1. #1
    Jolie Rouge's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2000
    Location
    Lan astaslem !
    Posts
    60,656
    Thanks
    2,750
    Thanked 5,510 Times in 3,654 Posts

    NSA's PRISM program .... direct tap into the servers of the U.S.'s largest Internet providers

    US intelligence agencies tap servers of top Internet companies
    By Andrea Mitchell and Jeff Black, NBC News June 6, 2013


    U.S. intelligence agencies have a direct tap into the servers of the U.S.'s largest Internet companies where agents can troll for suspicious activity, sources confirmed to NBC News on Thursday.

    The highly classified program, designed to look at international communications and run by the National Security Agency and the FBI, can peek at video, audio, photos, emails and other documents, including connection logs that let the government track people, according to the sources, who spoke with NBC News on condition of anonymity.

    Intelligence officials disputed reports that the program was engaged in "data mining" and instead described the activities as "data collection." It was unclear what the distinction is in practical terms.

    The program, code-named PRISM, was first publicly exposed Thursday evening by The Washington Post and The Guardian.

    According to the Post, which reported that it had obtained an internal NSA presentation on the PRISM operation, the tool was so successful that it was the top contributor to President Barack Obama's daily intelligency brief — with 1,477 articles last year.

    The participating technology companies were a virtual "Who's Who" of Silicon Valley, including Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube and Apple, the Post said.

    Companies contacted by NBC denied knowledge of the PRISM operation, which has been described as a "partnership" with the technology industry. "Google does not have a 'back door' for the government to access private user data," Google spokesman Chris Gaither said.

    "We do not provide any government organization with direct access to Facebook servers," Facebook's chief security officer, Joe Sullivan, said in a statement.

    "We have never heard of PRISM," an Apple spokesman told CNBC. "We do not provide any government agency with direct access to our servers, and any government agency requesting customer data must get a court order."

    Microsoft and Yahoo also denied to NBC News knowledge of the program, saying they only comply with legal requests for information on specific individuals.

    According to the NBC News sources, PRISM works in tandem with another program, code-named BLARNEY, which collects "metadata" — Internet addresses, device signatures and such — as the data streams past intersections on the Internet backbone.

    Disclosure of the PRISM program comes a day after the Guardian reported that the U.S. government had compelled telephone giant Verizon to turn over phone records of millions of U.S. customers.

    Intelligence officials were reeling over the leak about PRISM on Thursday night, sources told NBC News.

    The groundwork for doing such widespread monitoring appeared to be first laid in 2007 in the hastily passed "Protect America Act."

    Thursday's revelations are believed to be the first publicly released results of the law.

    Kurt Upsahl, a senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the digital civil rights organization "has been saying for some time that there has been a warrantless surveillance program going on" for the collection of electronic content.

    "It allegedly has the cooperation of nine very prominent Internet companies, from which we're seeing a slew of denials," he told NBC News. "Denials that are designed to leave the impression that the companies are not participating."

    At "minimum," he said, "Congress should start holding some hearings and get to the bottom of what's going on."

    The American Civil Liberties Union also was quick to offer its concerns about what was reportedly a court-approved program that had the consent of Congress.

    "These revelations are a reminder that Congress has given the government far too much power to invade individual privacy, that existing civil liberties safeguards are grossly inadequate," Jameel Jaffer, the ACLU's deputy legal director, said in a statement, adding that "powers exercised entirely in secret, without public accountability of any kind, will certainly be abused."

    However, James R. Clapper, Obama's director of national intelligence, said in a statement that the Post and The Guardian articles contained "numerous inaccuracies" in reference to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

    Section 702, he said, is designed to help acquire foreign intelligence for non-U.S. persons outside the country and can't be used to target Americans or others within the U.S.

    He said all activities authorized by Section 702 are subject to oversight by a special court, the executive branch and Congress and must follow "extensive procedures" to "ensure only non-U.S. persons outside the U.S. are targeted."

    Clapper stressed that the program "does not allow the Government to listen in on anyone's phone calls" and that "the information acquired does not include the content of any communications or the identity of any subscriber."

