In the wake of the disclosure of a massive surveillance program ordered by the Obama Administration of all calls by all citizens using Verizon, there is a new disclosure of an equally large data-mining operation where the government has seized e-mail, photos and other private communications from some of the biggest Internet companies. Even in the wake of the attack on the free press and the surveillance of all citizens in the Verizon scandal, Democratic leaders are rallying around Obama in the rejection of the least remnants of principle in the party. We are now at the tipping point for a free nation as President Obama and leaders like Dianne Feinstein assure citizens that there is nothing to fear in our new fishbowl society.
According to the media reports, the government demanded and received access to nine major firms, including Microsoft, Apple, Google, Yahoo and Facebook under the program called PRISM. The article states that the program has been running since 2007 and has undergone “exponential growth.”
When confronted over the massive government surveillance, Feinstein was dismissive and said “It’s called protecting America”. Others would call it the harbinger to an authoritarian state but Feinstein has long been criticized for her presumed knowledge of the torture program and other abuses of civil liberties.
These programs reveal the creation of huge databanks that can be used to make the movements and associations transparent to the government. After years of apathy and blind loyalty to Obama, these scandals will test whether Americans have any remaining commitment to privacy and civil liberties in the face of the mantra (repeated today by the Administration) that these programs make them safer.
As in the past, Congress has proven a willing participant in the erosion of civil liberties. It will be up to citizens whether we go quietly into this night. As I previously wrote, it is becoming increasingly difficult to call this the “land of the free” as we allow the rise of security state in this country.
By the way, you may remember Obama running for president the first time in the aftermath of reports of the NSA mining Internet communications. He promised voters: “For one thing, under an Obama presidency, Americans will be able to leave behind the era of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and “wiretaps without warrants.” He would now make Richard Nixon blush.
Source: CNN
anonymously posted
1, June 7, 2013 at 1:08 pm
well, it’s a conundrum isn’t it? it’s the old ‘the only way to win is not to play’ game except it’s too dangerous and counterproductive not to play. We can gripe all we like about the Government doing this thing and/or that but corporations have been doing it longer….and they have proven that they don’t give a rats ass what happens to anything, anybody or anyother whatsoever….as long as they get their $$$$beans. So if the Gov of the peeps jumps in bed with that then it doesn’t matter what or how anyone proceeds….we may already have, (what’s that lovely phrase I learned here….) ‘crossed the Rubicon’ regarding civil liberties….as well as civilities…and throw the liberties into the cauldron as well…the house is ashes…
At least we should all feel better knowing that the Clintons will be returning to the White House in 2017. They ARE liberals, right?
> No democracy can be healthy and functional if the most consequential acts of those who wield political power are completely unknown to those to whom they are supposed to be accountable
Everybody is for accountability in principle, but in practice, accountability has been at the center of a tug of war being fought over other points. In this case, privacy is a casualty.
To be specific: accountability is inefficient.
If you have to justify your actions at every step (accountability), that makes a given task take longer (inefficient).
If government is going to be made more lean and efficient, accountability will suffer. Sometimes government inefficiency is what we want.
This dynamic has been used in the past, for varying purposes: the Manhattan Project, for example, was done very efficiently, but in total secrecy. This was an evasion of accountability that many people accept, though Americans at the time may not have supported it if they knew what the “fallout” would be, so to speak. The 1922 and 1925 Geneva protocols against chemical weapons speak to this historical attitude, as does our aversion to use nuclear weapons in retrospect.
from Glen Greenwald:
“I’m going to go ahead and take the Constitution at its word that we’re guaranteed the right of a free press. So, obviously, are other people doing so. And that means that it isn’t the people who are being threatened who deserve and will get the investigations, but those issuing the threats who will get that. That’s why there’s a free press. That’s what adversarial journalism means.”
now that is just pure BS, had we had the press we should have had, this venal pric would not be president. he was a flawed candidate and time has shown him to be a deeply flawed individual.
none of this surprises me in the least. In fact I expected it.
from ap’s post above:
“The way things are supposed to work is that we’re supposed to know virtually everything about what they do: that’s why they’re called public servants. They’re supposed to know virtually nothing about what we do: that’s why we’re called private individuals.
This dynamic – the hallmark of a healthy and free society – has been radically reversed. Now, they know everything about what we do, and are constantly building systems to know more. Meanwhile, we know less and less about what they do, as they build walls of secrecy behind which they function. That’s the imbalance that needs to come to an end. No democracy can be healthy and functional if the most consequential acts of those who wield political power are completely unknown to those to whom they are supposed to be accountable.”
Reblogged this on Jerry Welch and commented:
It is terrifying to learn of surveillance on this scale of innocent citizens! What is even more troubling is that our useless, obstructionist congress found time to vote that this information be kept from Americans. Spread the word!
