian, author of Spying on Democracy: Government Surveillance, Corporate Power, and Public Resistance, says the government is working with corporations to illicitly spy on virtually all of us, not just suspected terrorists or the Angela Merkels of this world. "They are hand-in-hand working to gather information about Americans as well as people across the globe, to really be in a race to collect more information than any other country can."

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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/08/surveillance-expert-tells-bill-moyers-edward-snowden-is-a-true-hero-and-a-patriot/

Cidersomerset

11th November 2013, 16:20

Big 5-Eyed Brother: US+4 join forces to spy on whole world

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Published on 10 Nov 2013

According to the NSA leaks, British intelligence was able to monitor up
to 600 million communications every day. Who was looking at them?
850-thousand NSA employees and private US contractors had access
to British databases. And there's the question of whether the US had
access to the British spy mast at its Berlin embassy - which was holding
an ear up to Germany's government. Well, Britain isn't the only one
helping Washington keep a close eye on the world, as Gayane Chichakyan explains.

Cidersomerset

11th November 2013, 16:34

Anti-Spyware: Independent ISPs fight back for privacy of Americans

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Published on 10 Nov 2013

In the face of America's far-reaching surveillance program, hardly
any tech companies can now guarantee a hundred per cent privacy.
RT's Marina Portnaya met the owner of a small provider, who has so
far managed to prevent government spying.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
interesting interview from a unlikely Russiaphilic, & admirer of President Putin...

Steven Seagal: Obama regime very good at controlling media, propaganda

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Published on 10 Nov 2013

Lawman and vigilante, fighter and peacemaker. He has played many roles in his career,
but few seem as likely as an ambassador between the US and Russia. From disarming
a nuclear weapon to helping with the War on Terror, can an actor become a true action
hero, succeeding where countless politicians have stumbled? Steven Seagal joins Oksana
to thrash out these issues.

Cidersomerset

11th November 2013, 17:32

This is from earlier in the year and I don't think
I posted it on here, though I have posted his RT
interviews before.

He told you so: Bill Binney talks NSA leaks

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Published on 11 Jun 2013

In the wake of multiple leaks regarding the data mining programs
PRISM and Boundless Informant, whistleblowers are coming out in
droves to talk about the unprecedented government surveillance on
the American public. RT Correspondent Meghan Lopez had a chance
to sit down with NSA whistleblower William Binney to talk about the
latest developments coming out of the NSA case. Binney is a 32 year
veteran of the NSA, where he helped design a top secret program he
says helps collect data on foreign enemies. He is regarded as one of
the best mathematicians and code breakers in NSA history. He became
an NSA whistleblower in 2002 when he realized the program he helped
create to spy no foreign enemies was being used on Americans.

Cidersomerset

11th November 2013, 18:12

NSA Blackmailing Obama? | Interview with Whistleblower Russ Tice

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Published on 9 Jul 2013

Abby Martin talks to Russell Tice, former intelligence analyst and
original NSA whistleblower, about how the recent NSA scandal is
only scratches the surface of a massive surveillance apparatus,
citing specific targets the he saw spying orders for including
former senators Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Cidersomerset

11th November 2013, 18:25

NSA Whistleblower Thomas Drake speaks at National Press Club - March 15, 2013

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Published on 18 Mar 2013

Thomas Drake, a former Senior Executive at NSA who was charged
under the espionage act after he blew the whistle on waste and fraud
and illegal activity at the intelligence agency, spoke at a March 15,
2013 National Press Club luncheon. Drake's event was part of the
club's celebration of Sunshine Week, a national initiative to underscore
the importance of open government and freedom of information.

Cidersomerset

12th November 2013, 22:30

Greenwald: NSA leaks about Canada coming soon

g_CCeEDT-lo

Published on 12 Nov 2013

Former government contractor Edward Snowden has more documents
to leak about the National Security Agency, according to journalist
Glenn Greenwald, the journalist responsible for breaking the NSA
surveillance story. Greenwald says there is much more information
to come out about spying in and with Canada. Greenwald also
defended himself in an interview about the release of information
about US spying practices. RT's Ameera David speaks with Steve
Anderson, executive director of Openmedia in Canada, about the
surveillance relationship between the US and Canada.

Anchor

17th November 2013, 02:02

Bruce Schneier Cryptogram has a great summary so far of the security aspects of ES's NSA revalations and especially on the NSA's "agreements" with Global Crossing for fibre access (compelled by FCC licensing body!!).

http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-1311.html

In this issue:
NSA Harvesting Contact Lists
NSA Eavesdropping on Google and Yahoo Networks
Code Names for NSA Exploit Tools
Defending Against Crypto Backdoors
Why the Government Should Help Leakers
NSA/Snowden News
The Trajectories of Government and Corporate Surveillance
A Fraying of the Public/Private Surveillance Partnership
Book Review: "Cyber War Will Not Take Place"
Understanding the Threats in Cyberspace
News
SecureDrop
Dry Ice Bombs at LAX
Schneier News
The Battle for Power on the Internet

Cidersomerset

17th November 2013, 13:35

NSA spying challenged in court

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Published on 14 Nov 2013

The National Security Agency has taken heat for its massive surveillance and data
collection programs from the press, Congress and foreign governments. And now
it has to face the US legal system. A 36-year-old Somali immigrant named
Basaaly Moalin was convicted of conspiring against the US in 2010 after he was
caught speaking with one of the leaders of Somali terrorist group Al-Shabab, and
then sent the group $8,500 to support jihad. Moalin's case is being touted by the
NSA as one of its success stories in its work to thwart terror plots. Now Moalin and
his lawyer have filed for a retrial because, they argue, the extent to which Moalin
was monitored violated his First and Fourth Amendment rights, and that the lawyer's
lack of access to FISA Court materials is a violation of due process. RT's Meghan
Lopez talks with Marcy Wheeler, reporter for EmptyWheel.net, about whether Moalin's
case is just about the Somali immigrant or if it's about the constitutionality of
NSA spying programs as well.

Openmindedskeptic

18th November 2013, 05:41

General Michael Hayden gets asked why he's not in jail for conspiring with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney to subvert the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

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Go here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfbHbht081E&feature=share) to see the whole debate between Gen. Hayden and Washington Post reporter Bart Gellman (http://www.bartongellman.com/).

Cidersomerset

18th November 2013, 14:23

Cidersomerset

18th November 2013, 15:01

Hi Pete This is spooky, I am watching Batman Dark night at the momment
I have not seen it before and am near the end. we say all the time that the
movies mirror whats happening and visa versa. Aprox 1hr 56 mins in, is this
scene which I have found on U'tube, very appropriate...LOL & scary !!

The Dark Knight: "Too Much Power"

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if it comes up embedded click...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQNeqeVpHF0&feature=player_embedded

Openmindedskeptic

18th November 2013, 15:05

General Michael Hayden gets asked why he's not in jail for conspiring with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney to subvert the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Plenty of wriggle room, Hayden may be genuinely doing his job, Its Cheney who is the brains of the outfit with Bush the 'Stooge' frontman
while the Neo-con cabal put its Jig saw of deception into play, after the 9/11 coup.
This video makes it clear that then NSA Director Michael Hayden certainly was not the brains of the operation.

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Tragically, even after his involvement in the warrantless wiretapping scandal, General Hayden was still allowed to become Director of the CIA were he embroiled himself in their monsterous torture programs known euphemistically here in the U.S. by their Orwellian doublespeak "enhanced interrogations".

Cidersomerset

18th November 2013, 15:58

This is good , and shows that there is a level above elected
government in the US that Ron Paul was indirectly referring to.
He is describing it as interest group corruption, and Banker
insider trading, with some polititcians in their pockets but its
bigger than that and global and is still playing out as it always has done.

aprox 16 mins he describes exactly what is happening now,
and shows that these events have been controlled, in cycles.

There is a name for it ' economic cycles' obviously today with
the new technology a lot of this is economic spying for the
elites to stay one step a head of there competitors.

Ron Paul: The Power Elite -- Must See Classic Interview From 1988

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Cidersomerset

19th November 2013, 02:36

Supreme Court refuses to hear case against NSA

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Published on 18 Nov 2013

The National Security Agency is defending itself in court this week. A US District
Court judge in Washington, DC heard oral arguments in a case to put an end to
some of the NSA's spying activities on Monday. The case covers the NSA's bulk
telephone metadata collection program and its PRISM program, which is the
collection of millions of Americans' Internet data. But the case doesn't just cover
the constitutionality of the programs, but also whether or not the District Court can
overrule the opinions of the top-secret FISA Courts that the NSA uses to get its
warrants. On Thursday, the District Court in New York will hear another case,
brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, which also challenges the FISA Court
rulings on the phone metadata collection program of millions of Verizon customers.
On Monday, the Supreme Court denied a third case, brought by the Electronic
Privacy Information Center, that also challenged the collection of Verizon phone
records. That case would have been the first to challenge the NSA in the nation's
highest court. RT's Sam Sacks takes us through the three cases and other forms of
backlash the NSA has been facing since former government contractor Edward
Snowden began leaking information on NSA surveillance.

