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Posted in Law at 6:22 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: The latest reports which uncover misconduct at NSA and its accomplices around the world
Those NSA Transparency Reports From Google Aren’t So TransparentGoogle, Facebook, Microsoft and LinkedIn all made headlines today for releasing “transparency” reports about the number of users for which the U.S. government has requested data.We now know that major Internet companies have given up personal information from between 0-15,999 user accounts, but we don’t know what exactly was given up or whether additional data was taken without the companies’ knowledge.NSA ReformThe revelations, leaks, and laws of the last few years, from warrantless wiretapping and Edward Snowden to laws like SOPA, ACTA, and now the president’s attempt to fast track TPP, have painted a portrait of a superpower increasingly at war with the net. But people like the net, they live more and more of their lives on the net, which makes this conflict politically difficult and confusing.Websites Vary Prices, Deals Based on Users’ Information“How can they get away with that?” said Ms. Frizzell, who works in Bergheim, Texas.In what appears to be an unintended side effect of Staples’ pricing methods—likely a function of retail competition with its rivals—the Journal’s testing also showed that areas that tended to see the discounted prices had a higher average income than areas that tended to see higher prices.New Zealand Spy Agency Deleted Evidence About Its Illegal Spying On Kim Dotcom I have to admit that I’m consistently amazed at just how badly law enforcement in both the US and New Zealand appeared to screw up the raid and the case against Kim Dotcom. I’ve said it a few times before, but it really feels like authorities in both places actually believed the bogus Hollywood hype being spread by the MPAA about how Dotcom was really a James Bondian-villain, and acted accordingly, while ignoring any evidence to the contrary. As you know by now, the New Zealand equivalent of the NSA, the GCSB, illegally spied on Kim Dotcom and other New Zealand residents and citizens — and the New Zealand government then decided to try to hide that. While the police agreed that the spying was illegal, they declined to do anything about it, so Dotcom sued the government himself. Has NSA Wiretapping Violated Attorney-Client Privilege?A document leaked by Edward Snowden, along with interviews with lawyers representing terrorism suspects, reveal a disturbing loophole in this once-sacred legal principle. Perfecting the Art of Sensible NonsenseAs a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1996, Amit Sahai was fascinated by the strange notion of a “zero-knowledge” proof, a type of mathematical protocol for convincing someone that something is true without revealing any details of why it is true. As Sahai mulled over this counterintuitive concept, it led him to consider an even more daring notion: What if it were possible to mask the inner workings not just of a proof, but of a computer program, so that people could use the program without being able to figure out how it worked?Strong Man Snowden Rings the Bell in Geekland“I think Mr. Snowden did a great service to humankind,” said Gonzalo Velasco C. “He confirmed something many ‘crazy geeks’ have been saying for years. The countries that have denied him political asylum are to be remembered as cowards.” Nobel prizes are “not only about the real merit — we have seen former war-makers get a peace price! But I doubt he is going to get this one.”NSA ‘spied on former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’Mr Schroeder said he was unsurprised by the latest US spying revelation NSA ‘tapped Gerhard Schröder’s phone too’Schröder, the Social Democrat chancellor who served from 1998 to 2005, appears on a list of names of people and institutions put under surveillance by the US National Security Agency (NSA) from 2002, at the start of his second mandate as German head of state.NSA tapped German ex-chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s phone – reportGerman media say Angela Merkel’s predecessor was put under surveillance after opposition to military action in Iraq in 2002Anti-NSA Crusader Outraises Susan Collins in Fourth Quarter of 2013Shenna Bellows outraised Collins in the last quarter of 2013, raking in $331,454, compared with the $314,921 raised by Collins during the same period, according to filings made with the Federal Election Commission. The margin is slight, but it’s noteworthy in part for Bellows’s vocal stance against the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs, which she derides as unconstitutional.NSA website can’t encrypt its covert mission to convert kidsLots of children play games and use toys related to adult careers: cops and robbers, spaceman, Operation, among many others. Playing in this manner teaches children about different jobs and inspires them to want to become doctors, cops or actors.Belgian Prosecutor Looking Into Reports That NSA/GCHQ Hacked Well-Known Belgian CryptographerOf course, looking into it doesn’t mean very much at this point. There had been serious concerns about how the NSA and GCHQ used the attacks on Belgacom to then bug systems at the EU Parliament in Brussels. Whether or not they’ll do something in response to “just” hacking a cryptographer remains to be seen — but it should remind basically everyone in the world that the NSA/GCHQ don’t seem to have any hesitation about hacking just about anyone.Arizona first US state to attempt legal resistance to NSA surveillanceArizona’s state senate panel approved a bill withdrawing state support for intelligence agencies’ collection of metadata and banning the use of warrantless data in courts. The panel becomes the first legislative body in US to try and thwart NSA spying.The bill will now have to be approved by majority of the Senate Rules committee before it can move on to the full senate. It prohibits Arizona public employees and departments from helping intelligence agencies collect records of phone-calls and emails, as well as metadata (information on where and when the phone calls were made). Yahoo leads NSA-FBI account content data demandsFresh disclosures about national security requests indicate that Yahoo was ordered to hand over content from more accounts than other tech firms during the first six months of 2013.Dept of Justice official admits NSA ‘probably’ spying on members of CongressThe US National Security Agency likely collects intelligence on congressional lawmakers and members of their staff, a Justice Department official admitted at a committee hearing on Tuesday.House committee urges US government to get behind NSA reform billJudiciary committee warns Obama administration to back USA Freedom Act or risk losing its counter-terrorism powersSenior Congressman calls Greenwald a “thief” who sold NSA documentsRep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) has been very unhappy about the leaks by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden from the very beginning. Now the head of the powerful House Intelligence Committee has become one of several personalities at the heart of the NSA leak scandal to lash out at one of the journalists publishing stories about the documents.Ex-NSA Chief Details Snowden’s Hiring at Agency, Booz Allen
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