To the point and yet leaves lots of room for interpretation.
shit
“I don’t have time at the moment to address all of the fallout because – to borrow someone else’s phrase – I’m Looking Forward to future revelations that are coming (and coming shortly), not Looking Backward to ones that have already come.” – Glenn Greenwald
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/07/whistleblowers-and-leak-investigations)
Bring on those “future revelations” that are “coming shortly”…
g. mason:
do you think people care about this? I bet just a relative handful actually care. everyone has their junk all over facebook.
“[The President] also expressed his displeasure that the domestic spying programs’ existence was leaked to the press. “I don’t welcome leaks,” he said. “There’s a reason these programs are classified.” – Huffington Post
Because if they weren’t, you’d go to prison?
A comment to one of GG’s recent articles:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/07/whistleblowers-and-leak-investigations?commentpage=3
Romberry
07 June 2013 1:48pm
This comment has been chosen by Guardian staff because it contributes to the debate
Recommend
38
A comment left over at BoingBoing in response to their post about Schneier’s article illustrates perfectly why those who say they are not concerned about the rise of the pervasive surveillance state (because they imagine themselves to be good and therefore immune from harm) should be concerned. It’s not about catching bad guys. It’s about control:
The NSA now has a treasure trove of data to blackmail people with. Has a prominent politician, judge, or businessperson ever visited a porn website or had many conversations with a person who is not their spouse? Have they bought sex toys? Have they talked to ‘suspect’ federal employees? We’ve got the data! I can only imagine the amount of extortion that could be used with such a data set.
Blouise,
https://www.google.com/search?q=cartoon+are+we+there+yet&client=firefox-a&hs=Lci&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=mSyyUbuME-364APXpoGgBA&ved=0CC0QsAQ&biw=1563&bih=837 (Are we there yet?)
Nope. The worst of it is still to come. But… I’ll raise a glass to the progress that we’ve made this week… and it isn’t over yet.
(Enjoyed the smoke signals last night. 😉 )
http://theweek.com/article/index/245311/sources-nsa-sucks-in-data-from-50-companies
@DownEast Liberator
Intercepted financial data from foreign sources gets passed on to the State Department. The 1999 European Parliament report on Echelon addressed industrial espionage. And financial transactions are processed through Department of Homeland Security.
In the EU report, see section 7.3. “The question of compatibility in the event of misuse of the system for industrial espionage” and section 10, “Protection against industrial espionage”
Quotes:
“part of the remit of foreign intelligence services is to gather economic data, such as details of developments in individual sectors of the economy, trends on commodity markets, compliance with economic embargoes, observance of rules on supplying dual-use goods, etc., and whereas, for these reasons, the firms concerned are often subject to surveillance”
“In 1999, in order to find out more about this subject, STOA commissioned a five-part study of the ‘development of surveillance technology and risk of abuse of economic information’. Part 2/5, by Duncan Campbell, concerned the existing intelligence capacities and particularly the mode of operation of ECHELON.
“Concern was aroused in particular by the assertion in the report that ECHELON had moved away from its original purpose of defence against the Eastern Bloc and was currently being used for purposes of industrial espionage. Examples of alleged industrial espionage were given in support of the claim: in particular, it was stated that Airbus and Thomson CFS had been damaged as a result. Campbell bases his claims on reports in the American press”
ap,
“The dual revelations, in rapid succession, also suggested that someone with access to high-level intelligence secrets had decided to unveil them in the midst of furor over leak investigations. Both were reported by The Guardian, while The Post, relying upon the same presentation, almost simultaneously reported the Internet company tapping. The Post said a disenchanted intelligence official provided it with the documents to expose government overreach.” (a straw that broke that camel’s back)
Obama Calls Surveillance Programs Legal and Limited
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/08/us/national-security-agency-surveillance.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&emc=na
Don’t ya just love the way all the bullies are running for cover. Now all those elected officials are going to have to deal with the businesses they have co opted into their spy network ’cause those dudes are dealing with a PR nightmare that is bound to bump their bottom lines all over the place.
Raise a quiet glass this evening, darlin’ … good things do come to those who wait.
I sincerely doubt that good will come to those who’ve sat on their thumbs re: FISA, Patriot Act, and the endless tide diminishing civil rights. A week or two of media furor is diddly-spit.
How soon (instantaneously these days) the possible becomes the necessary! [implied irony]
But after Echelon and Carnivore, what’s so new?? Screenwriters have been spreading this info for decades while our ‘rights’ have become an archaic blip in history.
AP,
Great link to the Obama quote. If he thinks his emails and phone calls are going to be targeted when he is a private citizen, then he is admitting that everyone is being “targeted” or sucked into the all inclusive NSA suction machine. Also, calling some of these folks professionals is pushing the envelope, just a bit. Many or most probably are, but there are far too many who are willing to do anything that they are told to do.
Revolution