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

Political freedom and activism tend to be even more strictly controlled in the near future. More concretely, today, people who come up with new political ideas and movements, can be effectively silenced (in every ways you can imagine) before they can make any damage, and that is a terrible perspective. Other possible implication regards to innovative scientific or business ideas that can be also stolen, before they have the chance to grow. Internet is a extremely powerful communication platform, so is natural that the established power tries to control it.

 

Preach it, my brother!

PD

 

This seems like an easy argument to defeat - who was the last person convicted in a Facebook court and sitting in a Facebook jail cell? Who has Facebook water-boarded?

PD

 

Unbelievable!

http://www.spiegel.de/international...edward-snowden-on-global-spying-a-910006.html

 

http://euobserver.com/foreign/120795

 

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/07/09/uk-usa-security-latinamerica-idUKBRE9680Z020130709

http://oglobo.globo.com/mundo/espionagem-dos-eua-se-espalhou-pela-america-latina-8966619

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentis...phy-weapon-fight-empire-states-julian-assange

 

Thurgood Marshall's Prescient Warning: Don't Gut the 4th Amendment

Thurgood Marshall's Prescient Warning: Don't Gut the 4th Amendment.

-- Tom

 

Microsoft just had a huge nail put it its coffin, over on Greenwald's blog.

PD

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/glenn-greenwald

 

It's a pretty grim picture to read how US tech companies like MS do their utmost to make all their relevant products 'NSA ready-deluxe'.
I'm not sure though if Microsoft is more willing to develop their products hand in hand with US intelligence than their US competitors.
The most worrying part is this (imao);

'Carefull monitoring by the courts, Congress' made me smile considering the "Not wittingly" answer by James Clapper, director of National Intelligence, when asked "if the NSA collects "any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans". link
Troubling is the US comparing itself to the lowest common denominator reg. privacy instead of the highest.

 

After reading the Microsoft article, I'm curious to see what else the great Mr. Greenwald has in store. Hopefully, this is the first in a series of articles with more details on each of the companies mentioned in the original release.

 

Excellent reading and a warning about why letting small things pass by without any resistance usually leads to bigger and bigger trouble.

I am almost sure that you can apply everything that was said about Microsoft to any other big IT corporation in the US.

 

Aha, @ last confirmation after ALL these years, that MS "can/has/does" snoop inside peoples PC's via Updating contact

My bolding.

Once again, for years some of us on here have felt/thought/posted that they indeed could/did do that ! But as usual we told not to be paranoid etc etc, & laughed at etc. Good thing some of us took no notice & went with our gut feelings/intuition etc

Well the cat is Most definately outa the bag now, & ain't going back in EVER !

Makes me wonder about other USA vendors programs etc, & their "updating" practices. "Might" be non USA vendors too ? Of course they are NOT allowed to talk about it, under that gag order. So i'm not holding my breath for any admissions Any day soon.

 

Are there programs/methods that allow us to compare a fresh install Linux OS to one that has been online, and pop out the differences?

 

I've long suspected that this was behind many of the "features" of NT systems. They've been evolving spyware all along. It definitely explains why the "necessary services" opened more and more ports, and why it was getting so hard to close them all. It also explains why MS went to such extremes to kill 9X systems. It gave the user too much control.

All that time and effort I invested in building a 9X system that can run virtual systems, Blowfish encrypted data partitions, and function as a Tor exit node has been justified. No event logs, shellbags, MUI cache, alternate data streams, etc. No open ports save those used by Tor. All MRUs eliminated on reboot.

 

Live TV Coverge of Snowden meeting with Human Rights Organization in the Airport Transit lounge. A total scrum of reporters and news organizations if you scroll down and watch the live broadcast.

http://m.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/...n-rights-watch-at-moscow-airport-live-coverag

 

Someone's Prying... It open!

Well,

Here food for thoughts you security junkies:

Microsoft Surveillance Collaboration:
http://www.technologyreview.com/new...laboration-voluntary-aid-or-new-legal-tactic/

Companies Complying with NSA's PRISM May Face E.U. Lawsuits
http://www.technologyreview.com/new...mplying-with-nsas-prism-may-face-eu-lawsuits/

Technology Not Law, Limits Mass Surveillance
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/516691/technology-not-law-limits-mass-surveillance/

and here is my funny quote of the day:
Opt out of PRISM, the NSA’s global data surveillance program. Stop the American government from spying on you by encrypting your communications and ending your reliance on proprietary services.
https://prism-break.org/ Hillarious!

I bet a lot will toss and turn in their sleep tonight!

 

Re MS Blah Blah Blah

3LA's tell MS they need/want data on someones account. MS, says why do you require it ? 3LA says, we can't tell you it's a National Security issue, & you can't talk about, & you must comply. MS says oh OK here you are !

 

Lol, MS doesn't have a choice in denying things anymore than Google does. If they're open about it, the government will rain hellfire and brimstone down upon them and so will the public. Skype has long been known to have its communications siphoned and, well, hell, it's nothing to watch Outlook and SkyDrive. You can't trust your ISP, you can't trust any notable vendor of internet services, you sure as hell can't trust the government. And, unless you want to encrypt every file you'll ever have, somehow convince every sender of email to join you in public/private key games or do everything through some country that may be left in the world that the "top dogs" don't have any influence over, your options are pretty limited.

 

I wonder how long it took their legal team to come up with the phrase "blanket or direct access" that would let them give the "least untruthful" response.

 

Exactly.

 

That's a crock of crap from MS and anyone with half a brain knows it. Once privacy is been compromised in any manner the trust is irretrievably broken.

National Security and Law Enforcement investigations aside, MS is thrown wide open direct accessibility to it's own commercial function and who is going to believe their statement claims on "take our committment to our customers seriously " now.

 

Amazing, @ least one ISP is asserting it's & your rights

Look in here for name n shame & refusals etc !

https://xmission.com =