    "The unauthorized disclosure of information about this important and entirely legal program is reprehensible and risks important protections for the security of Americans," he said.

    http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news...companies?lite

    comments

    Under the guise of combatting terrorism this administration has been violating the rights of perfectly law-abiding Americans, while not even pursuing a killer like Nidal Hasan, who kills indiscriminately in the name of Islam as the terrorist that he is!

    What the Obama administration is really doing is gathering information that can be used to suppress those that the administration views as potential critics of Obama. So much for democracy.

    ...

    I had a problem with it when Bush did it, i have a problem with this president doing it!

    ..

    You've got to be kidding me. If this story broke a decade ago the comments would be nothing but George W. Bush bashing and accusations of tyrannical government invading people's privacy. The amount of flip-flopping and story-spinning by you Progressives is truly mind-boggling.

    I wish the Patriot Act would be repealed and is still one of my main issues with Bush's Presidency. As a Conservative I will readily admit. Which is why I find it so pathetic that you REFUSE to ever criticize this Administration. Especially when all along you've done nothing but bash Bush for this very issue we all just read.

    ...

    After 9/11 Bush went on record saying that the Patriot Act is meant only for tracking people who have ties to terrorists. What Obama is doing is going after EVERY American citizen.

    Just think, the IRS knows the finances of every law abiding citizen. Under Obamacare the IRS will now have access to all your health information. This would have been Hitler's dream if he were alive.

    All this is wrong. This is why we have the Constitution to protect us. Open your eyes people.


    Tip of the iceberg ? http://www.bigbigforums.com/news-inf...r-reveals.html

    http://www.bigbigforums.com/news-inf...m-massive.html
    Last edited by Jolie Rouge; 06-06-2013 at 09:42 PM.
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

  2. # ADS
    Circuit advertisement NSA's PRISM program .... direct tap into the servers of the U.S.'s largest Internet providers
    Join Date
    Always
    Location
    Advertising world
    Posts
    Many
     

  3. #2
    Jolie Rouge's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2000
    Location
    Lan astaslem !
    Posts
    60,656
    Thanks
    2,750
    Thanked 5,510 Times in 3,654 Posts
    Obama in 2007: No more spying on citizens who are not suspected of a crime

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAQlsS9diBs

    Excerpt from President Obama's speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center in August 2007.

    This This Administration also puts forward a false choice between the liberties we cherish and the security we demand. I will provide our intelligence and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to track and take out the terrorists without undermining our Constitution and our freedom.

    That means no more illegal wire-tapping of American citizens. No more national security letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime. No more tracking citizens who do nothing more than protest a misguided war. No more ignoring the law when it is inconvenient. That is not who we are. And it is not what is necessary to defeat the terrorists. The FISA court works. The separation of powers works. Our Constitution works. We will again set an example for the world that the law is not subject to the whims of stubborn rulers, and that justice is not arbitrary.

    This Administration acts like violating civil liberties is the way to enhance our security. It is not.
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

  4. #3
    Jolie Rouge's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2000
    Location
    Lan astaslem !
    Posts
    60,656
    Thanks
    2,750
    Thanked 5,510 Times in 3,654 Posts
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

  5. #4
    Jolie Rouge's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2000
    Location
    Lan astaslem !
    Posts
    60,656
    Thanks
    2,750
    Thanked 5,510 Times in 3,654 Posts
    Obama Administration Declassifies Details On “PRISM,”
    Blasts “Reckless” Media And Leakers

    By Zeke J MillerJune 08, 2013



    Facing a firestorm from liberals and conservatives over controversial counterterrorism surveillance programs, the Obama administration moved Saturday to declassify some details about a program to monitor foreign Internet traffic.

    Following near-simultaneous reports from the Guardian and the Washington Post this week, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said that contrary to press reports, “PRISM is not an undisclosed collection or data mining program.” He maintained that the government computer system is authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and is overseen by all three branches of the federal government. He said that the program does not target US citizens or anyone known to be in the United States, and pushed back on reports that the government has continuous access to Internet companies’ systems. “Service providers supply information to the Government when they are lawfully required to do so,” he said.

