Bored analysts do things like spy on women using surveillance cameras and listen to American GIs overseas having phone sex with their loved ones back home. Or an FBI agent may investigate strange but not unlawful emails on behalf of a family friend, leading to a sex scandal that brings down the Director of the CIA.
It's about time someone made a list of these known abuses. Over time, it will only get worse.
This basically implies that a hacker could break into the NSA, steal all the data inside and spread it out to whomever they wanted to and the NSA would never know how much was taken.
In other words, the government is lucky that their data was taken by someone with Snowden's integrity.
Their data was insecure, a breach was bound to happen, and they wouldn't treat Snowden as an enemy if they had any idea what sort of damage a real enemy can do.
the "start" of this admitted unconstitutional spying was in 2008 -- which is exactly when the telcos received immunity from all such cases involving warrantless wiretapping.
So they were abusing the power right from the start. I thought people were corrupted over time, but in this case, they must have been slathering to abuse their immunity as soon as it was put on the table.
I think we all suspect that the NSA has been playing "Hide the Content" since these leaks began. They're collecting it, they don't want to admit it, and they're against transparency because they know what it will uncover.
It seems like they firmly believe that the attention spans of their citizens will cause them to move on if they just weather the initial storm.
The government surveillance chronicle drops out of the news a few days after every revelation, so weathering the storm would appear to be a viable strategy for them. Making boneheaded moves like this, however, is definitely not part of that strategy.
Except the law they used doesn't provide a framework for doing this. It only lets them question someone to work out whether or not they're involved with acts of terrorism, not to find out of they're in possession of classified information.
Unfortunately, people of a certain mindset want the government to twist whatever powers it has in order to do what they think is right. They don't give a darn about abuse as long as it targets the right people.
On the post: Vocal NSA Critic Has Dinner With NSA Boss, Explains To Him That Abuses Are Inevitable
On the post: Ecuador Looks To Ban Wikileaks-like Offerings, Despite 'Housing' Assange
On the post: People Who Got Shorter Sentences Than Bradley Manning: Spies Selling Secrets To Russians & Active Terrorists
On the post: Declassified FISA Court Opinion Shows NSA Lied Repeatedly To The Court As Well
Re:
On the post: Bradley Manning Sentenced To 35 Years
On the post: US Still Can't Figure Out What Snowden Took; What Happened To Those Perfect 'Audits'?
On the post: US Still Can't Figure Out What Snowden Took; What Happened To Those Perfect 'Audits'?
Re: Know what's even scarier?
Their data was insecure, a breach was bound to happen, and they wouldn't treat Snowden as an enemy if they had any idea what sort of damage a real enemy can do.
On the post: NSA Program Found Unconstitutional Went On For 3 Years; Started Right After Telcos Got Immunity
Immediate corruption
But don't let this sour you on the NSA. Please trust NSA.
On the post: Latest Leak: NSA Can Spy On Almost Anything, Gets To Set Its Own Filters
On the post: UK Home Office Says Miranda's Detention 'Fully Justified,' Attacks Press And Public For Condoning Snowden's Leaks
On the post: UK Home Office Says Miranda's Detention 'Fully Justified,' Attacks Press And Public For Condoning Snowden's Leaks
On the post: White House Says It Had 'No Role' In UK Detention Of David Miranda, But Did Have A 'Heads Up'
Tipping point
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