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There is no doubt that the Visa Waiver Program merits a national discussion free from partisan politics. Terrorists have already used the VWP to gain access to soft targets. Whether additional security measures would have prevented their entry is the $64 million question.

Recent U.S. history paints a clear picture of abuses by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, often with the approval of politicians. Despite paternalistic assurances that Americans have no reason to fear their own government, caution is warranted.

T.A. Ridout

Global Politics, Economics, and Society from an American Perspective

In his latest article for The Intercept, Glenn Greenwald takes a highly critical look at a story by NPR's counterterrorism correspondent, Dina Temple-Raston, which aired on Morning Edition earlier this month.

Democracy Now!

Independent, weekday news hour, anchored by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzlez

co-authored by Tom Malatesta, CEO, Ziklag Systems For those focused on the subject matter, yesterday's Tweet fest from TeamAndIRC and Blackphone was ...

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NSA: Pictures, Videos, Breaking News - The Huffington Post

A panel of federal judges voiced significant concerns Tuesday about the privacy implications of NSA surveillance tactics during a wide-ranging hearing on a legal challenge brought by the ACLU.

In an oral argument that was set for less than 30 minutes and lasted nearly two hours, three judges on a panel hearing the case at the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan probed claims by the ACLU that the federal government's collection of data relating to "every phone call made or received by residents of the United States" is illegal and unconstitutional.

The ACLU appeal challenged a lower courts decision to uphold the NSA's mass bulk data collection of phone records.

Judges Gerard Lynch and Vernon Broderick were appointed by President Obama. Judge Robert Sack was appointed by President Clinton. At some point, each expressed significant concern about the privacy implications of allowing the federal government broad access to a wide range of information without any specific suspicion of wrongdoing.

Assistant Attorney General Stuart Delery first argued that federal courts do not have jurisdiction to review disputes regarding the NSA program. In addition, Delery argued the program is constitutional and has been repeatedly renewed by Congress.

Lynch asked how well briefed members of Congress were before voting, and questioned how much they understood about the program. At one point, Sack chimed in, "We don't know what we don't know"about NSA operations.

Lynch and Broderick both questioned why the government's justification for the bulk phone data collection program would not also extend to bank records, credit card transactions and other personal data. Lynch asked if the government's argument would not also entitle it to access "every American's everything."

Both sides acknowledged that President Obama has publicly stated that there are other ways to get the relevant intelligence, short of the sweeping NSA bulk data collection program that now exists.

That prompted Lynch to ask, if that was the case, why government attorneys were there to argue otherwise.

The panel also discussed the need for federal agencies such as the FBI and NSA to be able to move quickly when connecting dots on the intelligence landscape, acknowledging that having bulk data already at its disposal would speed the process.

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Judges raise privacy concerns about NSA tactics

Simon Phipps | Sept. 8, 2014

Whether via Apple's iCloud, the DEA, or the NSA, data is leaking everywhere -- can anyone avoid exposure?

As you've heard many times by now, someone with no life or ethics appears to have hacked into numerous celebrity accounts on Apple's iCloud service and copied private photographs wholesale. At least a few of those photographs are intimate and revealing. As if that juvenile intrusion on adult privacy wasn't enough, they've then posted them in the Internet's frat houses for the world's sexually frustrated imbeciles to ogle.

This case raises questions about the very act of putting data online. There may be primary benefits for doing so, but as technology decision makers, we need to raise questions about secondary costs. Let's consider additional data points.

We also learned this week thatthe DEA has been using phone call data going back decades-- stored by AT&T for any call in which it participated, not just for its customers -- as a covert source in the agency's investigations. Unlike the NSA data, this is not merely material relating to foreigners -- this iseveryone'sdata, going back as far as 1987. It can be accessed by officials by filling out a form -- called an "administrative subpoena" but not involving any judicial review. As the New York Times says:

The Hemisphere Project, a partnership between federal and local drug officials and AT&T that has not previously been reported, involves an extremely close association between the government and the telecommunications giant.

