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

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/02/edward-snowden-un-investigation-surveillance

 

http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/20...rsations-with-family-friends-during-holidays/

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...92873a-5cf2-11e3-bc56-c6ca94801fac_story.html

 

NSA gathering 5bn cell phone records daily, Snowden documents show -
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/04/nsa-storing-cell-phone-records-daily-snowden

 

Obama says he's not allowed iPhone for 'security reasons'​

(Reuters) - The troubled mobile phone maker BlackBerry still has at least one very loyal customer: U.S. President Barack Obama.

At a meeting with youth on Wednesday to promote his landmark healthcare law, Obama said he is not allowed to have Apple's smart phone, the iPhone, for "security reasons," though he still uses Apple's tablet computer, the iPad.

Apple was one of several tech companies that may have allowed the National Security Agency (NSA) direct access to servers containing customer data, according to revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The companies deny the allegation.

...So this validates Snowden's claims?

-

 

Sweden helped the NSA spy on Russia: report

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&artikel=5724419

 

Quite frankly i'm EXTREMELY surprised that .GOV etc allows him, or indeed ANY others in security sensitive positions to use BB !

Why ? because AFAIK all of BB's comms go via BB in Canada before being passed on, Even if it isn't so, Canada can snoop on Anybody as they can force BB to disclose the SSL keys. Saudia Arabia has already made BB give them the keys so it can snoop !

 

Re: Sweden helped the NSA spy on Russia: report

I wonder who helps them for the Swedish target

 

Re: Sweden helped the NSA spy on Russia: report

Only a muse guess at your question, I would not put German Intelligence too far from my top list of who would be able to spy on Swedish people.

 

The issue with their deciding to show the code, is that it will be restricted to government eyes, not public watchdogs or the public itself.

There is other thing I would like to remind many people of. We as a population are up in arms about NSA spying and what not. But we need to keep in mind that these agencies aren't directly doing so. Booz Allen Hamilton, SAIC, Northrop Grumman..these are the ones doing the grunt work. The NSA and others are simply being given the data after the fact. Private contractors, such as the one Mr. Snowden was employed by, are the real threat. Perhaps it isn't the doors in Langley, VA that we should knock on. Perhaps it is the doors of men who run companies like this:http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/12/05/big-data-big-bucks-palantir-valued-at-9-billion/.

 

I just ran across an ACLU link that lists all public Snowden documents that have been released from June of 2013 to current. I do not believe anyone else has posted this. If I am wrong my apologies.

https://www.aclu.org/nsa-documents-released-public-june-2013

 

Cell Phone Location Data Can Fight Malaria and Terrorism, Too.

-- Tom

 

http://www.theguardian.com/technolo...-sarah-harrison-omidyar-greenwald-ebay-paypal

 

In my opinion this began nearly 15 years ago. I had 4 hotmail accounts, one using my real name "myfullname@hotmail.com" for family, friends, business etc and three others opened with fake information and typical internet type usernames which I used for random online activity, web forums, chartrooms, messengers etc.
Then one day (I estimate it to be in the year 2000) there was an update to msn messenger. The update included a new feature which I believe to this day was a blunder by the messenger development team that was never supposed to have been in the public release. The new feature allowed any messenger user to see all the hotmail addresses owned by any other user on their messenger. I added myself to my messenger to test this and was shocked to see all my hotmail addresses displayed. This may sound insignificant but in fact it is huge. Remember hotmail is web mail. There is no possible way all 4 of my email addresses could be linked to each other by normal means. I only used my real personal information in one of them and I only used messenger on two of them. The only way microsoft could have linked those email addresses was by gathering information directly from my PC about the email accounts I accessed. I realized right then Microsoft was using underhanded methods in a concerted effort to ID its users. About a week later there was another update to messenger. That feature was removed in the new update. I don't believe many people would have been aware that feature ever existed and of those who were, most of them missed the significance of it.
In the years prior to that the public was always encouraged to use aliases and not to reveal personal information online. Over the past ten years or so that kind of advice seemed to be forgotten and in fact, actively discouraged not least by the sudden upsurge of social networking sites of all descriptions encouraging users to post their real personal information online together with pictures and links to all their friends, family and associates. I dont believe that was just a fact of coincidence, any more than it was a coincidence that MS for years had Windows account passwords stored under a hidden registry key named SAM which could be accessed and modified easily by booting Windows with a special CD. (For non Americans, SAM is our slang term for the US Government).
I have posted about this and other related suspicions about google, youtube MS, Yahoo etc several times on different forums over the past decade and for the most part the responses were based on accusations of my paranoia etc. I suppose it should feel good to be able to now say see I told you so, but really I'm not getting a kick out of it.

 

No need to say "see I told you so" to me Rocklobster. I believe you.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/09/nsa-spies-online-games-world-warcraft-second-life

http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-companies-demand-sweeping-changes-to-us-laws

 

@ RockLobster

Hi, i'm not automatically discounting your MSN findings, but could the connnected dots etc, be due to you having the same static IP ?

 

Spy agencies in covert push to infiltrate virtual world of online gaming
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/09/nsa-spies-online-games-world-warcraft-second-life

 

It is not very easy at all to anger me, and I do try to listen to every argument and look at every position before I pass judgement. But this has got to be toned down and toned down soon. I'm becoming very sick and tired of opening up my browser every day only to learn these agencies have dug their claws into another aspect of my life. I am also sick of their excuses and "reassurances". Their reasons are meaningless to me, because they have far too few examples of all this blanket surveillance and data collection stopping any real threats. Mostly all I am hearing about are government agents going into the houses of journalists who have criticized the government, SWAT teams going to houses because someone looked up pressure cookers on Google, and just a lot of other nonsense.

For all the heat we users can given Google for their data collection, and as much as some of us think Microsoft and Apple screw over their users, I give them credit for having the fortitude to say "Stop!". Whether it does any good remains to be seen. But someone, finally, has to.

 

Microsoft, Google, Apple call for end to NSA’s bulk data collection
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...le-call-for-end-to-nsas-bulk-data-collection/

See also:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/09/t...mits-on-government-surveillance-of-users.html

Internet companies demand spying overhaul after NSA revelations – live reaction -
http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-overhaul-after-nsa-revelations-live-reaction

 

That's an amazing development.

 

It is, however:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/nsa-spying-facebook-google-twitter-demand-controls-1.2456259

 

That's very true.

What I find amazing is the language. It's a call for global standards. It seems as if Bruce Schneier's call for engineers to revolt has hit senior management level.

 

Sometimes the right things get done for the wrong reasons. If greed has to be the weapon that helps win the battle, so be it. One must be watchful however. If it all goes away for a few years until people have largely forgotten about it and calmed down, only for it to be silently started again, we still lose.