    The disclosure followed on a release Thursday of details about the National Security Agency’s collection of telephone “metadata” of all calls made in the United States.
    In both instances, Clapper fiercely defended the programs, in the case of the Internet surveillance saying the program has “proven vital to keeping the nation and our allies safe.”

    “It continues to be one of our most important tools for the protection of the nation’s security,” he added.

    Clapper also lashed out at both the Guardian and the Washington Post, calling the disclosure of classified information “reckless.”

    “There are significant misimpressions that have resulted from the recent articles,” he added. “Not all the inaccuracies can be corrected without further revealing classified information. I have, however, declassified for release the attached details about the recent unauthorized disclosures in hope that it will help dispel some of the myths and add necessary context to what has been published.”


    The Director of National Intelligence’s fact sheet on the Internet surveillance:
    Facts on the Collection of Intelligence Pursuant to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

    · PRISM is not an undisclosed collection or data mining program. It is an internal government computer system used to facilitate the government’s statutorily authorized collection of foreign intelligence information from electronic communication service providers under court supervision, as authorized by Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) (50 U.S.C. § 1881a). This authority was created by the Congress and has been widely known and publicly discussed since its inception in 2008.

    · Under Section 702 of FISA, the United States Government does not unilaterally obtain information from the servers of U.S. electronic communication service providers. All such information is obtained with FISA Court approval and with the knowledge of the provider based upon a written directive from the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. In short, Section 702 facilitates the targeted acquisition of foreign intelligence information concerning foreign targets located outside the United States under court oversight. Service providers supply information to the Government when they are lawfully required to do so.

    · The Government cannot target anyone under the court-approved procedures for Section 702 collection unless there is an appropriate, and documented, foreign intelligence purpose for the acquisition (such as for the prevention of terrorism, hostile cyber activities, or nuclear proliferation) and the foreign target is reasonably believed to be outside the United States.

    We cannot target even foreign persons overseas without a valid foreign intelligence purpose.

    · In addition, Section 702 cannot be used to intentionally target any U.S. citizen, or any other U.S. person, or to intentionally target any person known to be in the United States. Likewise, Section 702 cannot be used to target a person outside the United States if the purpose is to acquire information from a person inside the United States.

    · Finally, the notion that Section 702 activities are not subject to internal and external oversight is similarly incorrect. Collection of intelligence information under Section 702 is subject to an extensive oversight regime, incorporating reviews by the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches.

    · The Courts. All FISA collection, including collection under Section 702, is overseen and monitored by the FISA Court, a specially established Federal court comprised of 11 Federal judges appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States.

    o The FISC must approve targeting and minimization procedures under Section 702 prior to the acquisition of any surveillance information.

    § Targeting procedures are designed to ensure that an acquisition targets non- U.S. persons reasonably believed to be outside the United States for specific purposes, and also that it does not intentionally acquire a communication when all the parties are known to be inside the US.

    § Minimization procedures govern how the Intelligence Community (IC) treats the information concerning any U.S. persons whose communications might be incidentally intercepted and regulate the handling of any nonpublic information concerning U.S. persons that is acquired, including whether information concerning a U.S. person can be disseminated. Significantly, the dissemination of information about U.S. persons is expressly prohibited unless it is necessary to understand foreign intelligence or assess its importance, is evidence of a crime, or indicates a threat of death or serious bodily harm.

    · The Congress. After extensive public debate, the Congress reauthorized Section 702 in
    December 2012.

    o The law specifically requires a variety of reports about Section 702 to the Congress.

    § The DNI and AG provide exhaustive semiannual reports assessing compliance with the targeting and minimization procedures.

    § These reports, along with FISA Court opinions, and a semi-annual report by the Attorney General are provided to Congress. In short, the information provided to Congress by the Executive Branch with respect to these activities provides an unprecedented degree of accountability and transparency.

    o In addition, the Congressional Intelligence and Judiciary Committees are regularly briefed on the operation of Section 702.

