Monthly Archives: January 2014

White House refuses to accept that NSA phone dragnet is illegal

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“In a new interview with MSNBC, Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday that he had not read the new surveillance report from the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB)—but nonetheless disagreed with its findings. That report, which was released on Thursday by the Congressionally approved board, argued that the NSA’s telephone metadata program was illegal.  ‘At least 15 judges on about 35 occasions have said that the program itself is legal,’ Holder said. ‘I think that those other judges, those 15 judges, got it right.’  Holder and the White House have both expressed great skepticism at the PCLOB’s recommendations.”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/01/white-house-refuses-to-accept-that-nsa-phone-dragnet-is-illegal/

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NYT Editor: This Administration Is the Most Secretive and Closed Ever

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“The government has taken to protecting criminal wrongdoing by attacking whistleblowers … and any journalists who have the nerve to report on the spilled beans.  (The government has also repealed long-standing laws against using propaganda against Americans on U.S. soil, and the government is manipulating social media).  The Obama administration has prosecuted more whistleblowers than all other presidents combined.  And it goes out of its way to smear whistleblowers, threaten reporters who discuss whistleblower information and harass honest analysts. Journalism is not only being criminalized in America, but investigative reporting is actually treated like terrorism.”

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2014/01/contrary-claims-openness-transparency-administration-secretive-closed-administration-ever.html

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Majority of US college campuses becoming ‘no-free-speech’ zones

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“About one out of every six enforced ‘free speech zone’ policies – legislation that limits student protests and other ‘expressive activities’ to small and isolated parts of campus.  The report provided some examples of free speech policies that they say infringe on First Amendment rights. The University of Southern Mississippi, for example, requires students to hold their demonstrations in one designated ‘Speakers’ Corner’ unless they register the demonstration at least one month in advance of the event.  Longwood University in Virginia limits speeches, demonstrations and literature distribution to one location, and requires the area to be reserved five days in advance.”

http://rt.com/usa/first-amendment-us-law-colleges-029/

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Court ruling conceals public safety info due to potential ‘terrorists’

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“A US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia panel ruled this week that such information can be concealed from the public by US government entities for ‘law enforcement purposes’ because ‘terrorists or criminals could use that information to determine whether attacking a dam would be worthwhile.’  The case was brought by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a resource non-profit for potential government whistleblowers. PEER says the decision ‘significantly expands the scope of the exemption under the Freedom of Information Act for material compiled for ‘law enforcement purposes.'”

http://rt.com/usa/public-safety-infrastructure-terrorists-174/

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Baltimore must return $2.8mn after audit finds faulty speed cameras

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“A secret audit conducted for the City of Baltimore found that local speed cameras had alarmingly high error rates, resulting in thousands of traffic tickets being issued that never should have been.  The audit obtained by the Baltimore Sun covers the year 2012, when the city issued 700,000 speeding tickets, each costing recipients $40. The URS consulting group found that the city’s cameras had an error rate higher than 10 percent, meaning that 70,000 tickets worth $2.8 million could’ve been incorrectly issued to local drivers.  These numbers are much higher than the city’s original claim of ‘less than a quarter of one percent.’ Baltimore officials have refused to make the details public.”

http://rt.com/usa/baltimore-return-millions-speed-cameras-104/

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Federal security forces at the Super Bowl

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“Super Bowl XLVIII has been declared a level one national security event. Part of that security is to examine every item that is being brought in for Sunday’s big game.  U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents will work around the clock to X-ray every delivery truck and any other vehicle authorized to enter the MetLife Stadium complex for anything suspicious.  Agents will be looking for smugglers, narcotics, terror activity, and more potential threats.  Throughout Super Bowl week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will use HCV Mobile Scanning trucks to examine vehicles.  Agents will monitor computer screens to scan anything and everything commercial vehicles will bring in.”

http://www.myfoxny.com/Story/24558340/federal-security-forces-at-the-super-bowl

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Authorities Want Remote Access To Californians’ Home CCTV Footage

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“A rather Orwellian council proposal in California would see police able to remotely access the feeds from home security cameras in San Jose.  The idea, forwarded by City Councilman Sam Liccardo, calls for citizens to volunteer their own CCTV systems, registering them with local law enforcement, so police can monitor whatever the cameras are trained on.  The idea came about after local business owners volunteered CCTV footage following a series of arson crimes in a downtown district. San Jose’s independent police auditor, retired judge LaDoris Cordell, lauded the idea, calling it a logical step and stating ‘You tend to behave when the cameras are on you.'”

http://www.prisonplanet.com/authorities-want-remote-access-to-californians-home-cctv-footage-for-the-greater-good.html

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Exposed: Covert, Real-Time Spying on Youtube, Facebook, Blogs

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“The British government gave the U.S. lessons in how to spy on users of popular websites, including Youtube and Facebook, in real-time and without the consent of users or cyber companies.  The report unearths a slide presentation by British intelligence agency GCHQ, given to their U.S. counterparts in August 2012, detailing their ‘Squeaky Dolphin’ program that allows them to glean information from ‘the torrent of electronic data that moves across fiber optic cable and display it graphically on a computer dashboard,’ according to the NBC article.  Facebook and Google said they were not aware that governments were surveying this information and they had not granted permission.”

https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/01/27-6

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If You Used This Secure Webmail Site, the FBI Has Your Inbox

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“According to the new document, the FBI obtained the data belonging to Freedom Hosting’s customers through a Mutual Legal Assistance request to France – where the company leased its servers – between July 22, 2013 and August 2 of last year.  The French company also hasn’t been identified. But France’s largest hosting company, OVH, announced on July 29, in the middle of the FBI’s then-secret Freedom Hosting seizure, that it would no longer allow Tor software on its servers. A spokesman for the company says he can’t comment on specific cases, and declined to say whether Freedom Hosting was a customer.”

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2014/01/tormail

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The FBI Seized All of TorMail’s Data and Is Using It to Catch Hackers

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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. It’s unknown exactly how many users or how much data is in the TorMail network, but we do know that the FBI has it all. The agency obtained a search warrant for a TorMail account connected to a Florida man accused of stealing credit card numbers in order to search its own copy of the database. It appears that the FBI acquired the database while using malware to investigate Freedom Hosting last year.”

http://gizmodo.com/the-fbi-seized-all-of-tormails-data-and-is-using-it-to-1509838202

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