New Snowden Docs Show How FISA Court Gave NSA Ridiculously Broad Spying Powers

from the because-terorrism dept

Tue, Jul 1st 2014 3:34am — Mike Masnick

The latest reporting on previously unrevealed Snowden documents comes from the Washington Post, by Ellen Nakashima and Barton Gellman, reviewing how the FISA Court granted the NSA incredibly broad powers to spy on just about any country, and also allows them to collect a pretty broad array of information with little oversight. Basically, the FISC gave blanket approval to the NSA to spy on any country not a member of the "Five Eyes" coalition, with whom the US has non-spying agreements: the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Perhaps more troubling isn't just the big list of just about every country, but how the FISC allows spying on a broad range of communications:

An affidavit in support of the 2010 foreign government certification stated that the NSA believes foreigners who will be targeted for collection “possess, are expected to receive and/or are likely to communicate foreign intelligence information concerning these foreign powers.”

That language could allow for surveillance of academics, journalists and human-rights researchers. A Swiss academic who has information on the German government’s position in the run-up to an international trade negotiation, for instance, could be targeted if the government has determined there is a foreign intelligence need for that information. If a U.S. college professor e-mails the Swiss professor’s e-mail address or phone number to a colleague, the American’s e-mail could be collected as well, under the program’s court-approved rules.

As we've noted (and as this report reminds us), one of the more recent revelations is that this set of broad powers, which come under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act, includes the ability to collect information any time anyone communicates about a target, not just to or from a target. And "a target" can be more than just a person -- it can be an organization or a computer or a network. That means the FISA Court more or less gave the NSA broad powers to spy on just about anyone if they did anything even remotely related to a broad set of "targets." It's hard to see how this is narrowly tailored surveillance, as NSA defenders keep wishing to imply.

Faa Fg Cert 2010 a Court Order Plbunts Shared (PDF)Faa Fg Cert 2010 a Court Order Plbunts Shared (Text)

Faa Fg Cert 2010 a Nsa Dirnsa Affidavit Training (PDF)Faa Fg Cert 2010 a Nsa Dirnsa Affidavit Training (Text)

Faa Fg Cert 2010 a Dni Ag Certification (PDF)Faa Fg Cert 2010 a Dni Ag Certification (Text)

Faa Fg Cert 2010 a Exhibit F Foreign Power List (PDF)Faa Fg Cert 2010 a Exhibit F Foreign Power List (Text)

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Filed Under: ed snowden, fisa court, fisc, section 702

11 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2014 @ 3:46am

In Other News
Greenwald's 'bombshell' article on exactly who we've been spying on domestically has been delayed to investigate last-minute claims by the feds. My bet is those claims are pure FUD.
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Ninja (profile), 1 Jul 2014 @ 3:48am

And "a target" can be more than just a person -- it can be an organization or a computer or a network.

The target is the people. The goal is total control.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2014 @ 3:51am

A network like say 'The Internet'?
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David, 1 Jul 2014 @ 4:15am

Re:
You mean, if you know somebody who uses the same Internet as somebody possibly knowing a terrorist, you are fair game?

Sounds about right.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2014 @ 4:51am

Until the FISA Court is eliminate/overhauled, I can't believe the US gov is serious about NSA reform.
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TestPilotDummy, 1 Jul 2014 @ 5:21am

I Side with cryptome.org
Ya know I watched his site for YEARS now, and he's right, snowden docs bla bla bla, how many pages of the CLAIM of X amount has have actually F-ING been released? lol

there's your lol

welp i'll let the channel roll...
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2014 @ 5:39am

Re:
Until the Diaper that is Congress is changed no one will believe that YOU or WE are serious about it either!

How will you vote when it comes time?
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2014 @ 6:27am

History
"..possess, are expected to receive and/or are likely to communicate foreign intelligence information concerning these foreign powers."

There's no exclusion for historical information. So someone in eg Brazil buying a book from Amazon on Chinese military intelligence in 1347 is also theoretically included. Correct?
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2014 @ 7:19am

Re: History
I wouldn't put it past them to do that. They're all about hoarding the biggest haystack so they can claim that they prevented a terrorist attack after it already happened.
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silverscarcat (profile), 1 Jul 2014 @ 7:38am

Re: Re:
I only have 1 rep in my state, but...

1: he's voted for reforming the NSA several times.
2: he's only on his first term in office.

The longest sitting Senator from my state is still in his first term, he's up for re-election in 2016, elected in 2010. The Junior Senator was elected in 2012, same with my current rep.
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That One Guy (profile), 1 Jul 2014 @ 12:40pm

Close
It's actually more along the lines of '...hoarding the biggest haystack so when they completely fail to stop a terrorist attack(again), due to being unable to find the needle(s) in time, they can claim that if the haystack was bigger, they'd have been able to stop it.'

Needless to say regular CAT-scans are required for anyone working for, or supporting them, since extensive brain damage is required for any of the above to make sense, and they have to make sure their workers/supporters have been recently and regularly aquiring said brain damage.
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