    · The Executive. The Executive Branch, including through its independent Inspectors General, carries out extensive oversight of the use of Section 702 authorities, which includes regular on-site reviews of how Section 702 authorities are being implemented. These regular reviews are documented in reports produced to Congress. Targeting decisions are reviewed by ODNI and DOJ.

    o Communications collected under Section 702 have provided the Intelligence Community insight into terrorist networks and plans. For example, the Intelligence Community acquired information on a terrorist organization’s strategic planning efforts.

    o Communications collected under Section 702 have yielded intelligence regarding proliferation networks and have directly and significantly contributed to successful operations to impede the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and related technologies.

    o Communications collected under Section 702 have provided significant and unique intelligence regarding potential cyber threats to the United States including specific potential computer network attacks. This insight has led to successful efforts to mitigate these threats.
    http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/08...ixzz2VgnvtfXk/
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

  6. #5
    Jolie Rouge's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2000
    Location
    Lan astaslem !
    Posts
    60,656
    Thanks
    2,750
    Thanked 5,510 Times in 3,654 Posts
    ‘There are things that should remain secret’: Washington Post, Guardian withhold PRISM slides
    Posted at 6:57 pm on June 10, 2013 by Twitchy Staff


    Now that Edward Snowden has come forward as the leaker of the details behind the National Security Agency’s PRISM program, http://twitchy.com/2013/06/09/guardi...edward-snowden people are beginning to line up in two camps; some call him a traitor, while others have declared him a hero for spilling the beans to the Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald. There are other players in the mix, though, and the middle ground they’ve chosen to occupy is interesting.

    Barton Gellman @bartongellman

    BTW the Guardian didn't publish whole PRISM brief either; chose ~same slides the WP did.
    There are things in there that should stay secret.


    9:25 PM - 9 Jun 2013
    Take Barton Gellman, who reported on Snowden for the Washington Post, for example. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...7_story_1.html The Post, together with the Guardian, published five PowerPoint slides regarding the government’s PRISM program. However, both papers chose to withhold 36 more slides leaked to them by Snowden. That puts both papers, rather than the government, in the position of deciding what the public needs to know, and what it shouldn’t know about the government’s Internet surveillance infrastructure. Is everyone comfortable with that?

    Barton Gellman @bartongellman

    So to clarify a couple of points:
    Snowden didn't bolt when I refused guarantees,
    just quit going steady.
    And not because I consulted USG.


    9:22 PM - 9 Jun 2013
    The guarantee to which Gellman refers in his tweet is Snowden’s demand that the Post publish all 41 slides within 72 hours of receipt, which the paper has not done. The Guardian also refused to publish the complete set. Why? If you saw them, you’d know, Gellman told the New York Times’ Charlie Savage.

    Barton Gellman @bartongellman

    If you saw all the slides you wouldn't publish them.
    MT @charlie_savage

    Next time someone shows up, can anyone afford prudence?


    9:27 PM - 9 Jun 2013
    Before anyone rushes to declare Snowden a hero, it’s worth getting a better picture of just how he shopped around the information he hoped to leak, and where it might end up next. China? WikiLeaks? That latter doesn’t seem to think the press has done its job.

    WikiLeaks @wikileaks

    [b]#Snowden demanded all 41 pages of #PRISM document be published
    but neither WaPo nor Guardian had the courage
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...287_story.html

    Code name ‘Verax’: Snowden, in exchanges with Post reporter, made...

    The leaker, at times eloquent and at times jittery, took the code name “Verax,” or “truth teller” in Latin.


    Washington Post @washingtonpost
    10:58 PM - 9 Jun 2013
    http://twitchy.com/2013/06/10/there-...-prism-slides/

    comments

    So read between the lines people:

    This is just as bad, if not WORSE than we all think. If they are choosing to withhold slides, there has to be some very very deep 'mining' going on here.

    ..

    Let me take a guess.
    The NSA did the same thing the IRS did and that means they went after conservative groups.

    ..

    It's clear they're withholding them to protect the Obama admin. I too believe it's about them targeting conservatives/conservative groups.

    ..

    It could also be targeting of other countries but I have no doubt, based on the levels they went through with the IRS and EPA, that they used every tool at their disposal.

    If they refused to publish them they will get to someone who will no doubt.

    ..

    The Post wouldn't afford Bush and his administration that leeway for certain.

    ..