Cidersomerset

19th November 2013, 02:46

Never mind the spies: the security gaps inside your phone

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Published on 6 Nov 2013

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-3481FOdiSDE/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAAAA/Ni8N8DV1qHM/s48-c-k-no/photo.jpg

Our security agencies are feeling the heat amid revelations about
the extent of their surveillance programmes. But as the Data Baby
project can reveal, spying is now cheap and relatively easy.

Cidersomerset

19th November 2013, 13:35

Tragically, even after his involvement in the warrantless wiretapping scandal, General Hayden was still allowed to become Director of the CIA were he embroiled himself in their monsterous torture programs known euphemistically here in the U.S. by their Orwellian doublespeak "enhanced interrogations".

This is the trouble when the uniforms/intel services have to
much power.They are proffessionals and do a vital job,but
as in any organisation there are ambitious factions whether
encouraged by politicians , elites or mil ind comp, to use
their skills, basically to fight wars and make money for the
corporate elite....

You would not put a fox in a chicken coup.....

CIA Director Michael Hayden: "US is run by Intel. Agencies"

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Uploaded on 19 Apr 2007

In an astonishing slip of the mind, CIA director Michael Hayden nonchalantly
says that our country's broad policies & future course is charted not be leaders
we elect, but by bureaucrats at the top of the power-hungry food chain within
our intelligence community.

Cidersomerset

19th November 2013, 21:31

Hotel Hacking: GCHQ targetted diplomats' bookings worldwide

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Published on 18 Nov 2013

Guess who's been checking up on diplomats who've
checked in to big hotels? Yes, British intelligence has
been secret-servicing the rooms of foreign VIPs at top
350 hotels worldwide - according to revelations in
Germany's Der Spiegel news magazine, from new
leaks by Edward Snowden.

Cidersomerset

19th November 2013, 22:06

British Intelligence Operation to Kidnap Snowden? Number One MI-6 Officer

Working Undercover in Moscow Embassy

Tuesday 19th November 2013 at 08:40 By David Icke

http://www.davidicke.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/mi6-wallpaper.jpg

‘Britain’s spy-infested embassy in Moscow has taken the lead among the «FIVE
EYES» signals intelligence allies to locate the whereabouts of National Security
Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden in Russia. In fact, the British government is
more avid in its desire to locate and possibly rendition Snowden to the United
Kingdom or United States than is either the U.S. or the other governments of the
FIVE EYES signals intelligence (SIGINT) partnership, which also includes Canada,
Australia, and New Zealand.

Britain’s desire to bag Snowden has more to do with the alleged damage his
revelations caused British electronic surveillance operations around the world than
any desire to ingratiate Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters
(GHCQ) and Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) with their American counterparts, the
NSA and CIA, respectively.

The government of Prime Minister David Cameron has made it clear that it views
Snowden, as well as those who have assisted him in the publication of NSA’s and
GCHQ’s most closely-guarded espionage secrets as «terrorists».’

Read more: British Intelligence Operation to Kidnap Snowden? Number One MI-6
Officer Working Undercover in Moscow Embassy

http://www.globalresearch.ca/british-intelligence-operation-to-kidnap-snowden-number-one-mi-6-officer-working-undercover-in-moscow-embassy/5358555

http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/

Cidersomerset

19th November 2013, 22:10

A timely PR exercise for GCHQ.....

David Cameron: GCHQ will be brought in to tackle child abuse images

Tuesday 19th November 2013 at 09:47 By David Icke

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/11/18/1384784801686/9e20d227-63db-49e2-8b85-e0ac160078f2-460x276.jpeg

‘GCHQ will be brought in to tackle the problem of child abuse material being shared
on peer-to-peer networks, the prime minister has revealed.

Following the announcement that Google and Microsoft are to step up efforts to
remove links to child abuse material from search results, Cameron has turned his
attention to less conspicuous methods of sharing illicit data.

Talking to the BBC’s Jeremy Vine, Cameron argued that the “dark net”, a general
term for areas of the internet not accessible through search engines, was
policeable.’

Read more: David Cameron: GCHQ will be brought in to tackle child abuse images

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/18/david-cameron-gchq-child-abuse-images

http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/

Cidersomerset

22nd November 2013, 19:36

Politicking: Bob Woodward on Ed Snowden, Obama and more

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Published on 22 Nov 2013

Celebrated journalist Bob Woodward tells Larry King why Obama has a
"bunker mentality," and how 9/11 still governs actions in DC. And, he
opens up about new Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos,
Edward Snowden and more.

Cidersomerset

22nd November 2013, 19:47

http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.54.3/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png

22 November 2013 Last updated at 00:25

The new meaning of spywareBy Jane Wakefield
Technology reporter

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71206000/gif/_71206823_spywarebody1.gif

Man with sunglasses spelling out the phrase Enter Password It may not just be the
cybercriminals accessing your computer If you thought you were pretty clever
knowing that spyware refers to pieces of malicious code put on computers in order
for cybercriminals to steal your passwords and other IDs, think again.

These days it has a much more literal sense, at least if the latest documents leaked
by former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden to the
Der Spiegel newspaper are to be believed.

The documents allege that spies are regularly using tools more usually associated
with cybercriminals.

It is alleged UK spy agency GCHQ operatives created fake web pages that injected
malware into the computers of engineers running one of Belgium's largest
telecommunications companies in order to be able to access its systems.

"We have to realise that a number of GCHQ staff are indeed hackers, but licensed
by the state and protected by the Intelligence Services Act 1994 and ministerial
warrant," said digital forensic expert Prof Peter Sommer.

"They will deploy every type of hacker trick to achieve their aims."

It is a view endorsed by Dwayne Melancon, chief technology officer of security firm
Tripwire and a man used to looking at malicious code as part of his daily job.

"It seems you can't throw a rock these days without hitting a nation state
surveillance operation," he said.

It raised some pretty fundamental questions about whom we trust online, said Prof
Alan Woodward, security expert and lecturer at Surrey University, who has
undertaken consultancy work for GCHQ.

"When the criminals start to look like law enforcement, that is a very dangerous
practice," he said.

"Where do you draw the line? Is it with engineers who control machines or should
they be allowed to have malware on everyone's PC 'just in case' they want to use it
as a route to some high value target?"

Bespoke malware

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71207000/gif/_71207137_spywareindex.gif

Spyware written in an eyeglass surrounded by code The police are also using the
tools of the cybercriminals There is now a growing body of evidence to suggest that
the use of malware is standard practice for the police as well as the intelligence
services.In the summer it was revealed that the FBI used mobile malware to infect
and control a suspect's handset.And in September the FBI admitted that it had
planted hidden code on the dark net, a part of the internet favoured by
cybercriminals because it is unreachable by standard search engines.

Security researchers who dissected the code found it exploited a security hole in
Firefox, which reported back to a mysterious server in northern Virginia.

Meanwhile leaked German police documents suggest that the Federal Criminal
Police Office is working on its own surveillance software, which it hopes to have
ready by the end of 2014.

Accidental infection

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71207000/gif/_71207134_spywarebody2.gif

Man and laptop superimposed on code
Prof Sommer said: "I'd hope that the intelligence service uses highly targeted malware.

"So if they target someone specifically, they send an email with a booby trap - but
they will only be sending it to the target and the malware wouldn't have any self-
replicating properties."

But Mr Melancon is not so sure, particularly if the authorities are using so-
called "watering hole" websites, which are popular with specific groups of users.

In the Belgian case, GCHQ is alleged to have targeted LinkedIn and tech news site
Slashdot in order to lure the engineers it was targeting.

"Such sites are notoriously indiscriminate," said Mr Melancon.

" You can limit the risk of accidental infection of uninvolved persons, but you can't
eliminate that risk entirely.

"Collateral damage and inadvertent surveillance of non-targeted individuals is
almost certain."

Legal framework

Chief technology officer, Imperva

The other big question raised by the allegations published by Der Spiegel is just
whom the spooks are after.If you hear the word "target" from an intelligence
agency, you probably assume they are referring to a terrorist or some other
individual intent on harm.

What the Belgian case reveals is that engineers can also be targets.

So is it ethical to put malware on the computer of an innocent employee who just
happens to have access to a computer system you may want to look at?

"If the result is damaging or destroying data or property, then it could certainly be
deemed unethical by a reasonable person.

"Likewise, violating the civil liberties of an individual crosses the ethical line. You
can rationalise damage to engineers by lumping them into a collective as part
of 'their organisation', but this is very subjective," said Mr Melancon.

For its part, GCHQ offered a pretty standard response to the particular allegations
about breaking into Belgian servers.

"All GCHQ's work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy
framework, which ensure that our activities are authorised, necessary and
proportionate, and that there is rigorous oversight, including from the secretary of
state, the Interception and intelligence services commissioners and the Intelligence
and Security Committee," it said.

The only way to be sure you too do not become a "target" is to "consider all
networks untrustworthy", according to Robert Hansen, technical evangelist at
WhiteHat Security.

"Unfortunately, there isn't much hope for the individual because most of the things
that would otherwise secure the user have historically been controlled by groups
that have close ties to the government," he said.

He is talking about the companies that register websites and encryption certificates.

Johnny English?

Sir Tim Berners Lee, inventor of the world wide web, has described attempts by spy
agencies to crack encryption as "appalling and foolish".

But through it all the general public seems to have been remarkably sanguine.

