“EPIC has filed a Petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the Court vacate an unlawful order by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that enables the collection of all domestic phone record by the NSA. The order, directed to Verizon, requires the production of all “call detail records” for calls made “wholly within the United… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Patriot Act
EPIC Speaks to Oversight Board, Former Judge Questions FISC
“EPIC, in a prepared statement, addressed the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board regarding NSA surveillance under the Patriot Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act at day long workshop. Retired Judge James Robertson, who served on the FISA Court, told the panel that he was “stunned” by the news that the government was collecting… Continue Reading
CRS – NSA Surveillance Leaks: Background and Issues for Congress
NSA Surveillance Leaks: Background and Issues for Congress. Marshall Curtis Erwin, Analyst in Intelligence and National Security; Edward C. Liu, Legislative Attorney. July 2, 2013 “Recent attention concerning National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance pertains to unauthorized disclosures of two different intelligence collection programs. Since these programs were publicly disclosed over the course of two days… Continue Reading
EPIC Files Supreme Court Petition, Challenges Domestic Surveillance Program
“EPIC has filed a Petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the Court vacate an unlawful order by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that enables the collection of all domestic phone record by the NSA. The order, directed to Verizon, requires the production of all “call detail records” for calls made “wholly within the United… Continue Reading
UK Parliament to launch in-depth inquiry into US surveillance programmes
News release: “Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee will conduct an “in-depth inquiry” into the US surveillance programmes, including the bugging of EU premises and other spying allegations, and present its results by the end of this year, says a resolution passed by the full House on Thursday. Parliament’s President and political group leaders formally confirmed the… Continue Reading
Commentary – Creative destruction, government snooping: Is the Internet worth it?
Salon – We can’t “repeal the Internet.” But it has unleashed scary forces — and reasons for a Silicon Valley backlash, By Andrew Leonard “There is new evidence, every day, of the mixed blessings delivered by the Internet. Just to pick one example from current headlines: The vast advances in government surveillance capability that we’ve… Continue Reading
NYT- Postal Service Is Watching, Too: Outside of All Mail Is Recorded
Postal Service Is Watching, Too: Outside of All Mail Is Recorded,” by Ron Nixon: “Under “the Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program…Postal Service computers photograph the exterior of every piece of paper mail that is processed in the United States – about 160 billion pieces last year. It is not known how long the government… Continue Reading
Curious about surveillance? FOIA has answers.
Sunshine in Government Initiative – June 27, 2013 “Many Americans are curious about electronic surveillance by the federal government. Conveniently, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has already helped provide some answers. Although much of the interest and attention arises from journalism in recent days (here, here, here, and here, and related stories), America has… Continue Reading
CRS – Criminal Prohibitions on the Publication of Classified Defense Information
Criminal Prohibitions on the Publication of Classified Defense Information – Jennifer K. Elsea, Legislative Attorney, June 24, 2013 “The publication of classified information related to National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance activity is the latest in a series of leaks to the press that has riveted Congress’s attention. Press reports describing classified U.S. operations abroad have… Continue Reading
Commentary – Technology, Not Law, Limits Mass Surveillance
Technology, Not Law, Limits Mass Surveillance, by Ashkan Soltani – MIT Technology Review July 2013 “Recent revelations about the extent of surveillance by the U.S. National Security Agency come as no surprise to those with a technical background in the workings of digital communications. The leaked documents show how the NSA has taken advantage of the increased… Continue Reading
Spiegel Online – “NSA Snoops on 500 Million German Data Connections”
By Laura Poitras, Marcel Rosenbach and Holger Stark: “America’s National Security Agency (NSA) is apparently spying on Germany more than previously believed. Secret documents from the US intelligence service, which have been viewed by SPIEGEL journalists, reveal that the NSA systematically monitors and stores a large share of the country’s telephone and Internet connection data.… Continue Reading
Founder of nonprofit Internet Archive permitted to talk about receiving a national-security letter
What It’s Like to Get a National-Security Letter by Maria Bustillos “Brewster Kahle, the founder of the nonprofit Internet Archive, perhaps the greatest of our digital libraries, and of the Wayback Machine, which allows you to browse an archive of the Web that reaches back to 1996. He is one of very few people in… Continue Reading