    Who now is working against the obama government and is scandalizing it, from IRS to NSA, to Benghazi, to the AP, etc, etc? Who is leaking? Who is whistle-blowing? Who is trying to assassinate? Who is physically threatening? Who is taking to the streets and violently protesting? Who? Who? Who? Ummm It's not the Tea Party. Not The Right. Not the Conservatives. Not the Republicans!! It's the Lunatic LEFTIES!!

    ..

    Funny, during the Bush Admin they weren't so judicious when it came to publishing anything and everything leaked. What a coincidence!

    ..

    If one is on a boat, and only the captain knows the destination, the distinction between "passenger" and "prisoner" depends entirely upon the trust afforded the captain.

    Which are we... prisoners, or passengers?
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

  7. #6
    Jolie Rouge's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2000
    Location
    Lan astaslem !
    Posts
    60,656
    Thanks
    2,750
    Thanked 5,510 Times in 3,654 Posts
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

  8. #7
    Jolie Rouge's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2000
    Location
    Lan astaslem !
    Posts
    60,656
    Thanks
    2,750
    Thanked 5,510 Times in 3,654 Posts
    Obama's 2007 Promise: 'No More Illegal Wiretapping of American Citizens'

    Video: http://bit.ly/1690upU

    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

  9. #8
    Jolie Rouge's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2000
    Location
    Lan astaslem !
    Posts
    60,656
    Thanks
    2,750
    Thanked 5,510 Times in 3,654 Posts
    NSA Chief: 'We're Doing...the Right Thing' Conducting Surveillance on Citizens
    June 12, 2013 - 4:27 PM - By Joe Schoffstall

    National Security Agency (NSA) Director Gen. Keith Alexander said today that, even though the administration is doing "the right thing" by conducting surveillance on citizens, it still takes "great pride" in protecting their civil liberties.

    Gen. Keith Alexander appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee today and defended the government's surveillance programs: http://abcnews.go.com/International/...6#.UbjRufnqlXc

    "I think what we're doing to protect Americans citizens here is the right thing. Our agency takes great pride in protecting this nation and our civil liberties and privacy, in doing it in partnership with this committee, with this Congress, and with the courts. We have everybody there.

    "We aren't trying to hide it. We're trying to protect America. So, we need your help in doing that. This isn't something that's just NSA or the administration doing on its own; this is what we -- that our nation expects - our government to do for us. So we outta have that debate and put it out there, and put those two together."

    http://cnsnews.com/blog/joe-schoffst...lance-citizens
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

  10. #9
    Jolie Rouge's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2000
    Location
    Lan astaslem !
    Posts
    60,656
    Thanks
    2,750
    Thanked 5,510 Times in 3,654 Posts
    “Government data mining matters”
    Posted by Jeff (ILoveCapitalism) at 12:12 pm - June 10, 2013.


    A couple of opinion pieces. First, from Legal Insurrection: http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/06...ining-matters/

    …I’m also concerned with what could be done with the information gathered about American citizens not suspected of a crime if put into the hands of politicians and political groups, and bureaucrats who work for or are sympathetic to such politicians and political groups.

    The threat, oddly enough, is proven by the [present] leaks…If some government employee who has sworn to keep information secret is willing to leak [it]…for (allegedly) good purposes, what’s to stop that person from violating his or her oath by leaking data-mined information…for other than good reasons…?

    …The issue goes beyond the NSA programs. Obamacare is a form of data mining. Obamacare will put into the hands of the IRS medical and health information of an unprecedented level.
    And from Reason: http://reason.com/archives/2013/06/1...nsas-indiscrim

    …everything and everyone are relevant to everything, because anything could yield some clue that could conceivably solve some crime. But that view is the same one that justified those general warrants from King George III.

    The problem with indiscriminate [surveillance] of homes and effects is not that it’s ineffective in finding wrongdoing. It’s that the innocent people should not be punished in the pursuit of the guilty….
    The danger isn’t (just) in what’s being done with the surveillance databases now; it’s in the fact that they exist, i.e., what could be done with them – and will be, sooner or later. Especially under an administration as power-hungry, deceptive and corrupt as Obama’s.

