Follow up to related postings, via the New York Times: “Today, a revolution in software technology that allows for the highly automated and instantaneous analysis of enormous volumes of digital information has transformed the N.S.A., turning it into the virtual landlord of the digital assets of Americans and foreigners alike. The new technology has, for… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Patriot Act
UK Guardian identifies leak of NSA Surveillance memo, EPIC cites Presidential Policy Directive 20, Atlantic highlights use of metadata
Follow up to previous postings: UK Guardian – Verizon forced to hand over telephone data – full court ruling; EPIC: Sweeping NSA Domestic Surveillance Order Approved Without Any Ties to Foreign Intelligence Collection and EPIC – Congress Begins Investigation of NSA Domestic Surveillance Program see: Via EPIC: “Presidential Policy Directive 20 orders the creation of… Continue Reading
EFF – Gov’t Says Secret Court Opinion on Law Underlying PRISM Program Needs to Stay Secret
News release: “In a rare public filing in the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), the Justice Department today urged continued secrecy for a 2011 FISC opinion that found the National Security Agency’s surveillance under the FISA Amendments Act to be unconstitutional. Significantly, the surveillance at issue was carried out under the same controversial legal… Continue Reading
New York Times on the Government Data Surveillance Program
New York Times on-going reporting: Obama Calls Surveillance Programs Legal and Limited (June 8, 2013) In U.S., News of Surveillance Effort Is Met With Some Concern but Little Surprise (June 8, 2013) Administration Says Mining of Data Is Crucial to Fight Terror (June 8, 2013) News of U.S. Surveillance Draws Anger of Activists and Militants… Continue Reading
Commentary – Why Privacy Matters Even if You Have ‘Nothing to Hide’
Why Privacy Matters Even if You Have ‘Nothing to Hide’ By Daniel J. Solove Most attempts to understand privacy do so by attempting to locate its essence—its core characteristics or the common denominator that links together the various things we classify under the rubric of “privacy.” Privacy, however, is too complex a concept to be reduced… Continue Reading
EPIC: Sweeping NSA Domestic Surveillance Order Approved Without Any Ties to Foreign Intelligence Collection
Follow up to previous posting, Verizon forced to hand over telephone data – full court ruling, more information news today that provides a more accurate view of the depth and breath data collection of American citizens: via EPIC: An unprecedented order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court indicates that the FBI and the NSA obtained… Continue Reading
EFF – Google Transparency Report Provides Info on National Security Letters
EFF: “In an unprecedented win for transparency, yesterday Google began publishing generalized information about the number of National Security Letters that the company received in the past year as well as the total number of user accounts affected by those requests. Of all the dangerous government surveillance powers that were expanded by the USA PATRIOT… Continue Reading
FOIA Request by ACLU Produces More Information on National Security Letters
Ars Technica: “As the result of a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Department of Justice has revealed, for the first time, the types of secret letters that the government can send out to ISPs and other tech companies being asked to reveal personal data about their users… Continue Reading
EFF Sues for Answers About PATRIOT Act on Law's 10th Anniversary
News release: “The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) sued the Department of Justice (DOJ) today for answers about “secret interpretations” of the USA PATRIOT Act, signed into law ten years ago today. Several senators have warned that the DOJ is using Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act to support what government attorneys call a “sensitive collection… Continue Reading
Reauthorization of PATRIOT Act on Deadline
RollCall: “After two days of wrangling and last-minute deal-making in the Senate, Congress cleared a reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act on Thursday, and the Obama administration announced that the president signed the bill into law before provisions of the anti-terrorism act expired at midnight. A standoff over amendments in the Senate ate into the… Continue Reading
American Security Project: – Ordinary Measures, Extraordinary Results: An Assessment of Foiled Plots Since 9/11
“This report, Ordinary Measures, Extraordinary Results: An Assessment of Foiled Plots Since 9/11, analyzes 32 attacks that were thwarted since 9/11 to determine which factors led to the plots successful disruption. The report finds that in the majority of cases, traditional law enforcement techniques and methods developed prior to 9/11, direct and indirect action by… Continue Reading
Court Rejects Government's Executive Power Claims and Rules That Warrantless Wiretapping Violated Law
Follow up to previous postings on the Domestic Surveillance Program, via EFF, Kevin Bankston: “Today, Chief Judge Vaughn Walker of the federal district court in San Francisco found that the government illegally wiretapped an Islamic charity’s phone calls in 2004, granting summary judgment for the plaintiffs in Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation v. Obama. The court held… Continue Reading