Prof Sommer said: "In Germany and the US people are outraged but in the UK that
is less the case.

"People are rather proud of what GCHQ did during the war and they think it
probably is not going to affect me."

What the Snowden leaks have dispelled once and for all is any lurking suspicion
that the security forces are some bumbling Johnny English sort of outfit.

"The fact is that intelligence agencies are using advanced techniques actually more
advanced than those used by criminals," said Amichai Shulman, chief technology
officer of security firm Imperva.

"We have enough proof now that governments do have the necessary technology
and personnel that can effectively fight cybercrime. They just chose to put it to a
different use."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24931374

norman

22nd November 2013, 20:15

People I talk to don't want to believe that the cyber security issue is inverted. The good guys, are the bad guys.

Even more of a paranoid 'fact' is that so called protection software is not detecting malware activity that's sanctioned by or actually operated by so called security agencies.

We really do have a bad case of "The Fox Guarding the Hen House".

Probably the most deceptive word used regarding software and operating systems is "update". It's a sugary carrier for whatever 'they' want to do to change the software on your computer. I can remember when a Pentagon spokesperson ( about 5 years ago - I think ) even said that they should regard any PC anywhere in the world that hasn't got it's operating system fully updated as a potential target ! - yes TARGET ! I think that statement alone tells me everything I need to know about where software is headed.

I hope this kind of info and the realization that comes with it will spread, because people are so trusting of the Fox at the back of the Hen House.

Cidersomerset

22nd November 2013, 20:46

A related article to the strategic picture....

A Related article The BBC was either wittingly or not involved with the psyop.

9/11 and the Collapse of WTC Building 7: The BBC’s Role in Distorting the Evidence
and Misleading the Public

Friday 22nd November 2013 at 04:11 By David Icke

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‘The NSA has taken 9/11 as a necessity to implement a global communications
vacuum cleaner, attempting to hoover up and analyse every single piece of human
electronic communication on the planet, using this data to identify human rights
activists and trying to put in jail anyone who attempts to expose this. President
Bush rolled out the Patriot Act within days of 9/11 which allows the US government
to do just about anything it likes, all in the name of counter terrorism and National
Security.

This has since been followed by President Obama quietly sneaking through the
NDAA (National Defence Authorisation Act) on New Year’s Eve 2011 which allows
him to legally assassinate or imprison for life anyone he wants to without any
evidence required at all, a power that he has already exercised. Add to this also the
fact that we now have hundreds of human-less military drones criss-crossing our
skies killing innocent women and children in their hundreds, with no accountability,
as the US military supposedly tries to nullify individuals who the NSA, through their
communications hoovering activities, have deemed to be potential terrorist
suspects. All of this is justified by our authorities on the back of 9/11 because it is
needed to keep us all safe.’

Read more: 9/11 and the Collapse of WTC Building 7: The BBC’s Role in Distorting the Evidence and Misleading the Public

http://www.globalresearch.ca/911-and-the-collapse-of-wtc-building-7-the-bbcs-role-in-distorting-the-evidence-and-misleading-the-public/5359036

Cidersomerset

22nd November 2013, 21:20

US and UK struck secret deal to allow NSA to ‘unmask’ Britons’ personal data

Friday 22nd November 2013 at 03:54 By David Icke

http://www.davidicke.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/nsatear1460-001.jpg

‘The phone, internet and email records of UK citizens not suspected of any
wrongdoing have been analysed and stored by America’s National Security Agency
under a secret deal that was approved by British intelligence officials, according to
documents from the whistleblower Edward Snowden.

In the first explicit confirmation that UK citizens have been caught up in US mass
surveillance programs, an NSA memo describes how in 2007 an agreement was
reached that allowed the agency to “unmask” and hold on to personal data about
Britons that had previously been off limits.

The memo, published in a joint investigation by the Guardian and Britain’s Channel
4 News, says the material is being put in databases where it can be made available
to other members of the US intelligence and military community.’

Read more: US and UK struck secret deal to allow NSA to 'unmask' Britons'
personal data

http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/20/us-uk-secret-deal-surveillance-personal-data

Cidersomerset

22nd November 2013, 21:47

Fisa court order that allowed NSA surveillance is revealed for first time

Friday 22nd November 2013 at 03:12 By David Icke

http://www.davidicke.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/pic17.jpg

‘A secret court order that authorised a massive trawl by the National Security
Agency of Americans’ email and internet data was published for the first time on
Monday night, among a trove of documents that also revealed a judge’s concern
that the NSA “continuously” and “systematically” violated the limits placed on the
program.

The order by the Fisa court, almost certainly its first ruling on the controversial
program and published only in heavily redacted form, shows that it granted
permisson for the trawl in part beacause of the type of devices used for the
surveillance. Even the judge approving the spying called it a “novel use” of
government authorities.

Another later court order found that what it called “systemic overcollection” had
taken place.’

Read more: Fisa court order that allowed NSA surveillance is revealed for first time

http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/19/court-order-that-allowed-nsa-surveillance-is-revealed-for-first-time?CMP=twt_fd&CMP=SOCxx2I2

Cidersomerset

22nd November 2013, 22:08

http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.54.3/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png

21 November 2013 Last updated at 00:56

Edward Snowden leaks: UK 'let NSA store email addresses'

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70826000/jpg/_70826188_70826187.jpg

Edward Snowden in a file photo Edward Snowden fled to Russia in June after
leaking details of US espionage

The UK allowed the US National Security Agency to keep the mobile phone numbers
and email addresses of ordinary Britons from 2007, reports say.

Channel 4 News and the Guardian said existing rules were modified in 2007 to
allow the US to keep information swept up incidentally about Britons not suspected
of criminal activity.

The reports are based on documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The Foreign Office said it did not comment on such "speculation".

Under the seven-decade-old UK-US agreement on intelligence sharing, Britain and
America's intelligence agencies are not supposed to collect information on each
other without permission.

Before 2007, if the US - on one of its other operations - had come across a British
mobile phone number or email address, it would not have been able to keep it.

But, according to the documents, after the rules changed, the US was allowed to
keep those records to analyse them for the specific purpose of "contact chaining".

That means looking at the connections between different phone numbers or email
addresses.

'Questions raised'

BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said it was not quite the same as
reading emails or listening to mobile phone calls, which still requires a warrant.
But he said the documents raised questions about the motive behind the decision
and to what extent the public had a right to know about such programmes.
It is also claimed that a 2005 memo raised the possibility of the US carrying out
surveillance on British nationals without British permission when it was considered
to be in America's national interest.

But it is not clear if that proposal was acted on.

The Foreign Office said in a statement it did not comment on "speculation around
intelligence matters".

"If you are a terrorist, a serious criminal, a proliferator, a foreign intelligence target
or if your activities pose a genuine threat to the national or economic security of
the United Kingdom, there is a possibility that your communications will be
monitored," the statement added.

"If you are not, and if you are not in contact with one of those people, then you
won't be. That is true, actually, whether you are British, if you are foreign and
wherever you are in the world."

Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden fled to Russia in June after leaking details
to the media of extensive internet and phone surveillance by American intelligence.

Mr Snowden, who has been granted temporary asylum in Russia, is wanted by the
US on espionage charges over his actions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25028495

Openmindedskeptic

26th November 2013, 13:59

N.S.A. May Have Hit Internet Companies at a Weak Spot

http://moscow57blog.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/new-york-times-logo.jpg?w=119&h=37

SAN FRANCISCO — The recent revelation that the National Security Agency was able to eavesdrop on the communications of Google and Yahoo users without breaking into either companies’ data centers sounded like something pulled from a Robert Ludlum spy thriller.

How on earth, the companies asked, did the N.S.A. get their data without them knowing about it?

The most likely answer is a modern spin on a century-old eavesdropping tradition.

People knowledgeable about Google and Yahoo’s infrastructure say they believe that government spies bypassed the big Internet companies and hit them at a weak spot — the fiber-optic cables that connect data centers around the world that are owned by companies like Verizon Communications, the BT Group, the Vodafone Group and Level 3 Communications. In particular, fingers have been pointed at Level 3, the world’s largest so-called Internet backbone provider, whose cables are used by Google and Yahoo.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/technology/a-peephole-for-the-nsa.html?_r=1&

Cidersomerset

26th November 2013, 20:52

Washington, DC buses thank Snowden for his leaks

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Published on 25 Nov 2013

When former government contractor Edward Snowden began leaking documents
about the National Security Agency in June and then fled the US, the US government
called him a traitor and charged him with treason under the Espionage Act. But the
Partnership for Civil Justice Fund bought ad space on a Washington, D.C. MetroBus
thanking Snowden for his actions in revealing the "surveillance state" that they oppose.
The bus began driving around the nation's capital on Monday. Also on Monday, the Wall
Street Journal reported that the director of the NSA, Gen. Keith Alexander, offered to
resign over the NSA leaks. RT's Meghan Lopez has more details on the Snowden bus
ad and the hunt of a new NSA leader.

Openmindedskeptic

26th November 2013, 23:36

This Op-Doc video by Brian Knappenberger explains why ordinary Americans should be concerned about online surveillance.

