NSA has direct access to tech giants' systems for user data, secret files reveal

Some would say this goes as far back as the Stazi but that's sort of beyond the scope of the thread, though I get your feeling.

 

This goes back at least to proto humans eavesdropping on each other's conversations. It's just the technology that's changed.

 

Well said

 

Edward Snowden charged with espionage for PRISM leaks.

http://venturebeat.com/2013/06/21/edward-snowden-espionage/

 

This is a 50/50 situation. On the one hand, China still needs the U.S. On the other, with their own cyber programs going on against the U.S and others, Snowden could find himself carefully welcomed and asked to "help out". Being that Snowden doesn't exactly consider his ex-employers "best buds", he may be quite willing to take them up on it for a little shielding in return. That said, if Eddie boy gets shipped back home, he has a one way ticket to ADX Florence or a table with IVs running to it. If he stays in China, well, I hope he never does anything to make them suspect he's playing double agent, or the risk of an IV/Federal pen turns into a 100% guaranteed bullet to the back of the head. All in all his shoes are not the best to be in right now.

 

Indeed, he's risked a lot on that Hong Kong bet. Maybe he has friends among the Triads

 

Considering their clout, chances aren't bad that if he does go to work for any of these cyber units, he'll be working with them too. Unfortunately Triad friendships are rather short-lived. I haven't watched every second of the Snowden show, but I'm assuming Iceland didn't work out because the U.S got there first. You know, if Snowden would have been even smarter, he would have walked up to the gates of the Kremlin. The risk of him being sent back to our shores would have been even slimmer.

 

If he's being honest about his motivations, none of those employment options are very attractive. There really is no safe place for him now.

Staying anonymous would have been safest. But maybe The Guardian etc wouldn't talk to him anonymously.

 

It would have been found out anyway. You're not going to get out with a thumb drive full of national secrets and not get found out at some point. He has some chance of China not playing ball, but we'll most likely see him in an orange jumpsuit soon enough, and then even more likely never again.

 

Just stating fact as it is reported, I don't think the Mods want us to get into speculative political debate. ...just sayin'...

 

I get you, and yeah, you're right. This thread needs kept open and clean because Snowden is just a player in a very big game.

 

Absolutely ! Edward Snowden is key to all of this.
Query the Guardian articles via: http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/glenn-greenwald

The UK is now on board:
GCHQ taps fibre-optic cables for secret access to world's communications
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jun/21/gchq-cables-secret-world-communications-nsa

 

IMO, he isn't any "spy", and wouldn't work for a foreign power. If he was so motivated, he would have just sold all that stuff and never revealed himself. I'm reading that HK may have actually been smart. China has more power when it comes to telling the US to take a hike...versus Iceland. I wonder if he wouldn't try to slip into Vietnam...I don't see an extradition treaty with them here:

-http://www.state.gov/s/l/treaty/faqs/70138.htm-

And they are pretty modern these days.

If he ends up back here, I hope the jury nullifies.

PD

 

The best thing he has going for him in Hong Kong is that the Chinese extradition treaty with us has a clause that doesn't allow extradition for political issues. BUT, that's no guarantee. We're slapped on the wrist for talking politics here, but politics is exactly what will determine where Snowden goes and what happens to him.

As far as being a "spy", the label doesn't matter, it's considered espionage whether he was a close buddy of the President or worked in the local Wal-Mart. Jury nullification? Not happening.

 

Hong Kong says it will not turn over NSA leaker Snowden if it determines that U.S. charges are political.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/22/politics/nsa-leaks/index.html

https://twitter.com/cnnbrk/status/348647621541388288

 

I had warned a number of people about this a few years ago but they all thought I was being a bit paranoid. On the one hand I find it very annoying and really unfair that what I do online is being monitored and that certain companies/agencies can profile me. The majority of my actions away from the virtual world go unmonitored yet that is the complete opposite once I start using my computer. I can't help but wonder if this is the price for using the internet because really nothing in life is for free. It just strikes me as being unfair that the price for using certain products and services is the complete violation of your privacy.

I also feel I have to arrive at a balance of having a decent level of security on my computer and being able to actual enjoy doing things online while trying to fight for my privacy. As others have mentioned on this thread, I'm not even sure when it comes to the crunch whether the VPN and email I use is in any way useful or if I'm just wasting money on a false sense of privacy. I also wonder whether my attempts to be more private online are rendered completely pointless because of the OS I use or any other programs. I feel this is pretty much a losing battle and that the majority of people don't really care about any of this and it's not going to make any difference to their lives.

(I know that much of what I have said has already been said before but I think this is an important issue and I did want to comment)

 

There is a discusion at airvpn regarding the latest news on the massive GCHQ internet tapping.
Offshore vpn providers, often discussed here, how reliable would they be?

in this article Mastering the internet: how GCHQ set out to spy on the world wide web the following quote from a leaked document:

"buying up real estate in these places" sounds to me as : let us set up some datacenters and vpn providers in "these places" posing as "offshore"providers , and start harvesting.

A few weeks ago one would have been told: "go and get your tin foil hat" , not anymore..........

 

Yeah, using that line to dismiss things from here on out will get the person saying it laughed at instead of the one doing all the "scaremongering".

 

Snowden Leaves Hong Kong
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/23/19098016-hong-kong-government-says-nsa-leaker-snowden-has-left-hong-kong?lite

 

Moscow?

 

Snowden leaves Hong Kong bound for Venezuela via Moscow and Cuba
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1267261/snowden-leaves-hong-kong-commercial-flight-moscow

Also: EXCLUSIVE: US spies on Chinese mobile phone companies, steals SMS data: Edward Snowden
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/arti...hone-companies-steals-sms-data-edward-snowden

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2013/jun/23/edward-snowden-leaves-hong-kong-moscow-live

 

I think that the press should focus less on Snowden's person and more on his disclosure about NSA... Otherwise there is a good chance that the real issue, which is mass surveillance, will fade completely out of people minds.

 

The media in the US has been avoiding or watering down the real issue since the story broke. Their "focus" has been centered on national security and claims of harm done to the government and foreign policy. Most of the details that make it into threads and discussions here never make the mainstream news. Mainstream news and government are trying to divert people from the real issue. Those of us who care about our freedom and right to privacy need to put the rest of the issue in front of as many people as possible.

 

The exact same is happening in my nick of the woods ,the media treat this subject as just another bit of news , instead of screaming about the staggering facts which have come to light.
consequently, the public at large is not all that bothered.
I wished the media would write pieces like this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/22/gchq-internet-snooping-kafkaesque