    In the Bush 43 days, I believed that the government was only after real terrorists. But because of Obama’s IRS/Tea Party scandal http://www.gaypatriot.net/category/i...party-scandal/ specifically, I now know otherwise. That scandal has proven that the government’s motives are not pure.

    And thus the NSA revelations, while they may be a non-scandal by themselves, they do carry the whiff of all of Obama’s other scandals. Because all of them fit together in a disturbing pattern. I am not against responsible counter-terrorism; I am against Obama’s pattern.

    http://www.gaypatriot.net/2013/06/10...ining-matters/

    comments

    A criminal profile can be constructed from the conjecture of an algorithm. No fingerprints required, no DNA samples, no other physical evidence — all is implied, all is circumstantial merely due to electronic patterns that may or may not have any bearing upon what an aggressive prosecutor, IRS agent/Obamacare administrator may wish to assert. Guilt and ‘enemy’ are a combination of any number of ones and zeroes and it is the data generated via ‘private’ interaction through corporate/government relationships most to be feared. Welcome to the oligarchy. Welcome to fascism.

    Risk management tells me that a terrorist attack is preferable to Big Brother. And I don’t think the Obama administration is being viewed favorably, despite that this is a distraction from other, related cases of corruption. How much of this is initial shock to be assimilated over time is anyone’s guess.

    ..

    The corruption and abuse of power from within only takes a few individuals to either not recognize the corruption, or worse, for then to allow the corruption “for the common good”
    Which is why, when I hear or see anything about airport security measures which result in the inevitable comment “…if that’s what it takes to make us safe…”, I want to reach through the TV or computer screen or radio speakers and strangle the lemmings who say such things. That type of mentality is not needed in today’s world.

    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

  11. #10
    Jolie Rouge's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2000
    Location
    Lan astaslem !
    Posts
    60,656
    Thanks
    2,750
    Thanked 5,510 Times in 3,654 Posts
    All the PRISM Data the Tech Giants Have Been Allowed to Disclose So Far
    By Grace Wyler

    Revelations about the National Security Administration's Orwellian PRISM surveillance system have prompted a lot of questions about how much—and where—the government is watching people on the Internet.

    In an effort to answer these questions, and quell public outrage over their supposed compliance with PRISM, tech companies have been pushing the federal government to allow them to disclose how often they get national security-related requests for user information.

    Since reaching a deal with the Obama administration Friday, so far, four of the companies implicated in the PRISM program—Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo—have revealed the number of data requests they get from the US government and law enforcement authorities, including requests submitted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

    But those numbers don't tell the whole story. As part of their deal with the the DOJ, the companies have to lump together all of the requests—including everything from local sheriffs' warrants to FISA requests—so it's impossible to know how many of the requests come from the National Security Administration or from the secret court that handles FISA orders. This is a pretty big caveat that makes it impossible to grasp the full extent of the PRISM program, or to discern how the government is using its surveillance powers.

    Because of that catch, Google is refusing to participate in the disclosures, and is instead demanding that the government allow it to break out FISA request numbers from the rest of its government requests. On Tuesday, the search giant filed a motion with the FISA court requesting permission to publish aggregate information about FISA orders, citing its First Amendment rights.

    Although we don't yet have a full picture of the government's online surveillance, the new information does provide an interesting look at where authorities are looking for intel online.

    Here's what we know:

    Facebook : The social media giant led the pack Friday night, releasing its FISA-inclusive data just minutes after tech companies reached a deal with the FBI and the DOJ. According to the disclosure, Facebook received between 9,000 and 10,000 requests for user data from local, state, and federal authorities in the last six months of 2012. Those requests affected between 18,000 and 19,000 user accounts. So, on average, each request affected about two user accounts.

    This is the first time that Facebook has ever published any information about the requests it gets from the government.

    Microsoft : Microsoft disclosed Friday that, for the last six months of 2012, the company received between 6,000 and 7,000 criminal and national security warrants, subpoenas and orders affecting between 31,000 and 32,000 consumer accounts. That means that, on average, each request affected around 5 user accounts. (It is not clear if these numbers include Skype requests.)