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Anchor

28th November 2013, 22:17

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/the-nsas-porn-surveillance-program-not-safe-for-democracy/281914/

Let's think through the troubling implications of the latest surveillance-state news. "The National Security Agency has been gathering records of online sexual activity and evidence of visits to pornographic websites as part of a proposed plan to harm the reputations of those whom the agency believes are radicalizing others through incendiary speeches," Glenn Greenwald, Ryan Gallagher, and Ryan Grim report.

NSA apologists would have us believe that only terrorists have cause to be worried. A surveillance-state spokesperson told the Huffington Post, "without discussing specific individuals, it should not be surprising that the US Government uses all of the lawful tools at our disposal to impede the efforts of valid terrorist targets who seek to harm the nation and radicalize others to violence."

As the story notes, however, the targets are not necessarily terrorists. The term the NSA uses for them is "radicalizes," and if you're thinking of fiery orators urging people to strap on dynamite vests, know that the NSA chart accompanying the story includes one target who is a "well known media celebrity," and whose offense is arguing that "the U.S. perpetrated the 9/11 attacks." It makes one wonder if the NSA believes it would be justified in targeting any 9/11 truther. The chart* shows another target whose "writings appear on numerous jihadi websites" (it doesn't specify whether the writings were produced for those websites or merely posted there), and whose offending argument is that "the U.S. brought the 9/11 attacks upon itself." That could be a crude description of what the Reverend Jeremiah Wright or Ron Paul thinks about 9/11.

For more, click the link above.

Openmindedskeptic

2nd December 2013, 19:47

Edward Snowden revelations prompt UN investigation into surveillance (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/02/edward-snowden-un-investigation-surveillance?CMP=twt_fd&CMP=SOCxx2I2)

The UN's senior counter-terrorism official is to launch an investigation into the surveillance powers of American and British intelligence agencies following Edward Snowden's revelations that they are using secret programmes to store and analyse billions of emails, phone calls and text messages.

The UN special rapporteur Ben Emmerson QC said his inquiry would also seek to establish whether the British parliament had been misled about the capabilities of Britain's eavesdropping headquarters, GCHQ, and whether the current system of oversight and scrutiny was strong enough to meet United Nations standards.

norman

2nd December 2013, 20:10

....... UN investigation into surveillance.........

If that is what happens, great.

It may be a publicly financed root and branch legal review to pressure test their defenses before they allow a crowd pleasing patsy witch hunt and prosecution to go ahead on TV.

Cidersomerset

3rd December 2013, 17:06

NSA Defenders Play the Fear Card

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Published on 2 Dec 2013

The two chairs of the Congressional Intelligence Committees, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Rep.
Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), took to the airwaves on Sunday to scare the American people into ditching reforms
of the National Security Agency. In the final month of 2013, Capitol Hill will be brimming with discussions
about NSA abuses, and more and more lawmakers are lending their support. . RT's Sam Sacks explains
that, no matter what happens, the NSA has already undergone a significant change in the public eye.

Cidersomerset

3rd December 2013, 17:29

Canada complicit in NSA spying on world leaders

Xoha8bblpx8

Published on 2 Dec 2013

It's no longer news that the National Security Agency is spying on the leaders of the United States'
closest allies. But it is news that one of our closest allies, Canada, helped us spy on leaders at the
G8 and G20 Summits in 2010, according to the latest leaks by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
According to a Canadian Broadcasting Company report, the US "turned its Ottawa embassy into a
security command post during a six-day spying operation by the [NSA] while U.S. President Barack
Obama and 25 other foreign heads of government were on Canadian soil in June of 2010. The covert
U.S. operation was no secret to Canadian authorities." RT's Meghan Lopez talks with Steve Anderson,
the executive director of OpenMedia, a group that works to safeguard the Internet, about Canadian
complicity in NSA spying.

Openmindedskeptic

4th December 2013, 17:20

Cidersomerset

4th December 2013, 18:20

Red-herring 'Inquisition': Guardian editor defends Snowden leaks to MPs

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Published on 3 Dec 2013

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger strongly defended his newspaper's
publication of the Snowden leaks in response to a hostile grilling by
a UK parliamentary committee Tuesday, as MPs attempted to show
that national security was breached

onawah

5th December 2013, 20:49

More documents leaked by whistleblower Ed Snowden
The Most Explosive NSA Revelation Yet
The NSA is Tracking Your Every Movement

( I got this from the Partnership for Civil Justice in an email yesterday.)

Today’s release of documents obtained from whistleblower Edward Snowden is by far the most explosive and most damning of any of the material that Mr. Snowden began to release in June of this year.

They reveal the truly outrageous and criminal character of the Pentagon’s spying operations against civilians. And they make it clear, as Congress gets ready to debate the surveillance programs, that any Congressional representative or senator who refuses to take action to end these programs is violating their oath of office to uphold the Constitution.

The new documents show that “the government is tracking people from afar into confidential business meetings or personal visits to medical facilities, hotel rooms, private homes and other traditionally protected spaces” by the NSA gathering nearly 5 billion records a day on the whereabouts of cell phones users locations, according to the Washington Post article authored by Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani. Gellman was one of the reporters to whom Ed Snowden released NSA documents.

A NSA senior manager, speaking anonymously to the Washington Post, admitted that the NSA gets vast volumes of location data of Americans as well as overseas cell phone users by tapping into the cables that connect mobile networks.

Snowden Bus Ads
This bus, bearing "Thank You Ed Snowden" ads, is currently going through the streets of Washington, D.C.
The new documents expose that the people of the United States, and people throughout the planet, now live under a mass surveillance regime whose scope and scale was unimaginable six months ago.

The Pentagon (the NSA is an agency of the Pentagon) monitors and records the location data every day of hundreds of millions of cell phone users – inside the United States and around the world -- enabling it to track the movements of every person and map all of their relationships and activities. It takes 5 billion phone records per day and feeds them into a vast database and uses the most sophisticated tools to analyze and instantly profile every individual’s activities, communications and relationships.

This mass spying program, called CO-TRAVELER, is incompatible with democracy.

The domination over society by the Pentagon, using a total mass surveillance grid that was created in absolute secret and without the consent of the people, is the negation of democracy, personal freedom and individual privacy.

Millions of people are angry, outraged and unwilling to see democracy be eviscerated by intelligence agencies that act without accountability and in defiance of the First and Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. They are demanding that Congress end the system of mass surveillance.

Edward Snowden is not the criminal here. He told the truth and he still is. He ignited the debate but all of us, acting together, must work for real change. We at the PCJF are using all available avenues including the courts and powerful public advocacy to take this debate to the next level and to demand a dismantling of the Surveillance State. There is no battle that is more critical than this. All of us working together can overcome and end the Surveillance State. We have the power collectively, and we must act now.

Visit ThankYouEdSnowden.org
http://www.justiceonline.org/thank-you-edward-snowden/say-thank-you.html
and Tell Congress to End Bulk Surveillance
https://secure2.convio.net/pepcj/site/Advocacy;jsessionid=1A5095C9750BEF9643CDA782DBCB59FB.app272b?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=129

-- From all of us at the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund

Openmindedskeptic

6th December 2013, 01:12

Exposing 'Five Eyes' Global Surveillance Cabal | Big Brother Watch

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Published on Dec 4, 2013

Description: Abby Martin takes a closer look at a recent NSA leak which links the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand as an international intelligence partnership focused on surveillance of each other's citizens.

mountain_jim

6th December 2013, 13:54

Snowden and Greenwald: The Men Who Leaked the Secrets

How two alienated, angry geeks broke the story of the year

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/snowden-and-greenwald-the-men-who-leaked-the-secrets-20131204?print=true

As someone who has been reading Greenwald since 2005 when he started his blog Unclaimed Territory, I really appreciated reading this article, and learning much more about Glenn and Snowden's histories.

Corncrake

7th December 2013, 19:09

Sorry if this has already been posted on this thread but it is such a long one I can't go all the way back. My son showed me this today and it is very funny (and naturally, being South Park, very rude):

South Park on the Edward Snowden and the NSA

http://www.alluc.to/cartoons/watch-south-park-1997-online/season-17/episode-01/549209.html

Cidersomerset

9th December 2013, 16:19

http://static.guim.co.uk/static/49ab92a77aa51e563aad4178b56f2e37b0ce6120/common/images/logos/the-guardian/news.gif

Edward Snowden to give evidence to EU parliament, says MEP

British Conservatives oppose video appearance by NSA whistleblower,

which Green MEP says could happen this year
Philip Oltermann in Berlin

Sunday 8 December 2013 14.35 GMT

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/12/8/1386512751821/Woman-holds-Edward-Snowde-008.jpg

Woman holds Edward Snowden portrait outside US embassy, Berlin 4/7/13
A protester holds a portrait of Edward Snowden outside the US embassy in Berlin.
Photograph: Thomas Peter/Reuters

The European parliament is lining up Edward Snowden to give evidence by video
link this month, in spite of resistance by British Conservatives, a Green MEP has
announced.Jan Philipp Albrecht, a German Green MEP, said parliamentarians
wanted Snowden to appear before the assembly's committee on civil liberties,
justice and home affairs (LIBE).

Albrecht said it would represent a great success for the parliament's investigation
into mass surveillance of EU citizens.

He said: "Half a year after the first publications from his collection of numerous
NSA documents, the truth of which has not so far been refuted, there are still
consequences as far as political responsibility is concerned.

