Mediaboss Marketing

The National Security Agency has decided to halt onecontroversial surveillance programthat wasthe tip of an iceberg of government abuses of privacy and due process.This is a good start toward restoring balance inAmericans right to privacy.

The NSA said last week that it will no longer engage in warrantless spying on Americans digital communications that merely mention a foreign intelligence target, referred to in the intelligence community as about communications.

The NSAhad claimed thisauthority under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows it to target non-U.S. citizens or residents believed to be outside the country, although Americans communications are often swept up as well.

NSA will no longer collect certain internet communications that merely mention a foreign intelligence target, an agency statement said. Instead, NSA will limit such collection to internet communications that are sent directly to or from a foreign target.

It is a significant departure from previous assurances that the program was vital to national security. Its effectiveness has always been difficult to gauge because the NSA has provided little information about it.

Its a welcome swing toward better privacy protection even if, as widely speculated, it is less an acknowledgement of Americans right to privacy than a result of communications byDonald Trumps people before the election being swept up in NSA data collectionn.

Our enthusiasm for the decision requires a reality check, however. The NSA has repeatedly lied about its spying activities and violations of Americans constitutional rights, so announcing a new policy doesnt necessarily mean it will be followed.

Rememberthe public testimony of then-National Intelligence Director James Clapper at a March 2013 Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.At one point, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked Clapper plainly, Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions, or hundreds of millions of Americans? Clapper then lied to his face, and the faces of all Americans, saying, No, sir, and then, Not wittingly.

Just months later, news stories based on information from the Edward Snowden leaks would reveal the NSAs bulk collection of Americans phone metadata and internet communications.

New technology makes our communications quicker, more convenient, more easily recorded and stored andmore easily accessed without our knowledge. But the Fourth Amendment is quite clear: Government searches require a warrant issued by a judge based on probable cause and describing the specific place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The law was written to deal with filing cabinets and safes rather than the cloud. But the fundamental principlestands and should always stand.

Read the original post:
Editorial: NSA's decision to cut data collection just a first step - The Mercury News

The National Security Agency has decided to halt a controversial surveillance program, but this was just the tip of an iceberg of government abuses of privacy and due process.

The NSA said last week that it will no longer engage in warrantless spying on Americans digital communications that merely mention a foreign intelligence target, referred to in the intelligence community as about communications. The agency had claimed the authority to engage in such surveillance under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows it to target non-U.S. citizens or residents believed to be outside the country, although Americans communications are oftentimes swept up as well.

NSA will no longer collect certain internet communications that merely mention a foreign intelligence target, the agency announced in a statement. Instead, NSA will limit such collection to internet communications that are sent directly to or from a foreign target.

Even though NSA does not have the ability at this time to stop collecting about information without losing some other important data, the Agency will stop the practice to reduce the chance that it would acquire communications of U.S. persons or others who are not in direct contact with a foreign intelligence target, it continued.

It is a significant departure from previous assurances that the program was vital to national security, though many have forcefully disputed that claim. Its effectiveness has always been difficult to gauge, however, due to the lack of information the NSA has provided about it.

The agencys decision is certainly welcome, though we must make the perhaps generous assumption that it will do or not do, in this case what it says it will, and that it will not simply change its mind in the future. Our enthusiasm is also tempered by the realization that this is an agency, along with various other government intelligence agencies, that is built on deception and has repeatedly lied about its spying activities and violations of Americans constitutional rights.

We are reminded of the public testimony of then-National Intelligence Director James Clapper at a March 2013 Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. At one point, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked Clapper plainly, Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions, or hundreds of millions of Americans? Clapper then lied to his face, and the faces of all Americans, saying, No, sir, and then, Not wittingly.

Within a matter of months, news stories based on information from the Edward Snowden leaks would reveal the NSAs bulk collection of Americans phone metadata and internet communications.

Then there is the matter of the backdoor search loophole, by which the FBI or other agencies may search NSA databases for information about Americans collected under Section 702 without having to go through all that pesky business of obtaining a warrant. The loophole is sure to be a bone of contention during congressional debate over the reauthorization of Section 702, which is scheduled to expire at the end of the year.

Given the governments repeated abuses of Americans privacy through its snooping activities, those looking to reauthorize Section 702 have some serious questions to answer about how many Americans have been swept up in this supposed foreign surveillance, and how useful this intelligence actually is.

The Fourth Amendment is quite clear: Government searches require a warrant issued by a judge based on probable cause and describing the specific place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. New technology may make our communications quicker and more convenient as well as more easily recorded and stored but it does not alter that fundamental principle.

Original post:
NSA stops one abuse, but many remain - OCRegister

The National Security Agency has decided to halt a controversial surveillance program, but this was just the tip of an iceberg of government abuses of privacy and due process.

The NSA said last week that it will no longer engage in warrantless spying on Americans digital communications that merely mention a foreign intelligence target, referred to in the intelligence community as about communications. The agency had claimed the authority to engage in such surveillance under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows it to target non-U.S. citizens or residents believed to be outside the country, although Americans communications are oftentimes swept up as well.

NSA will no longer collect certain internet communications that merely mention a foreign intelligence target, the agency announced in a statement. Instead, NSA will limit such collection to internet communications that are sent directly to or from a foreign target.

Even though NSA does not have the ability at this time to stop collecting about information without losing some other important data, the Agency will stop the practice to reduce the chance that it would acquire communications of U.S. persons or others who are not in direct contact with a foreign intelligence target, it continued.

It is a significant departure from previous assurances that the program was vital to national security, though many have forcefully disputed that claim. Its effectiveness has always been difficult to gauge, however, due to the lack of information the NSA has provided about it.