    What's interesting here is that Microsoft previously disclosed that, for all of 2012, it received 11,073 requests from U.S. authorities affecting 24,565 user accounts, although these numbers did not include the FISA orders. As Arik Hesseldahl at AllThingsD points out, this suggests that the FISA requests affect a much larger number of user accounts than the non-FISA requests.

    Yahoo : In a Tumblr post Tuesday, Yahoo disclosed that the company received between 12,000 and 13,000 requests for user data between Dec. 1, 2012 and May 31, 2013. These numbers make Yahoo the overall leader in requests from the government, although the company did not disclose how many user accounts were affected.

    Apple : Apple disclosed this week that from Dec. 1, 2012 to May 31, 2013, Apple received between 4,000 and 5,000 requests from U.S. law enforcement, affecting between 9,000 and 10,000 accounts or devices. (On average, each request affects about two users.)

    Apple's release also explained that the company cannot decrypt data on encrypted iMessage and FaceTime chats, and does not store data on personal location, map searches, or Siri requests, and therefore doesn't turn over that information to the government.

    Google : In its 2012 Transparency Report, Google disclosed that it received 8,438 requests from U.S. authorities, affecting 14,791 user accounts, or 1.7 user accounts per request. Google complied with 88 percent of those requests. Google also disclosed that it received between 0 and 999 National Security Letters, affecting between 1,000 and 1,999 user accounts, the first time a tech company has disclosed these types of requests. (National Security Letters are requests for non-content information, like transactional records, and are different from regular subpoenas and FISA court requests.)

    As we mentioned earlier, Google has said it won't disclose its FISA-inclusive numbers until the feds allow the company to report those numbers separately. Basically, Google's beef is that because the FBI allowed Google to publish the annual number of National Security Letters it had received, separately from other criminal data requests in the company's 2012 Transparency Report, lumping the FISA numbers in with the regular criminal data requests would actually be a step backwards in terms of transparency.

    "Google's reputation and business has been harmed by the false or misleading reports in the media, and Google's users are concerned by the allegations," the company wrote in its motion to the FISA court. "Google must respond to such claims with more than generalities. Moreover, these are matters of significant weight and importance, and transparency is critical to advancing public debate in a thoughtful and democratic manner."

    Google's point is apt. Without knowing how many of requests are coming from the NSA or the FISA court, the numbers don't give us much insight into how the government is running the PRISM program. It also remains unclear how often the companies are complying with these requests, and what kind of content the government is looking for to begin with.

    http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/all...#ixzz2WoOo07lX

    comments

    And Verizon tried to say they only forked over phone numbers. On Sunday, a politican implied that because they only had phone numbers, the NSA could not trace the number to associate a name with it! Unreal. How stupid do they think we are? I think the answer is VERY STUPID, and getting dumber by the day! Long Live Leakers!

    Especially when the average Joe knows if you search the number on Google it will give you the name on the account.

    ...

    Verizon gave up the metadata, that's your number, the number you called, your location, time and length of call. All of that can develop a pretty complete picture on just about anyone with enough calls.

    They know where you are, and what you're doing, and as the IRS scandal has shown us the government can and will abuse it's powers to target it's 'enemies' Even if this wasn't a egregious violation of the 4th Amendment, this kind of power should never give to the government due to the potential for abuse.

    ...

    the government is taking all our rights including privacy away in the guise of national security, without probable cause, and they are not just getting information for national security, you can be sure of that. The president and his cronies think they need to decide the way we live, not we the people, they are slowly , methodically, taking over our country by force, unless we the people stand up against tyranny that's trying to take us over we will fall, without a doubt.

    ..

    Violating the rights of an on average 2 people is still not acceptable. We have to defend the liberties of the few, or we jeopardize the liberties of the many...

    First they came for the socialists,
    and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.

    Then they came for the trade unionists,
    and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

    Then they came for the Jews,
    and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

    Then they came for me,
    and there was no one left to speak for me.
    ..


    No matter what party we are affliliated with, we the people all need to stand together on this one. Don't let the government keep getting this information on all of us. I am sure this is just the tip of the iceberg too.
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Log in

Log in