The basic political will is there. Now we will need to see if we can get a formal
majority for a hearing and hope Snowden can keep his promise to answer questions
on the affair."

The LIBE committee would most likely want questions on what role other European
information services played in data gathering for the NSA, and whether servers and
data networks in the EU were used as part of the process.

Albrecht claims Snowden had expressed interest via his lawyers in July, and that
recent communications had firmed that up. In October, the Green party MEP
Christian Ströbele went to Moscow to meet Snowden.European parliament sources
considered it likely committee members would vote in favour of a Snowden
hearing, with the only vocal opposition from British Tory MEPs.

On Thursday, the Conservative MEP Timothy Kirkhope sent a letter to all members
of the committee protesting against the invitation to Snowden, calling it "a
provocative act that would enable [Snowden] to further endanger security around
Europe and beyond".

Kirkhope described the whistleblower as "possibly a criminal, and, in the eyes of
many, a traitor who had through acts of utter recklessness and thoughtlessness,
put the lives of millions of people in danger".

Sarah Ludford, the Lib Dem MEP, said: "Edward Snowden's revelations merit
serious debate on whether the intelligence services are out of control. But if
Snowden's video appearance is to be more than a high-profile stunt, it is essential
that he is asked the right questions, including whether he had any other motivation
than the public interest.

"We also need to get testimony from the intelligence chiefs responsible if we are to
give European citizens the answers they deserve."

She added: "I want to know if any whistleblowing channels were open to him that
he did not use, whether he had any other motivation than the public interest, and
what his relationship is with the Chinese and Russian secret services."

Since the Tories are no longer part of the European People's party alliance of centre-
right parties, however, one MEP called their reluctance "not crucial".

A real-time video testimony could pinpoint Snowden's location so the committee
would send questions to him then play back recorded answers for parliament.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/08/edward-snowden-nsa-evidence-eu-parliament-surveillance

Anchor

10th December 2013, 09:59

Brilliant video on the New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000002571435/why-care-about-the-nsa.html

I dont think I can embed it. Click the link - its a great example of how a MSM type newspaper is speaking up.

Openmindedskeptic

10th December 2013, 15:08

NSA spies on World of Warcraft players

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Published on Dec 9, 2013

The National Security Agency is worried that terrorists are plotting attacks via online video games like World of Warcraft, a new release by whistleblower Edward Snowden reveals. And another report shows that the FBI has the capabilities to hack into computer cams and collect live images without tipping off the computer's user. RT's Meghan Lopez talks to Peter Ludlow, Northwestern University professor of philosophy, about what the government has to gain by spying on online video games.

Hervé

10th December 2013, 19:23

seems there is more where that's coming from...

Snowden document shows Canada set up spy posts for NSA (http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/snowden-document-shows-canada-set-up-spy-posts-for-nsa-1.2456886)

CSEC conducted espionage activities for U.S. in 20 countries, according to top-secret briefing note

By Greg Weston, Glenn Greenwald, Ryan Gallagher, CBC News (http://www.cbc.ca/news/cbc-news-online-news-staff-list-1.1294364)
Posted: Dec 09, 2013 9:03 PM ET
Last Updated: Dec 10, 2013 5:14 AM ET

http://i.cbc.ca/1.2457675.1386648604%21/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/image.jpg (http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/TV%20Shows/The%20National/ID/2423325609/)

Canada spying for the NSA 4:09

Related Stories

Timeline: Spies and Canada's secrets (http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/spies-canada/)
New Snowden docs show U.S. spied during G20 in Toronto (http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/new-snowden-docs-show-u-s-spied-during-g20-in-toronto-1.2442448)
Read Snowden NSA document on G8, G20 summit surveillance (http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/read-snowden-nsa-document-on-g8-g20-summit-surveillance-1.2447387)
Reporting on secrets and national security (http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/community/editorsblog/2013/11/reporting-on-secrets-and-national-security.html)
Top spy won't answer questions about G20 surveillance (http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/top-spy-won-t-answer-questions-about-g20-surveillance-1.2444004)

A top secret document retrieved by American whistleblower Edward Snowden reveals Canada has set up covert spying posts around the world and conducted espionage against trading partners at the request of the U.S. National Security Agency.

The leaked NSA document being reported exclusively by CBC News reveals Canada is involved with the huge American intelligence agency in clandestine surveillance activities in “approximately 20 high-priority countries."

Much of the document contains hyper-sensitive operational details which CBC News has chosen not to make public.

New Snowden docs show U.S. spied during G20 in Toronto (http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/new-snowden-docs-show-u-s-spied-during-g20-in-toronto-1.2442448)
NSA document raises questions about Canada in G8 spying (http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/nsa-document-raises-questions-about-canada-in-g8-spying-1.2447398)
Read Snowden NSA document on G8, G20 surveillance (http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/read-snowden-nsa-document-on-g8-g20-summit-surveillance-1.2447387)
Inside Canada's top-secret billion-dollar spy palace (http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/inside-canada-s-top-secret-billion-dollar-spy-palace-1.1930322)

Sections of the document with the highest classification make it clear in some instances why American spymasters are particularly keen about enlisting their Canadian counterparts, the Communications Security Establishment Canada.

"CSEC shares with the NSA their unique geographic access to areas unavailable to the U.S," the document says.

The briefing paper describes a "close co-operative relationship" between the NSA and its Canadian counterpart, the Communications Security Establishment Canada, or CSEC — a relationship "both sides would like to see expanded and strengthened.

"The intelligence exchange with CSEC covers worldwide national and transnational targets."

Full article: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/snowden-document-shows-canada-set-up-spy-posts-for-nsa-1.2456886

Hervé

11th December 2013, 11:52

Interesting statistics:

Edward Snowden voted Guardian person of the year 2013 (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/09/edward-snowden-voted-guardian-person-of-year-2013)

NSA whistleblower's victory, for exposing the scale of internet surveillance, follows that of Chelsea Manning last year
Mark Rice-Oxley (http://www.theguardian.com/profile/mark-rice-oxley), Leila Haddou and Frances Perraudin (http://www.theguardian.com/profile/frances-perraudin)
The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian), Monday 9 December 2013 12.44 GMT

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2013/12/9/1386588805341/Edward-Snowden-008.jpg

In May Edward Snowden flew to Hong Kong where he gave journalists the material which blew the lid on the extent of US digital spying. Photograph: The Guardian/AFP/Getty Images

For the second year in a row, a young American whistleblower alarmed at the unfettered and at times cynical deployment of power by the world's foremost superpower has been voted the Guardian's person of the year.

Edward Snowden (http://www.theguardian.com/world/edward-snowden), who leaked an estimated 200,000 files that exposed the extensive and intrusive nature of phone and internet surveillance and intelligence gathering by the US and its western allies, was the overwhelming choice of more than 2,000 people who voted (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/03/person-of-year-2013-who-gets-your-vote?commentpage=46).

The NSA (http://www.theguardian.com/world/nsa) whistleblower garnered 1,445 votes. In a distant second, from a list of 10 candidates chosen by Guardian writers and editors, came Marco Weber and Sini Saarela, the Greenpeace (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/greenpeace) activists who spearheaded the oil rig protest over Russian Arctic drilling. They received 314 votes. Pope Francis (http://www.theguardian.com/world/pope-francis) gained 153 votes, narrowly ahead of blogger and anti-poverty campaigner Jack Monroe, who received 144.

Snowden's victory was as decisive as Chelsea Manning's a year earlier (http://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2012/dec/10/bradley-manning-guardian-person-of-the-year-2012).

Full article: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/09/edward-snowden-voted-guardian-person-of-year-2013

Openmindedskeptic

17th December 2013, 20:45

As Judge Rules NSA Surveillance "Almost Orwellian," Obama Prepares to Leave Spying Program Intact

FlTrM5lUGGM

Published on Dec 17, 2013

A federal judge ruled Monday the National Security Agency''s bulk collection of American's phone records "almost certainly" violates the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable searches. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon described the NSA's activities as "almost Orwellian." He wrote, "I cannot imagine a more 'indiscriminate' and 'arbitrary invasion' than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen." Judge Leon was appointed to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush in 2002. Leon suspended enforcement of his injunction against the program pending an expected appeal by the government. The lawsuit was brought by conservative attorney Larry Klayman, the founder of Judicial Watch and based on information leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. In a statement Monday, Snowden said, "I acted on my belief that the NSA's mass surveillance programs would not withstand a constitutional challenge, and that the American public deserved a chance to see these issues determined by open courts. Today, a secret program authorized by a secret court was, when exposed to the light of day, found to violate Americans' rights. It is the first of many." We are joined by Sascha Meinrath, director of the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute. He served as an expert witnesses on the Review Group on Intelligence and Communications, which was tasked by President Obama to review NSA's activities.

Cidersomerset

17th December 2013, 22:36

Of course this should not be a surprise that Norway helps in surveillance as a NATO
member, but its where we go from here, all the countries spy, that's why China and
Russia have not said a lot as they are doing it, and they are enjoying Washington &
London squirming for a change.

