5 New Revelations About NSA Surveillance

[ProSense]

5 New Revelations About NSA Surveillance

—By Dana Liebelson

1) Surveillance Has Contributed to Thwarting More Than 50 Terror Plots Since 9/11

<...>

2) The NSA Doesn't Need Court Approval Each Time it Searches Americans' Phone Records

NSA Deputy Director John Inglis said that 22 NSA officials are authorized to approve requests to query an agency database that contains the cellphone metadata of American citizens. (Metadata includes the numbers of incoming and outgoing calls, the date and time the calls took place, and their duration.) Deputy AG Cole also said that all queries of this database must be documented and can be subject to audits. Cole also said that the the NSA does not have to get separate Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) approval for each query; instead, the agency merely has to file a monthly report with the court on how many times the database was queried, and how many of those searches targeted the phone records of Americans.

3) 10 NSA Officials Have Permission to Give Information About US Citizens to the FBI

There are 10 NSA officials—including Inglis and Alexander—involved in determining whether information collected about US citizens can be provided to the FBI. It can only be shared if there's independent evidence that the target has connections to a terrorist organization. Inglis said that if the information is found to be irrelevant, it must be destroyed. If the NSA mistakenly targets an American citizen, it must report this to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

4) Other Countries are Less Transparent Than the US, Officials Say

Cole said that the FISA Amendments Act provides more due process than is afforded to citizens of European countries, including Germany, the U.K., and France. Alexander added that "virtually all" countries have laws that compel telecommunications firms to turn over information on suspects.

5) Fewer Than 300 Phone Numbers Were Targeted in 2012

NSA officials say that even though the agency has access to Americans' phone records, it investigated fewer than 300 phone numbers connected to US citizens in 2012. The officials did not provide any detail on the number of email addresses targeted.

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/06/5-new-revelations-nsa-top-secret-surveillance-programs

[KittyWampus]

1. motherjones is usually very good reading. #2 needs to be changed.

[okaawhatever]

3. I don't understand. Are you saying you think the law or rules for #2 need to be changed or do you

think it was misreported?

[KittyWampus]

5. they most certainly SHOULD require court approval each time.

[ProSense]

6. I think the confusion is

"they most certainly SHOULD require court approval each time."

...that the 22 officials can authorize a query of the NSA's existing database after the court order gives them access to the records.

[galileoreloaded]

8. 22 fuckheads can read my email. yay.

ill pass.

[ProSense]

9. They can read your e-mail in phone records?

You clearly don't know what you're talking about.

[galileoreloaded]

10. I'll channel Yoda here "deluded you are, privacy you have no longer"

not for me but thanks!

[Bandit]

2. We had adequate intelligence before 9-11..remember "Bin Ladin determined to strike America"

Bush* and Cabal were warned numerous times from intelligence and yet they did nothing...Now we have to have permanent surveillance with every media...

[reformist2]

4. NSA officials tell us things... doesn't mean they're true.

Of course, there's no way to second guess anything they say... TOP SECRET, you know!

[galileoreloaded]

7. i feel so much better now!

except i don't/

[okaawhatever]

11. That seems reasonable to me. I know many don't agree, but i'm much more concerned with

politicians having access to the records than having 10 NSA employees who can give the info to the FBI w/independent evidence of terrorist affiliations. I think protection should come from making sure none of those people are allowed to be political appointees, shouldn't be allowed to lobby before or after their career, and there should be a clear career path and chain of command. That way, if someone like Karl Rove wants to target people it will extremely difficult and will involve a lot of oversight. I would like to see some sort of counter or tracker that can always show how many records were accessed. A permanent record that can be lined up with warrants and audited by the inspector general's office.
One thing I do like about generic data mining programs is that they don't allow for individual targeting or bias. If a computer recognizes patterns and practices consistent with criminal behavior it reduces the risk of oppression, political or criminal.

[Jarla]

12. What about emails, text messages, IM messages, web search queries, etc.?

What access does the government have to these other types of electronic communication?

[Corruption Inc]

13. If we're so safe why do you feel so threatened?

You said Snowden needed to provide proof of his data in an earlier post and yet you don't seem to need any proof of any of the claims above, you just believe them.

In other words, you're not making any rational sense whatsoever.

Bye.