NSA Harvests Facebook, Google, Apple User Data, Secret Files Claim

[Smiley Face]

Oh good, so they aren't spying on USAires... just everyone else.

Ok, so, if this thing is real, it's a bigger problem only to people outside the US of A.

Well, I wouldn't necessarily say THAT. I mean, just look at the whole current debacle with the IRS. Just because they SAY they're only gonna use it on non-MURRICANS doesn't mean they WON'T use it on people within the country. Either way, the whole thing strikes me as kinda gross, y'know?

While that isn't a problem for the US government - they don't care, and know their constituents don't care - about them spying on other countries' populations, this could potentially become a very real problem for the companies involved here. These are multinational corporations, who rely on many foreign markets, who are here implicated in breaching privacy in a massive, ongoing operation run by the U.S. government. That's a BIG no-no, and I wouldn't be surprised to see these companies duck out, or face massive public backlash.

And for those who are asking whether it's a real thing, yes, it's a real thing. Obama has come out in defense of the program. (Citation: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22820711).

 

[Lightknight]

I hope the government has a taste for black metal and amputee porn, because that's the data they're getting out of me.

Yeah, you tell 'em!

 

[Cecilthedarkknight_234]

I really don't care if I get warning or banned for this post but all can say is this to the NSA
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[Clankenbeard]

Scene: NSA Headquarters, interior, March 31, 2011, (around lunchtime):
"When are we going to get Apple on board for all of the data mining...that we do? They're still a hold out? Shit. When is Steve Jobs going to die?!?! We have to show something this year. What else could we get? AOL? Is that still a thing? Okay. Get that...before lunch. We'll work on Apple in October."

What is the Y-axis on this graph. Why is there a triangle behind the yellow text bubbles? Is it a flat rate ~$20million per year regardless of the number of companies "indoctrinated"? Regardless of illegalities and immoralities, this is simply a poor graph.

 

[DoveAlexa]

I don't want to live a cyberpunk distopia ;_;

How far back in time do we have to go to hit the money spot of most modernity and least government life-ruining, holding you hostage by every move you make? I'd guess late 70's early 80's. Maybe early 90's but by then everyone seemed fairly caged in by their own personal information by then.

God, what is the future going to look like...

 

[Dark Knifer]

Good to know the USA is spying on me because I'm a non-USA citizen outside the USA -.-

Fuck off NSA Australia and everyone else do not like you.

 

[deathjavu]

"It involves extensive procedures, specifically approved by the court, to ensure that only non-US persons outside the US are targeted, and that minimize the acquisition, retention and dissemination of incidentally acquired information about US persons."

Even if this wasn't almost certainly blatant lie, here's why it doesn't matter:

"Analysts who use the system from a Web portal at Fort Meade, Md., key in ?selectors,? or search terms, that are designed to produce at least 51 percent confidence in a target?s ?foreignness.?"

"Even when the system works just as advertised, with no American singled out for targeting, the NSA routinely collects a great deal of American content. That is described as ?incidental,? and it is inherent in contact chaining, one of the basic tools of the trade. To collect on a suspected spy or foreign terrorist means, at minimum, that everyone in the suspect?s inbox or outbox is swept in. Intelligence analysts are typically taught to chain through contacts two ?hops? out from their target, which increases ?incidental collection? exponentially."

And here's the kicker, from Inspector General absurdist mastermind I. Charles McCullough III: "...it would violate the privacy of Americans in NSA data banks to try to estimate their number."

My god, who knew the Monty Python of our times was working for the NSA? I can't even touch that statement, it's so absurd.

 

[Roxas1359]

Oh know, the government knows that I like to search for the fonts that are in games!
Seriously I gave up the idea that any people had actual privacy at all after the Patriot Act was signed way long ago. In this day and age privacy is something that is said to be there, but doesn't actually exist as long as the internet and social media are out there.
Still, just put this on the list of things I don't like about my government, which the NSA probably knows about. XD
Plus corporations have been doing this for ages as well so everything in our lives is always being monitored.
[HEADING=1]Constant Vigilance!
0,..,0[/HEADING]

 

[sleeky01]

So my e-mail and such will not be spyed on if I include an American IP address?

Cool.

 

[Sarge034]

Wait, did US intelligence agencies go openly on record saying they're spying on foreign citizens in foreign countries? Now, to quote my favorite scumbag of all times:

"Do the words 'political shitstorm' mean anything to you?"

I mean, show your hand in espionage buisness? Why in blue blazes would you do that?

You do know that US Intelligence agencies (CIA specifically) can ONLY (legally) operate on foreign soil, right? So how exactly is this showing their hand, other then the "how" they are spying?

OT- If something like this was in the works I figure a select few would know it even exists and those people would not blow the whistle on it, regardless of the legality. It would be used to gather evidence, but not be sited as to not revel the program's existence. So, Imma say false.

 

[Vegosiux]

You do know that US Intelligence agencies (CIA specifically) can ONLY (legally) operate on foreign soil, right? So how exactly is this showing their hand, other then the "how" they are spying?

Countermeasures are so much easier if you know how the other party is infiltrating. And I'm pretty sure the leaders of countries that are not USA give a damn whether or not CIA is legally allowed to spy on their own people.

 

[stewox]

Guys, you Americans are SPECIFICALLY targeted. Foreginers were specifically EXCLUDED

Alex Jones from Infowars.com was talking about this 15 years ago and people laughed, when you people laugh you laugh on your own ignorance, pretty sad.

 

[Gilhelmi]

"No, you are just a paranoid loon. There is NOOOooooOOO way that is happening."

So world, Just like too remind you. I might be paranoid, but I am not wrong. I told y'all so

 

[Syzygy23]

Why should any of use care? Are you really THAT embarrassed about your choice of porn? I don't ever plan on conspiring to commit acts of terrorism and violence, if you guys feel the same way then then nobody has anything to worry about.