RBMFmeA13no

====================================================

US Federal judge: NSA phone surveillance program likely unconstitutional

Ckk3lH87ibk

Published on 17 Dec 2013

A judge in America has ruled that the National Security Agency may have violated
the Constitution by collecting telephone data. It follows a lawsuit over privacy
violations - the first such judgement in open court. The NSA's been ordered to stop
collecting data and to destroy the data it's already gathered. But it can't come into
force yet because the government has at least 6 months to appeal. Chris Kitze, who
moved his secure online messaging service to avoid U.S. intelligence control, says
people would comply with legal searches - but not mass secret surveillance. Josh
Gerstain, a Senior White House Reporter, considers that Snowden's revelations
made the courts take the side of the victims of

Cidersomerset

17th December 2013, 22:46

CrossTalk on NSA: Digital Octopus

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Published on 16 Dec 2013

What do all the NSA leaks tell us about the state of national security in the US?
What is the real mission of the NSA and other intelligence agencies? And, is the
national security state keeping us safe? CrossTalking with Suzanne Nossel and
Eugene Puryear.

Cidersomerset

18th December 2013, 13:08

NSA surveillance is about power, not safety

Wednesday 18th December 2013 at 03:04 By David Icke

http://www.davidicke.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/340509_Edward-Snowden.jpg

‘Six months ago, I stepped out from the shadows of the United States
Government’s National Security Agency to stand in front of a journalist’s camera.

I shared with the world evidence proving some governments are building a world-
wide surveillance system to secretly track how we live, who we talk to, and what
we say. I went in front of that camera with open eyes, knowing that the decision
would cost me family and my home, and would risk my life. I was motivated by a
belief that the citizens of the world deserve to understand the system in which they live.

My greatest fear was that no one would listen to my warning. Never have I been so
glad to have been so wrong. The reaction in certain countries has been particularly
inspiring to me, and Brazil is certainly one of those.’

Read more: NSA surveillance is about power, not safety

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/12/17/340509/nsa-surveillance-is-about-power/

http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/

Cidersomerset

18th December 2013, 13:43

The NSA uses '60 Minutes' for PR

m8jPXlECyqI

Published on 16 Dec 2013

Newsmagazine program "60 Minutes" went inside the National Security
Agency on Sunday night. But rather than being armed with tough questions,
CBS gave the NSA a public relations platform to better handle the fallout
from the Edward Snowden leaks. RT's Sam Sacks exposes some of the
shortcomings of the report and delves into why the NSA is even looking
for publicity now, especially given the agency's history of secrecy.

Hervé

18th December 2013, 16:49

As a result of "surveillance":

Indians stage anti-US rallies over diplomat arrest (http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/12/18/340669/indians-blast-us-over-diplomat-arrest/)
Wed Dec 18, 2013 2:17PM GMT

Thousands of Indian protesters have expressed outrage at the US over the arrest of a female Indian diplomat and her invasive body probe by New York police.

On Wednesday, large crowds of Indian protesters took to streets in New Delhi and several other major cities to vent their anger at the US. They were protesting the arrest and strip-search of a female Indian diplomat in New York.

The main venue of the protests was outside the US Embassy compound in New Delhi.

[...]

The developments come after the US used sophisticated equipment to spy on the Indian Embassy in Washington and India's UN office in New York.

Reports say the US National Security Agency (NSA) has targeted Indian diplomatic mission on the US soil over the past few months.

The US spies reportedly bugged telephone lines of the Indian diplomatic missions and copied their hard disks.

India is on a top secret list of countries targeted for intensive spying. The latest developments are set to deteriorate relations between the two countries.
JR/SS/SL

Hervé

18th December 2013, 17:58

How it works, according to its creator (damage control?):

Former Top NSA Official: “We Are Now In A Police State” (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/12/former-top-nsa-official-now-police-state.html)

Posted on December 18, 2013 (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/12/former-top-nsa-official-now-police-state.html) by WashingtonsBlog (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/author/washingtonsblog)

32-year NSA Veteran Who Created Mass Surveillance System Says Government Use of Data Gathered Through Spying “Is a Totalitarian Process”

Bill Binney is the high-level NSA executive who created the agency’s mass surveillance program for digital information. A 32-year NSA veteran widely regarded as a “legend” within the agency, Binney was the senior technical director within the agency and managed thousands of NSA employees.

Binney has been interviewed by virtually all of the mainstream media, including CBS (http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=9495393), ABC (http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=19341792), CNN (http://thelead.blogs.cnn.com/2013/06/18/nsa-whistleblowers-obama-administration-misleading-on-surveillance-programs/), New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/23/opinion/the-national-security-agencys-domestic-spying-program.html), USA Today (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/06/16/snowden-whistleblower-nsa-officials-roundtable/2428809/), Fox News (http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/06/07/nsa-whistleblower-responds-obama-metadata-phone-call-more-revealing-listening), PBS (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/government_programs/july-dec13/whistleblowers_08-01.html) and many others.

Last year, Binney held his thumb and forefinger close together, and said (http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/ff_nsadatacenter/all/1):
We are, like, that far from a turnkey totalitarian state.
But today, Binney told Washington’s Blog that the U.S. has already become a police state.

By way of background, the government is spying on virtually everything we do (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/10/security-expert-the-details-matter-less-and-less-we-have-to-assume-that-the-nsa-has-everyone-who-uses-electronic-communications-under-constant-surveillance.html).

All of the information (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/10/spies-can-now-for-the-first-time-monitor-everything-about-us-and-they-can-do-so-with-a-few-clicks-of-a-mouse-and-to-placate-the-lawyers-a-drop-down-menu-of-justifications.html) gained by the NSA through spying is then shared with federal, state and local agencies (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/08/the-most-persuasive-evidence-that-the-government-spies-on-all-americans.html), and they are using that information to prosecute petty crimes such as drugs and taxes (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/08/the-most-persuasive-evidence-that-the-government-spies-on-all-americans.html). The agencies are instructed to intentionally “launder” (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/05/us-dea-sod-idUSBRE97409R20130805) the information gained through spying, i.e. to pretend that they got the information in a more legitimate way … and to hide that from defense attorneys and judges (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/05/us-dea-sod-idUSBRE97409R20130805).

This is a bigger deal than you may realize, as legal experts say that there are so many federal and state laws in the United States, that no one can keep track of them all … and everyone violates laws every day without even knowing it (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/10/you-break-the-law-every-day-without-even-knowing-it.html).

The NSA also ships Americans’ most confidential, sensitive information (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/11/u-s-sending-americans-confidential-info-abroad-just-like-outsourcing-torture-foreign-governments.html) to foreign countries like Israel (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/11/nsa-americans-personal-data-israel-documents) (and here (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2008/10/israel-companies-handle-sensitive-u-s-spying-data.html)), the UK (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/20/us-uk-secret-deal-surveillance-personal-data) and other countries … so they can “unmask” the information (http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/11/21/nsa-5-eyes-sharing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nsa-5-eyes-sharing) and give it back to the NSA … or use it for their own purposes.

Binney told us today:
The main use of the collection from these [NSA spying] programs for law enforcement. [See the 2 slides below].

These slides give the policy of the DOJ/FBI/DEA etc. on how to use the NSA data. In fact, they instruct that none of the NSA data is referred to in courts – cause it has been acquired without a warrant.

So, they have to do a “Parallel Construction” and not tell the courts or prosecution or defense the original data used to arrest people. This I call: a “planned programed perjury policy” directed by US law enforcement.

And, as the last line on one slide says, this also applies to “Foreign Counterparts.”

This is a total corruption of the justice system not only in our country but around the world. The source of the info is at the bottom of each slide. This is a totalitarian process – means we are now in a police state.
Here are the two slides which Binney pointed us to:

http://rt.com/files/news/1f/ff/b0/00/sod.jpg

http://rt.com/files/news/1f/ff/b0/00/_dea-5.jpg
(Source: Reuters via RT (http://rt.com/usa/dea-agents-nsa-evidence-067/); SOD stands for “Special Operations Division,” a branch of a federal government agency (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/05/us-dea-sod-idUSBRE97409R20130805).)

We asked Binney a follow-up question:
You say “this also applies to ‘Foreign Counterparts.’” Does that mean that foreign agencies can also “launder” the info gained from NSA spying? Or that data gained through foreign agencies’ spying can be “laundered” and used by U.S. agencies?
Binney responded:
For countries like the five eyes (US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand) and probably some others it probably works both ways. But for others that have relationships with FBI or DEA etc., they probably are given the data to used to arrest people but are not told the source or given copies of the data.
(See this (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/11/u-s-sending-americans-confidential-info-abroad-just-like-outsourcing-torture-foreign-governments.html) for background on the five eyes.)
View past discussions between [I]Washington’s Blog and Binney here (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/12/www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/11/12-years-before-edward-snowden-high-level-nsa-whistleblower-warned-congress-about-mass-surveillance-by-the-nsa-against-americans.html), here (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/06/exclusive-top-nsa-whistleblower-spills-the-beans-on-the-real-scope-of-the-spying-program.html), here (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/11/nsa-whistleblower-government-failed-to-stop-boston-bombing-because-it-was-overwhelmed-with-data-from-mass-surveillance-on-americans.html) and here (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/08/obama-said-hell-reform-nsa-spying-should-we-believe-him.html).

