NSA Watch: GCHQ/NSA Gang Up Against Servers, Hide Violations, Face Blowback
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-01-28 20:27:44 UTC
- Modified: 2014-01-28 20:27:44 UTC
Summary: News from Monday and Tuesday, covering a range of development in the NSA saga and beyond
Corporate Servers
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British intelligence officials can infiltrate the very cables that transfer information across the internet, as well as monitor users in real time on sites like Facebook without the company's consent, according to documents leaked by Edward Snowden.
The internal documents reveal that British analysts gave instruction to members of the National Security Agency in 2012, showing them how to spy on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube in real time and collect the computer addresses of billions of the sites’ uploaders.
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Some of the world's most popular smartphone applications are telling British and American intelligence agencies everything about you – from your location to your politics or whether you're part of the swinging set.
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British and US spy agencies have gathered data from smartphone apps which leak personal data on to global networks, according to reports.
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EXILED AMERICAN WHISTLEBLOWER Edward Snowden has revealed evidence that shows GCHQ is able to monitor web traffic without the knowledge of either the website or the user.
Operation Squeaky Dolphin is explained in the presentation "Psychology A New Kind of SIGDEV" (Signals Development) obtained by NBC from the Snowden files. It describes an operation to harvest Facebook Likes, Youtube URLs and Blogger visits
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Security expert and technologist Bruce Schneier has told the BBC that he believes the NSA and GCHQ have "betrayed the trust of the internet".
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New information made public by Edward Snowden reveals that the governments of the United States and United Kingdom are trawling data from cellphone “apps” to accumulate dossiers on the “political alignments” of millions of smartphone users worldwide.
Crimes Concealed
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In a weekend interview with German ARD public television network, Edward Snowden revealed that the U.S. government uses its broad electronic surveillance capabilities to engage in industrial espionage. Snowden told ARD TV that, “I will say is there is no question that the U.S. is engaged in economic spying,” Snowden gave the example that, “If there is information at Siemens that they think would be beneficial to the national interests, not the national security, of the United States, they will go after that information and they’ll take it.” Snowden left hanging what exactly is done with such potentially useful economic intelligence, and he provided little additional information on this subject beyond indicated the news outlets holding copies of yet published NSA leaked documents could provide more specific information.
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At the same time that the Obama administration publicly mulls over how to end its controversial storage of millions of Americans’ phone records swept up by the National Security Agency, the government is also reportedly exploring ways to prevent other spies from seeing what it’s spying on.
Police/FBI (Domestic Spying)
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If you had any faith left in anonymous email services, now would be the time to let that go. New court documents show that in chasing down associates of Freedom Hosting, the FBI managed to download the entire email database of TorMail. And now it's using that information to take on the Darknet.
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Police began tracking Aguilar's phone and soon discovered it was at the mall.
US Political Reaction
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A group of six Congressmen have asked President Barack Obama to remove James Clapper as director of national intelligence as a result of his misstatements to Congress about the NSA’s dragnet data-collection programs. The group, led by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), said that Clapper’s role as DNI “is incompatible with the goal of restoring trust in our security programs”.
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The RNC has declared domestic spying illegal. A faction led by George W. Bush-era bureaucrats is pushing back.
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The National Security Agency depends on huge computers that guzzle electricity in the service of the surveillance state. For the NSA's top executives, maintaining a vast flow of juice to keep Big Brother nourished is essential -- and any interference with that flow is unthinkable.
European Reaction
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When the EU agreed its current Data Protection Directive in 1995, the internet was just coming onto the horizon, and Mark Zuckerberg was just 11.
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SAP and Atos are working with the European Union to bring in new standards for web-based programmes and data storage in an effort to tackle growing surveillance fears following ongoing NSA revelations.
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AT&T’s ambitions to expand in Europe have been put on ice, for now. And the NSA spying scandal is at least partly to blame.
