NSA disclosures show the frightening power the government has afforded itself without the knowledge

[Luminous Animal]

of the American people,"

ACLU on today's NSA reporting in the Guardian.

New Report Confirms NSA's Ability to Access Americans' Online Activity

NEW YORK – The government can easily see the content of Americans' Internet communication and web browsing activities, according to a report published today in The Guardian.

"The latest revelations make clear that the government's surveillance activities are far more extensive and intrusive than previously understood, and they underscore that the surveillance laws are in desperate need of reform," said American Civil Liberties Union Deputy Legal Director Jameel Jaffer, who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee today about NSA surveillance. "These documents also call into question the truth of some of the representations that intelligence officials have made to the public and Congress over the last two months. Intelligence officials have said repeatedly that NSA analysts do not have the ability to sift indiscriminately through Americans' sensitive information, but this new report suggests they do."

The revelations today come at a time when public opinion has begun to shift in favor of strengthening Americans' privacy rights and a growing bipartisan group in Congress works to rein in NSA surveillance of Americans' communications.

"The seemingly never-ending NSA disclosures show the frightening power the government has afforded itself without the knowledge of the American people," said Michelle Richardson, legislative counsel at the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office. "The recent Amash amendment vote shows that the public has had enough with the blanket, warrantless surveillance of its communications. Without significant reforms to these programs, the government is going to lose them."

[MotherPetrie]

1. K&R! Thanks for posting this.

[bvar22]

2. Gee, a lot of people are going to have to change out their Talking Points now.

All that wasted effort,
right down the intertubes as the [font size=3]TRUTH OUTS![/font]

I expect some very pathetic attempts to create a NEW reality,
because their OLD one just spit them out.



"we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities,"
--- Carl Rove



"You will know them by their [font size=3]WORKS."[/font]
---bvar22 and some other Palestinian guy whose name escapes me now.

[MannyGoldstein]

8. No way! Snowden and Greenwald still suck!

And that's the really, really important principle at stake here.

Regards,

Government Sock Puppet Manny

[cantbeserious]

3. Thank You For Sharing

eom

[NealK]

4. K&R

[GoneFishin]

5. Thanks for confirming what most of us pretty much knew. n/t

[randome]

6. 'Ability' equals 'mass spying'.

Good grief. Instead of Greenwald throwing around unfounded accusations -and very deliberately burying the fact that only foreign individuals can be targeted by this software- why doesn't he press for more transparency and less secrecy?

Because that doesn't get him the attention he craves, I guess.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't ever underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[Maedhros]

9. "only targets foreign individuals"

Is that the new dodge now?

The NSA documents show that they are collecting this information on persons two degrees removed from the foreign-communicating "target." For example, if Randome corresponds with Handler1 in Quantico, and Handler1 corresponds with InternetGuy69 in Florida, and InternetGuy69 corresponds with ArabSpring99 in Cairo, then all of those communications are captured and stored even though InternetGuy69 is the "target."

Please keep up.

[randome]

10. In the original Guardian story...(the above story does not include a link, BTW.)

Under US law, the NSA is required to obtain an individualized Fisa warrant only if the target of their surveillance is a 'US person', though no such warrant is required for intercepting the communications of Americans with foreign targets. But XKeyscore provides the technological capability, if not the legal authority, to target even US persons for extensive electronic surveillance without a warrant provided that some identifying information, such as their email or IP address, is known to the analyst.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/31/nsa-top-secret-program-online-data

Again, 'capability' is not the same thing as 'mass spying'. Greenwald wants you to believe that. But there is still no evidence to show that is happening.

I bet most of this will be moot once we see the declassified documents tomorrow.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't ever underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[davidn3600]

11. They are storing the data. That's spying in my book.

The fact that they promise not to look in it without a FISA warrant is bullshit. It's putting the cart before the horse. It's not the way the government is supposed to work.

Get the warrant...THEN collect the data. That's the way its always been in this country.

[Maedhros]

14. It is useless to try and convince Randome that he is wrong.

Hell, he probably knows it. His marching orders are to deny, deflect and denounce, and he's a good soldier.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

12. For most reasonable people, and highly respected liberty orgs, YES

The unprecedented, suspicionless spying by harvesting and storing practically ALL of our digital communications, has got to be challenged from all quarters.

Only totalitarians support and/or defend these treasonous policies.

FYI: This is from the ACLU not GG.


Edward Snowden is a modern day Paul Revere with a thumb drive full of news that Tyranny is coming!

Edward Snowden's Dad Calls Him 'Modern Day Paul Revere'
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/edward-snowdens-dad-calls-modern-day-paul-revere/story?id=19554337

Hmmm... who knew who influential a DU meme could be

[bvar22]

13. That was COMPLETELY debunked two weeks ago,

but I'm NOT surprised to see you desperately grasping at ANY straw,
no matter HOW discredited, to keep your head from exploding until the NEW Talking Points are released.


It HAS been disclosed and verified that those Government employees or "private contractors" only need to be reasonably assured of their target's "foreignness" before recording every-fucking-word.
The LEGAL interpretation of "reasonably assured" is that the eavesdropper/window peeker for the government ONLY has to SAY he had a 51% "confidence" in the "foreignness" of his/her target,[font size=3] And its ALL GOOD after that!!![/font]

"THAT is a Coin Flip plus One Percent." (thanks John Oliver)

Here :
read'em and weep.

"Good News! You're Not Paranoid"
They ARE listening!
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-june-10-2013/good-news--you-re-not-paranoid---nsa-oversight

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

7. That cost a pretty penny

All on our dime to boot