Cidersomerset

18th December 2013, 18:18

Going Underground: Snowden shakedown in UK, 'big freeze' hits British press (E9)

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Published on 18 Nov 2013

Afshin Rattansi goes underground to bring stories that really matter in the UK.
Together with Henry Porter, London editor of Vanity Fair, we get the inside scoop
on what really happened the day The Guardian's offices were raided by Whitehall.
And the former chief accountant of the European Commission, Marta Andreasen,
explains why the EU has failed a tax audit for the 19th year in a row. Plus police
are all around you, even in the windows of buses. For these stories and
more - let's go underground!

Cidersomerset

18th December 2013, 21:48

18 December 2013 Last updated at 21:24

NSA: White House task force recommends surveillance curbs
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71833000/jpg/_71833603_71833602.jpg
woman with Edward Snowden mask in Berlin protest on 4 July 2013
Edward Snowden's leaks have generated a debate about how far surveillance
should go Continue reading the main story
Spy leaksHow intelligence is gathered
History of spying
NSA secrets failure
'Five eyes' club

The US National Security Agency should not retain its vast database of phone
records, a review convened by President Barack Obama has recommended.
Phone companies or a third party should hold the data instead of America's
electronic surveillance agency, the five-person panel said.

Details of the snooping programme were leaked by ex-NSA contractor Edward
Snowden, now a fugitive in Russia.

The review comes after a federal judge found the programme unconstitutional.

President Barack Obama met the five-member Review Group on Intelligence and
Communications Technology earlier on Wednesday.

The outside panel's report includes 46 recommendations about the US surveillance
network.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the review, which was originally to be
published in January, was being released now because of "inaccurate" media
reports about its contents.

In a statement, the White House said Mr Obama had discussed the thinking beyond
the recommendations with the panel and "noted that the group's report
represented a consensus view, particularly significant given the broad scope of the
members' expertise in counterterrorism, intelligence, oversight, privacy and civil liberties".

Mr Obama told the group that "the United States use its intelligence collection
capabilities in a way that optimally protects our national security while supporting
our foreign policy, respecting privacy and civil liberties, maintaining the public trust,
and reducing the risk of unauthorized disclosure".

The five-person panel was comprised of Richard Clarke, a former White House
counter-terrorism advisor; Michael Morell, the former deputy director of the CIA;
University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey Stone; former White House technical
adviser Cass Sunstein; and Peter Swire, an expert in privacy law.

It is unclear how many of the panel's suggestions, which intelligence officials are
likely to oppose vigorously, will be accepted by the Obama administration.

On Monday, a federal court in Washington DC found the NSA's mass collection of
Americans' phone call information was unconstitutional, in a case expected to reach
the US Supreme Court.

Judge Richard Leon called the surveillance programme "indiscriminate" and
an "almost Orwellian technology that enables the government to store and analyze
the phone metadata of every telephone user in the United States".

And on Tuesday, executives from several large US tech firms met Mr Obama at the
White House, reportedly pressing the US president to curb the electronic
surveillance programmes.

They demanded more transparency about the programmes, and told the president
the programmes were hurting their reputations and the broader US economy by
discouraging foreign companies from investing in US technology.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25439544

Cidersomerset

20th December 2013, 19:52

Glenn Greenwald: ‘U.S. Government Uses Terrorism As It’s Excuse To Do Almost EVERYTHING’

Friday 20th December 2013 at 03:34 By David Icke

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Cidersomerset

20th December 2013, 19:58

http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.58.1/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png

20 December 2013 Last updated at 18:02

NSA leaks: UK and US spying targets revealed

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71886000/jpg/_71886867_71886861.jpg

More details of people and institutions targeted by UK and US surveillance have
been published by The Guardian, The New York Times and Der Spiegel.

The papers say that the list of around 1,000 targets includes a European Union
commissioner, humanitarian organisations and an Israeli PM.

The secret documents were leaked by the former US security contractor, Edward
Snowden, now a fugitive in Russia.

They suggest over 60 countries were targets of the NSA and Britain's GCHQ.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71888000/jpg/_71888515_019836068-1.jpg

Edward Snowden has been granted temporary asylum in Russia

The reports are likely to spark more international concern about the surveillance
operations carried out by the US and the UK.

News that the National Security Agency had monitored the phone of German
Chancellor Angela Merkel triggered a diplomatic row between Berlin and
Washington in October.

The New York Times reports that GCHQ monitored the communications of foreign
leaders - including African heads of state and sometimes their family members -
and directors of United Nations and other relief programmes.

The paper reports that the emails of Israeli officials were monitored, including one
listed as "Israeli prime minister". The PM at the time, 2009, was Ehud Olmert.

'Condemnation'

The Guardian writes that GCHQ targeted the UN development programme, Unicef,
German government buildings and the EU Competition Commissioner, Joaquin
Almunia.

The European Commission said in a statement that the claims, if true, "deserve our
strongest condemnation".

"This is not the type of behaviour that we expect from strategic partners, let alone
from our own member states."

Mr Almunia, a Spaniard, is responsible for approving mergers and investigating
monopolies. He has clashed with the US firm Google.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71888000/jpg/_71888513_020216997-1.jpg

Joaquin Almunia is vice president of the European Commission
The NSA denies carrying out espionage to benefit US businesses.

The Dutch Liberal MEP Sophia in 't Veld described the latest claims as "shocking".

"The UK spying on its fellow EU member states in order to get an economic
advantage is simply unacceptable," she said.

GCHQ did not comment directly on the claims but said it operates "under one of the
strongest systems of checks and balances and democratic accountability for secret
intelligence anywhere in the world".

On Thursday a White House panel recommended significant curbs on the NSA's
sweeping electronic surveillance programmes.

Edward Snowden left the US in late May, taking a large cache of top secret
documents with him.

He faces espionage charges over his actions and has been granted temporary
asylum in Russia.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71888000/jpg/_71888511_018411503-1.jpg

Satellite dishes are seen at GCHQ's outpost in Bude, Cornwall (June 23, 2013) The
papers claim that GCHQ's outpost in Cornwall was used for the monitoring

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-25468263

Openmindedskeptic

20th December 2013, 23:07

Former NSA Official "No One is Watching the Watchers"
-GvmSa4Oujs
Published on Dec 20, 2013

With Wednesday's release of the White House's task force report on mass surveillance - the discussion about how to balance liberty and security has heated up once again. More on that report - and what it means for the future of the surveillance state - with NSA whistleblower Bill Binney.

Cidersomerset

23rd December 2013, 21:36

ECHELON

Monday 23rd December 2013 at 03:38 By David Icke

http://whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/ECHELON/listeningpost.jpg

‘Rumours have abounded for several years of a massive system designed to
intercept virtually all email and fax traffic in the world and subject it to automated
analysis, despite laws in many nations (including this one) barring such activity.
The laws were circumvented by a mutual pact among five nations. It’s illegal for the
United States to spy on it’s citizens. Likewise the same for Great Britain. But under
the terms of the UKUSA agreement, Britain spies on Americans and America spies
on British citizens and the two groups trade data. Technically, it may be legal, but
the intent to evade the spirit of the laws protecting the citizens of those two nations
is clear.

The system is called ECHELON, and had been rumored to be in development since
1947, the result of the UKUSA treaty signed by the governments of the United
States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The purpose of the UKUSA agreement was to create a single vast global intelligence
organization sharing common goals and a common agenda, spying on the world
and sharing the data. The uniformity of operation is such that NSA operatives from
Fort Meade could work from Menwith Hill to intercept local communications without
either nation having to formally approve or disclose the interception.’

Read more: ECHELON

http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/

http://whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/ECHELON/echelon.html

Cidersomerset

23rd December 2013, 22:25

Intel Indifference: People in UK think of spying as James Bond, not Stasi

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There is truth to this unfortunately.....

Anchor

23rd December 2013, 23:11

My day at the NSA: A pr campaign for secret surveillance programs

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/my-day-the-nsa

12/17/13 05:57 PM—Updated 12/17/13 06:40 PM

By Stephen Vladeck

The National Security Agency’s historical attitude toward the public can be captured in an oft-invoked play on its initials: “Never Say Anything.” But as Sunday’s “60 Minutes” feature demonstrates, the NSA is now saying quite a bit—all part of an extensive public relations campaign designed to reassure the American public about the secret surveillance programs disclosed by Edward Snowden, and about the NSA generally.

In a way, I’m part of that effort. I was one of eight academics invited to the NSA’s sprawling Fort Meade complex last Thursday for a full day of high-level briefings and discussions that would previously have been impossible—at least for folks like me who don’t have a security clearance. Indeed, one of the senior officials we met with opened her session by emphasizing just how strange it was to be discussing programs that have historically been secret. Unsaid, but unmistakable, was that none of us would have been there had it not been for Snowden.

And while it was hard to shake the impression that each of the officials we met with had taken the Snowden leaks very personally, it was also hard not to like them, to appreciate their candor, or to conclude that they’re bright and well-meaning government officials.

But my day at the NSA did little to dissuade me from the view that our surveillance laws need significant reform. For an agency that purports to celebrate the protection of privacy rights as one of its five core missions, there seems to be very little understanding of what that actually means. Yes, the NSA has a massive “compliance” operation, which is designed to ensure that rules governing their surveillance programs are followed and to punish those (like operators who spied on their loved ones) who deliberately cross the line. And yes, the NSA is subject to extensive oversight from a number of different executive branch, legislative branch, and judicial branch institutions, to ensure, again, that the rules are being followed.