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Public broadcaster ARD airs interview in which whistleblower says National Security Agency is involved in industrial espionage
People's Voice
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It only makes sense that the NSA be confronted online. After all, it’s the Internet the agency uses to spy on us. They’re not following us down dark streets or steaming open our snail mail. Instead, they’re monitoring our emails to discover who is in our circle and stalking us on Facebook and Google Plus. Especially if we use Windows, there’s no need for them to dirty their hands sifting through our garbage when they can enter through a virtual trap door on our computer to rifle through our word processor and spreadsheet files. Phone tapping? How old school in a world where every call we make, even from a land line, becomes VoIP somewhere along the line. When we use VoIP or Skype, they can easily listen. If we visit a website located in a country on their hit list, they sit-up and take notice.
Corporations' Voice
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The Obama administration has reached a deal with a number of technology giants, allowing the companies to disclose more information on customer data they are compelled to share with the government.
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For quite some time there have been rumours of Google wanting to take AI to the next level. Popular Android-based game, ‘Ingress‘ presents an artificial layer on top of real world landmarks and allows players to claim territories while the interact with their surroundings. Although it’s not what the public expected initially, it did represent the future that Google envisioned for gaming.
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72% of you said that you thought the NSA’s actions would have an effect on the entire U.S. software industry, with 20% of you expressing the opinion that proprietary software developers only would be effected. Taken together, this means that 92% of you are of the opinion that the NSA’s dirty tricks will have a negative effect on the U.S. tech sector. 7% of you answered “maybe a little but not much” with only 1% choosing “not at all.”
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Hate Mail From Anonymous Cowards
- if this persists, we'll need to escalate
- Informal Open Letter to the Lawyer of the Microsofters (on Who's Funding the SLAPPs Against Techrights)
- Whenever I ask about the funding they try to change the subject and act all aggressive
- Microsoft Lunduke is Just Provoking People for Provocation's Sake
- Be forewarned and remember where this guy came from: Microsoft
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- Gemini Links 09/08/2025: Rethinking Aliases and Posting on Gopher vs. the Web
- Links for the day
- Links 09/08/2025: Apollo 13 Astronaut Jim Lovell Dies, Slop Future Bleak
- Links for the day
- After Shutting Down Studios, Divisions, Applications (e.g. Skype) Microsoft is Also Shutting Down 'Apps'
- Cuts all around as layoffs persist this month, Microsoft tries to get many people to resign, and debt skyrockets
- Most of Geminispace Can Probably Fit on a CD-ROM or a DVD (the Textual Part)
- If one excludes very large capsules and ones that contain non-textual contenty
- Eventually UEFI 'Secure Boot' Will be Dropped (Users Will Demand Its Removal and Boycott Its Pushers)
- we expect OEMs will just listen to users
- The Register MS: We Know Slop is a Bubble and Mindless Hype, But We Get Paid to Participate
- Call out the culprits
- There Are Probably Over a Million Pages in Geminispace
- there are two many limitations which merit a mention when it comes to assessing magnitude
- Besieged by Plagiarists Who Play With LLMs and Image Fusions
- We really need to exercise or use our collective voice to oppose Serial Sloppers
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 08, 2025
- IRC logs for Friday, August 08, 2025
- Gemini Links 09/08/2025: Water Painting and Political Violence
- Links for the day
- Slopwatch: LLM Sloppers in Google News, LinuxSecurity, and More
- they also perpetuate some falsehoods as the LLMs lack any comprehension
- Links 08/08/2025: China King of Plastics and US Dictator Plans to Meet Russian Dictator
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 08/08/2025: Cracking a Family Member's Password and Overdose of Slop
- Links for the day
- Red Hat's Latest Talent Hunt, Day Ahead of Mass Layoffs, is Yet Another Microsoft Executive
- Red Hat will apparently commence mass layoffs early this coming Monday
- Links 08/08/2025: "Quit Facebook" and High Cost of Microsoft/Windows Shown Again ("BlackSuit")
- Links for the day
- Good Morning, Readers of The Register MS
- Things The Register MS could (but does not) cover this morning
- Why Gemini Protocol Has a Bright Future
- Maybe Gemini Protocol's promise becomes more appealing as the Web turns to slop and bloat
- It's a Lot Easier to Participate in the Unethical System Than to Oppose Injustices in It
- Going after powerful and high-budget interests is never easy
- Microsofters Filed Two SLAPPs Against Us, Now They Cannot Keep Up With Judges' Orders
- For over 4 months already their facilitator in London has been under investigation by British authorities because of what's being done to my wife and I
- Censorship Regarding Red Hat Layoffs
- Talk about this? They'd rather not.