 

[Sarge034]

Countermeasures are so much easier if you know how the other party is infiltrating.

Yes, but when you have literally no other way to communicate other than face to face because all com traffic is being recorded and monitored... You really can't counter that kind of grand scale operation.

And I'm pretty sure the leaders of countries that are not USA give a damn whether or not CIA is legally allowed to spy on their own people.

I'm sure they do, but at that same token you would be a fool to assume other intelligence agencies, even ESPECIALLY our friends, aren't doing the same thing (cough MI6 cough). Don't mean it's right, but it DOES happen. A lot.

Not true. CIA is only chartered to operate on foreign soil. NSA, the intelligence branch of the DoD, dwarfs the CIA in size and scope and suffers no such restrictions. They routinely operate within US boundaries and spy on US citizens. While this is clearly illegal according to the Constitution (the military is specifically forbidden from engaging in domestic law enforcement activities) this has been the case since the end of WWII and the onset of the cold war.

I know. I was being obtuse to the other poster because (s)he had said, "...US intelligence agencies..." instead of specifying the NSA. I was having some fun at their expense. But I totally agree, the NSA is a very VERY grey area of the law. They are kindda a part of the DHS, and then again kindda not. The reason they get leeway is because they are in charge of protecting ALL Federal computer networks from cyber-terrorism. Foreign and domestic. This puts them in the realm of the DHS, FBI, and local criminal investigation organizations, while again also kindda not because they are also placed squarely in the realm of the CIA.

Congress has been wiping it's ass with the Constitution for a long time, and "We The People" have been letting them do it because, apparently, freedom is only worth dying for if it's someone else putting his ass on the line.

Mea... I chalk it up to ignorance plane and simple. Too many people just simply don't give a damn. Easiest example is during the voting season. I've had this conversation way more than I want to admit. "I'm voting for X because they are an X." "Ok, so what do they stand for?" "Does it matter? They are an X."

As for your response to Syzygy23... Safety and freedom are on a slider scale and everyone finds a balance they are willing to live with in a different place. Just sayin...

 

[Vegosiux]

Yes, but when you have literally no other way to communicate other than face to face because all com traffic is being recorded and monitored... You really can't counter that kind of grand scale operation.

I'm sure they do, but at that same token you would be a fool to assume other intelligence agencies, even ESPECIALLY our friends, aren't doing the same thing (cough MI6 cough). Don't mean it's right, but it DOES happen. A lot.

Of course it does happen, one'd be fooling themselves to think otherwise. But the point of such operations are that they're covert, so there's plausible deniability. Which goes out the window the moment you admit to specifics.

It's like, if you kind of sort of suspected that someone's likely sneaking into your garage at night and rummaging through your stuff to see what you're keeping in there, all you can do is be cross about it. But if you know who it is, how and when they're doing it, you have the information to employ legal means against them to make them cease and desist.

 

[Orlake]

Still enjoying that freedom you've been fighting (*cough* invading) so hard for, America?

 

[Flames66]

Anonymous, I have a job for you. Destroy this system or make it otherwise inoperable. It is time Governments learned that privacy is a basic human right and they must respect it.

 

[Sarge034]

The National Security Agency is a branch of the Department of Defense. They are not connected to or answerable to the Department of Homeland Security either organizationally or financially. There's really nothing gray about it. The NSA is a military agency engaging in domestic law enforcement activities. This is a flagrant violation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1807 which allows exceptions only for the national guard and coast guard.

Do some more research please.

Spoiler: Wall of text

In 2004, NSA Central Security Service and the National Cyber Security Division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agreed to expand NSA Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education Program.[22]

As part of the National Security Presidential Directive 54/Homeland Security Presidential Directive 23 (NSPD 54), signed on January 8, 2008 by President Bush, the NSA became the lead agency to monitor and protect all of the federal government's computer networks from cyber-terrorism.[1] In 2010, Robert Gates called for DHS to have a "cell" that would be able to apply the full surveillance powers of NSA for domestic cyber security.[23]

NSA's mission, as set forth in Executive Order 12333, is to collect information that constitutes "foreign intelligence or counterintelligence" while not "acquiring information concerning the domestic activities of United States persons". NSA has declared that it relies on the FBI to collect information on foreign intelligence activities within the borders of the USA, while confining its own activities within the USA to the embassies and missions of foreign nations.

Of course it does happen, one'd be fooling themselves to think otherwise. But the point of such operations are that they're covert, so there's plausible deniability. Which goes out the window the moment you admit to specifics.

It's like, if you kind of sort of suspected that someone's likely sneaking into your garage at night and rummaging through your stuff to see what you're keeping in there, all you can do is be cross about it. But if you know who it is, how and when they're doing it, you have the information to employ legal means against them to make them cease and desist.

And coming full circle that is why I believe this information to be, at the very least, misinterpreted. If I had to guess I would say this is the code name for the program they have to streamline the process of requesting/subpoenaing information from telecom companies.

 

[J Tyran]

I'm sure they do, but at that same token you would be a fool to assume other intelligence agencies, even ESPECIALLY our friends, aren't doing the same thing (cough MI6 cough). Don't mean it's right, but it DOES happen. A lot.

British GCHQ is tied into this mess, the British government has similar restrictions about spying on its own citizens that the US have. That legislation says nothing at all about foreign agencies or governments, Government Communications Headquarters has been getting this data regarding its own citizens off the Americans and completely bypassing the law. There is a political inquiry scheduled over it.

I would speculate that this has been working both ways with both (at least, more might be involved) have been busy spying on each others citizens and swapping the data and bypassing regulation in both countries, thats only speculation though only the GCHQ using the US data has been confirmed so far.