But what became increasingly clear as the day wore on is how unable the NSA is to appreciate the possibility that the rules themselves might be legally or constitutionally invalid. Perhaps the metadata program which collects electronic records is not authorized by Congress or is prohibited by the Constitution. Several of the officials bristled at any suggestion that the agency was actually exceeding its legal authority, even though there are good arguments on both statutory and constitutional grounds.

We heard several times how frivolous the Fourth Amendment challenge to the metadata program must be. Yet, just four days after the visit, the district court in Washington issued a decision to the contrary. And we were reminded, over and over, that Congress “ratified” the metadata program more than a half-decade after its initiation even though there was no public disclosure of the shaky legal grounds on which a secret court upheld that program. Nor was there any chance for most members of Congress to entertain arguments that the program was unlawful.

As for the “PRISM” program, which allows the NSA to access the content of communications, we heard the same mantra that NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander provided to “60 Minutes”: the NSA is not targeting the communications of Americans. But of course, such careful verbiage says nothing whatsoever about whether millions of Americans’ communications are nevertheless being intercepted or the few limitations on what the government can do with those U.S. communications once they are collected.

Most chillingly, when we asked how the Snowden disclosures might affect the balance between national security and privacy going forward, one senior official could only suggest that they will likely result in fewer First Amendment protections—implying that the only real constitutional change will be a reduction in press freedoms in response to the public disclosure of these programs.

But the best example of this cognitive dissonance is one specific exchange late in our day on campus. One official described the difficulties he had while speaking to school groups about the NSA, and his inability to convince students that Snowden was a “bad guy” who had done serious harm to U.S. national security. He asked us how he could more compellingly and convincingly make that case to young people. Bewildered, we asked why the merits of the surveillance programs turn in any way on whether Snowden’s a patriot or a traitor. Even President Obama has conceded that the public debate we’re now having is “welcome,” regardless of where we end up as a result.

But the NSA official’s reply seemed to suggest that these two perspectives are mutually exclusive—that we must choose between Snowden and the NSA. If we believe Snowden is a bad guy, then the NSA must be right. And if we believe he acted in what he thought were the best interests of the country, the NSA must be wrong.

The premise of the question suggested that we would all be better off if the American public were still as ignorant about the surveillance programs disclosed as a result of Snowden’s action. For the NSA, the problem appears to be about the need to respond to transparency and not the substance of the programs themselves (or the fact that they were authorized in secret).

In the end, this is the most entrenched problem I encountered during my visit: the NSA remains committed to the idea that, because a surveillance program will be much more effective if no one knows about it, it necessarily follows that the public should remain ignorant of it. Therefore, the NSA’s programs must be approved and implemented in secret unless and until the next Snowden reveals them.

I have to think that the American public is smarter than that. There’s nothing wrong with believing—as I do—that Snowden broke the law, and that his actions were at least reckless if not worse. But we’re also considerably better off as a nation for his having done so. And there’s nothing wrong with believing, at the same time, that there are people at the NSA who truly have the best interests of the country at heart and are dedicated to acting within the law. But the NSA should never have begun some of its programs without a robust public debate at the outset. Without Snowden, I would never have been invited to Fort Meade, and all of us, including me, would still be in the dark.

Vladeck is Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Scholarship at American University Washington College of Law

¤=[Post Update]=¤

White House tries to prevent ruling on NSA surveillance

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57616217-38/white-house-tries-to-prevent-ruling-on-nsa-surveillance/

The Obama administration acknowledges for the first time that the NSA's collection of data on American's Internet and phone activity was authorized by President Bush in 2001.

The Obama administration has filed papers to prevent a federal judge from issuing a ruling on whether the government's warrantless surveillance programs are constitutional.

In a pair of filings late Friday with court for the Northern District of California, the White House acknowledged for the first time that NSA's bulk data collection on American's Internet and phone activity was authorized by President Bush in the weeks after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

"President Bush issued authorizations approximately every 30-60 days," wrote James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence. "Although the precise terms changed over time, each presidential authorization required the minimization of information collected concerning American citizens to the extent consistent with the effective accomplishment of the mission of detection and prevention of acts of terrorism within the United States. NSA also applied additional internal constraints on the presidentially authorized activities."

The government argued, that despite recent leaks by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, further revelation's about the NSA's surveillance and data collection programs could put the government's security at risk if they were divulged in court, he wrote.

"Disclosure of this still-classified information regarding the scope and operational details of N.S.A. intelligence activities implicated by plaintiffs' allegations could be expected to cause extremely grave damage to the national security of the United States," Clapper wrote.

Arguing that it can continue to assert its state secrets privilege to block information from being used in a court, the Justice Department has asked US District Court Judge Jeffrey S. White to dismiss the case without ruling on whether the programs violated the First or Fourth Amendments of the Constitution. The court had earlier ordered the government to evaluate how Snowden's leaks had affected it invocation of the state secrets privilege.

Plaintiffs in the cases, including the Electronic Freedom Foundation, have until late January to respond.

"The government seems to be trying to reset the clock to before June 2013 or even December 2005," EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn said in a statement. "But the American people know that their communications are being swept up by the government under various NSA programs. The government's attempt to block true judicial review of its mass, untargeted collection of content and metada by pretending that the basic facts about how the spying affects the American people are still secret is both outrageous and disappointing."

The filing comes on the heels of another federal judge's ruling earlier this week that the NSA's data collection activities were likely unconstitutional. US District Judge Richard Leon ruled Monday that the government's bulk collection and querying of phone record metadata may violate the Fourth Amendment and "certainly does violate a reasonable expectation of privacy."

Leon, who was appointed to the District Court for the District of Columbia by Bush, issued a preliminary injunction in the case, which is the combination of related lawsuits filed against the government by legal activist Larry Klayman, that bars the NSA from collecting metadata associated with the Verizon account of Klayman and one of his clients. However, the judged stayed the order to allow for an appeal.

Via New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/22/us/white-house-tries-to-prevent-judge-from-ruling-on-surveillance-efforts.html?pagewanted=all)

Cidersomerset

26th December 2013, 19:14

‘Tracked everywhere you go’: Snowden delivers Xmas message on govt spying

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jo-G1itnBcw

Published time: December 24, 2013 20:53
Edited time: December 26, 2013 08:53

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has delivered his ‘Alternative Christmas
Message’ via a British TV channel. The whistleblower called for an end to mass
spying by governments, stating that a child born today will have "no conception of
privacy." Snowden’s address aired by the UK’s Channel 4 comes as an alternative
to the Queen’s traditional Christmas speech, which is shown by the country’s other
leading broadcasters. Filmed in Russia, the address is the first TV appearance of the
whistleblower since his arrival in the country, where he was granted temporary
asylum in August. The message starts with Snowden appealing to each and every
family, warning them that the scope of government surveillance has gone to the
extent that “a child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all”.

As a former US Central Intelligence Agency employee, US National Security Agency
contractor, and the person behind the biggest security leak in US history, Snowden
gives his assessment of the classic bogey model of the Orwellian state as “nothing
compared” to today's surveillance methods.

“The types of collection in the book – microphones and video cameras, TVs that
watch us – are nothing compared to what we have available today. We have
sensors in our pockets that track us everywhere we go. Think about what this
means for the privacy of the average person,” the former NSA contractor says.

He goes on to say that “a child born today will grow up with no conception of
privacy at all. They'll never know what it means to have a private moment to
themselves, an unrecorded, unanalyzed thought.”

“And that's a problem because privacy matters, privacy is what allows us to
determine who we are and who we want to be,” Snowden adds.

Reuters / Gary Cameron

The American whistleblower also points out the importance of the debate which his
revelations have ignited. Snowden shared top secret NSA documents about
widespread surveillance by American, British, and other governments on phone and
internet communications earlier this year. The scandalous disclosures outraged the
world - including many senior officials, such as Brazilian President Dilma Rouseff,
who was allegedly spied on by the US government agency.

“The conversation occurring today will determine the amount of trust we can place
both in the technology that surrounds us and the government that regulates it.
Together we can find a better balance, end mass surveillance and remind the
government that if it really wants to know how we feel, asking is always cheaper
than spying,” Snowden says.

Snowden’s address to the British audience comes amid an ongoing debate in the
country over the tightening mass surveillance at home, as well as at an
international level.

The latest revelations on the intelligence activities of the NSA and its UK allied
agency, General Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), last Friday alleged that
the US and the UK are spying on friends and foes alike, monitoring the
communications of senior EU, UN and Israeli officials.

Snowden said in an earlier interview with The Washington Post that he had “already
won,” since the public has begun to address the issue of government
surveillance. “For me, in terms of personal satisfaction, the mission’s already
accomplished,” Snowden said.

Channel 4’s alternative to the Royal Christmas Message has been aired annually
since 1993, giving a platform to diverse figures – many of whom have been
deemed controversial. Brigitte Bardot delivered the message in 1995, Marge and
Lisa Simpson in 2004, and the then Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in
2008.

http://rt.com/news/snowden-christmas-alternative-tv-745/