- Struggling to Cut Costs, Microsoft Continues Shutting Down and Cancelling Stuff This Month
- There are August layoffs at Microsoft
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 07, 2025
- IRC logs for Thursday, August 07, 2025
- Fake 'Linux' Articles, Written by Bots to Take Traffic Away From Real Articles
- LLM slop helps replace information with junk or misinformation
- When Google's Googlebombing of "Gemini" Was Not Enough; They Now Also Googlebomb "Gemini Space"?
- We know GAFAM not only worries about Gemini Protocol but also attempts to 'infiltrate' Geminispace
- The Register MS Promotes Microsoft Slop, Assumes All Readers Use Microsoft Windows
- Microsoft really dominates the site
- Gemini Links 08/08/2025: KDE/Qt Development and What's Missing From "Retro"
- Links for the day
- Links 07/08/2025: US Punishes India Instead of Russia, Attacks Law Firms to Prevent Scrutiny
- Links for the day
- Read Us in Geminispace as Well
- it's definitely a lot simpler than using a Web browser
- Once a Site About BSD and GNU/Linux, and After Months of Silence, LinuxBSDos.com Comes Back Only as a Slopfarm
- very frustrating
- Links 07/08/2025: Hardware Wars, Mass Recall of Colgate Total Clean Mint, More Microsoft Holes Found
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 07/08/2025: "Right To Manage" and LoRa Analysis
- Links for the day
- For the First Time in a Month OSI's "OpenSource.org" Blogs and It's Basically a Microsoft Blog Post (Microsoft Controls OSI)
- For the first time in a month OSI writes something and it is Microsoft propaganda composed by a Microsoft-salaried operative
- Microsoft, Already Borrowing 3 Billion Dollars a Month, is Trying to Cause Many People to Resign
- MSN (i.e. Microsoft) and others openly admit it
- GAFAM 'Says' is Front Page "News"
- The point of journalism is to check and assess facts, not parrot what people and companies merely claim
- Links 07/08/2025: Apple Makes False Promises, More Trouble for Microsoft
- Links for the day
- OSS Didn't Always Mean Open Source Software
- "oligarchs all the way down"
- The Register MS Does More Microsoft Sez or GitHub Sez (Says) Pieces
- 60 minutes ago
- They Want Activists to Just Barely Walk and Eat, Not Do Activism Anymore
- It's sort of like the ending of '1984'
- Quit Perpetuating the Narrative of Gemini Protocol 'Dying' (It's False)
- The "whisper campaign" against Gemini Protocol
- Criticising Social Control Media in Social Control Media
- Many people are quitting Social Control Media (fewer of them announce this in public)
- Non-Free JavaScript Programs in Banks Aren't Even the Biggest Problem
- Technology was supposed to make life easier; in practice, however, for most of us the opposite effect can be observed
- Slopfarms Are Typically Fake News
- Slopfarms typically relay falsehoods
- Gemini Links 06/08/2025: Replacing a Pocket Watch and Buying in Bulk
- Links for the day
- IBM is Obliterating Fedora
- "Fedora releases were shipping with an increasing number of bugs on launch day even while I was using it for a several year stretch."
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 06, 2025
- IRC logs for Wednesday, August 06, 2025