The agencys decision is certainly welcome, though we must make the perhaps generous assumption that it will do or not do, in this case what it says it will, and that it will not simply change its mind in the future. Our enthusiasm is also tempered by the realization that this is an agency, along with various other government intelligence agencies, that is built on deception and has repeatedly lied about its spying activities and violations of Americans constitutional rights.

We are reminded of the public testimony of then-National Intelligence Director James Clapper at a March 2013 Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. At one point, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked Clapper plainly, Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions, or hundreds of millions of Americans? Clapper then lied to his face, and the faces of all Americans, saying, No, sir, and then, Not wittingly.

Within a matter of months, news stories based on information from the Edward Snowden leaks would reveal the NSAs bulk collection of Americans phone metadata and internet communications.

Advertisement

Then there is the matter of the backdoor search loophole, by which the FBI or other agencies may search NSA databases for information about Americans collected under Section 702 without having to go through all that pesky business of obtaining a warrant. The loophole is sure to be a bone of contention during congressional debate over the reauthorization of Section 702, which is scheduled to expire at the end of the year.

Given the governments repeated abuses of Americans privacy through its snooping activities, those looking to reauthorize Section 702 have some serious questions to answer about how many Americans have been swept up in this supposed foreign surveillance, and how useful this intelligence actually is.

The Fourth Amendment is quite clear: Government searches require a warrant issued by a judge based on probable cause and describing the specific place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. New technology may make our communications quicker and more convenient as well as more easily recorded and stored but it does not alter that fundamental principle.

Follow this link:
NSA stops one abuse, but many remain - Los Angeles Daily News - LA Daily News

NSA mass gathering phone logs; getting called out by Congress. (WPEC)

Busted!

The National Security Agency is being called out by Congress, and it's because the NSA is still monitoring phone habits with jaw dropping frequency; around 151 million calls last year, and even after Capitol Hill told the agency to stop it.

CBS12 News is investigating, consulting with a former CIA analyst about the controversy, and asking why is it still happening.

She says because tracking threats from ISIS and lone wolves involves casting a wide net.

Putting one person under surveillance can then lead to a dozen more. But many Americans are understandably frustrated.

"Somebody like myself or yourself, I think we should be off the radar," said Doc Brown.

Brown is in liqueur sales. He says he gets about 100 phone calls a day. He's frustrated to think the government is spying on his calls. Marketing his rum is honest work.

"I don't think it is right," Brown said.

Lisa Ruth, is now a consultant, but she worked for the CIA for 16 years. She says intelligence agents follow paths to leads, and those paths can split off in many directions.

"It's very easy to think about the privacy side of this," she said. "What we're not thinking about is the terrorist side of this, and it's not as clean as saying one guy, 'We're just gonna look at one guy,' because if he is calling 27 people, you want to look at those 27 people."

After the Edward Snowden scandal, Congress ordered intelligence agencies to get warrants for phone monitoring. Those warrants need to be issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court.

But the Director of National Intelligence has just come out with an annual report and only 42 such warrants were granted.

So how do you go from 42 to 151 million records?

The NSA Is dealing with that question.

These are not bugged calls but information about how often a number is being called and how long calls are lasting.

We wondered if Florida residents are more tolerant of this because of events like the Fort Lauderdale airport shooting and the Orlando nightclub shooting.

See the original post:
NSA mass gathering phone logs; getting called out by Congress ... - WPEC

By the look of things, the NSA will not give up its habits of collecting data about consumers anytime soon. Although a new law has gone into effect in 2015 the Freedom Act it has done very little to thwart NSAs mass surveillance techniques. In fact, the agency recorded 151 million phone calls in 2016 alone. The bigger question is what they plan to do with all of this data.

No one in the United States should consider themselves safe from mass surveillance by the NSA right now. The new report issued by the Office of the Director of national intelligence confirms as much. Despite the USA Freedom Act of 2015 going into effect a while ago, the agency still collects phone records and calls without batting an eye. That is quite a problematic development, as it is a clear invasion of consumer privacy.

The numbers for 2016 are quite worrisome, to say the least. Considering how only 42 terrorist suspects have been identified by the NSA in 2016, they collected over 150 million phone records. The ration of found suspects to the amount of phone calls collected is unjustifiably low. This goes to show the NSA is still performing its mass surveillance even though the USA Freedom Act of 2015 was designed and approved to put an end to these actions. So far, that law has had no immediate impact.

Moreover, this goes to show the NSA does not play by everyones rulebook either. Court orders were issued for surveillance of these terrorist suspects alone. Every other phone record not related to these individuals is unlawful evidence collected by the government agency, which seemingly continues to act without oversight. If even US laws cant stop the agency from doing as they please, it is doubtful anyone else on the planet will be able to have more success in this regard.

The news comes at a critical time in US history, as Congress is planning to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign intelligence Surveillance Amendments Act. To be more specific, this section controls the warrantless surveillance program. While this law should expire at the end of 2017, that may not be the case in a few months.

This particular section lets agencies collect information on US citizens as long as the target of such an investigation is a foreigner in communication with someone in the states. Having this law reinstated for another few years will only allow the NSA to conduct even more surveillance. Speaking of which, the agency claims a large portion of their 2016 contain duplicates, although privacy advocates do not pay much attention to that claim.

It is intriguing to note how the NSA claims they halted the warrantless collection of Americans emails late last week. However, it appears they still kept tabs on phone records, which makes them one of the largest surveillance entities in the entire world. It is evident something needs to change sooner or later, yet it is doubtful that will be the case in the long run.

If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.

Visit link:
NSA Collected 151 Million Phone Records in 2016 - The Merkle