Was this usage what the developers or executives had in mind a quarter of a century ago as they started logging the data? Or has it been stored "just in case" because it existed and seemed valuable and over time has found more and more users? There must be an enormous database -- the epitome of big data -- and it's probably used for multiple purposes.

As to that NSA data, a great deal of confusion about "surveillance" seems to be floating around. In the United Kingdom, questions are being asked about all the data-gathering by the British equivalent of the NSA, GCHQ. In response, Secretary of State Theresa Mayhas respondedthat "there is no programme of mass surveillance and there is no surveillance state" and labels claims that GCHQ engages in unlawful hacking as "nonsense." Yet clearly, a lot of data is being gathered.

GCHQ, the NSA, and probably every other intelligence agency worth the name is actively gathering data from the Internet. Everything on the Internet is transient, with different decay periods, so gathering information is a constant process. They believe everything that can be gathered without illegal action is fair game, so they gather anything and everything they can, storing it just in case.

They are without doubt capturing and recording all and any email, instant messages, Web pages, social media traffic, and so on. Recent disclosures reveal thatthe NSA collects"nearly everything a user does on the Internet," then offers analysts tools to search that data. The NSA has a variety of explanations why it's all legally gathered.

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Nude photos, phone records, NSA data offer essential lessons for admins

Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Gen. Keith Alexander (Ret.), former director of the NSA, comments on the escalating situation in Ukraine. He speaks with Trish Regan on "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg)

Hackers who stole gigabytes of data from JPMorgan Chase & Co. may have been trying to send a message that U.S. financial institutions can be disrupted, the former director of the National Security Agency said.

The FBI is investigating the cyberattack on JPMorgan and whether other banks were penetrated in retaliation for U.S.- backed sanctions on Russia, according to people familiar with the investigation who asked not to be identified because the probe is still underway.

Graphic: Data Breaches in the U.S.

Keith Alexander, the NSA director from 2005 until last March, said he had no direct knowledge of the attack though it could have been backed by the Russian government in response to sanctions imposed by the U.S. and EU over the crisis in Ukraine.

Securing the Net

How would you shake the United States back? Attack a bank in cyberspace, said Alexander, a retired U.S. Army general who has started his own cybersecurity company to sell services to U.S. banks. If it was them, they just sent a real message: Youre vulnerable.

As NSA chief and head of the U.S. Cyber Command, Alexander tracked and tried to thwart international hackers, giving him knowledge of their tactics. He was head of the NSA in 2008 when the country of Georgia was invaded by Russia and experienced a series of disruptive cyberattacks believed to be the work of Russian hackers.

Keith Alexander, former director of the National Security Agency and former commander of U.S. Cyber Command, speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview in Washington, on June 3, 2014. Close

Keith Alexander, former director of the National Security Agency and former commander... Read More

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Former NSA Chief Says JPMorgan Hack May Be a Warning

BEIJING: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval arrived here today to firm up Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India expected to take place next week.

Doval will hold talks tomorrow with Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi and is expected to meet Xi after that.

Dates for the visit of Xi, also the General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China, have not yet been officially announced by both sides.

Doval's visit is taking place in the immediate backdrop of the cancellation of Xi's visit to Islamabad planned as part of his first visit to Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India.

Initially, Xi was to pay a three-day visit to New Delhi from September 17.

Speculation is rife that in view of the cancellation of the visit to Pakistan, Xi may arrive in India earlier and may visit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state Gujarat before he lands in New Delhi.

Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who visited Beijing twice including early this month, has laid ground for Xi's visit by holding extensive talks with Chinese officials on the package of investments as well as measures to address India's concerns of trade deficit.

China-India are in discussions to modernise Indian railways.

China plans to invest in industrial parks, locations of which are expected to be announced by Xi.

Besides finalising the schedule, Doval's visit is expected to focus on the political aspects of Xi's tour, including issues related to the boundary dispute and new routes for Kailash and Manasarovar Yatra.

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NSA Ajit Doval arrives in China to finalise Xi Jinping's visit to India