AL.com, an Alabama-centric news site, has a piece on a secret program to monitor the lives of students over social media. From the article:
Here's the school district's explanation of how the program got started:
About a year and half ago, [Superintendent] Wardynski said, the NSA called Huntsville and reported a high school student had threatened on Facebook to injure a teacher.
Al Lankford, the city's longtime school security officer, told AL.com that he took the NSA phone call. He said security officers went to the high school and eventually searched the boy's car.
[...]
NSA did not acknowledge placing such a call. "The National Security Agency has no record that it passed any information to the Huntsville school district, and the description of what supposedly occurred is inconsistent with NSA's practices," said Vanee Vines, public affairs specialist with the NSA, on Monday.
The NSA is focused on foreign intelligence. Vines said any information about a domestic safety issue would be sent to another federal agency, like the FBI. "Moreover, NSA does not make recommendations regarding school safety programs," said Vines via email.
"There was a foreign connection," said Wardynski, explaining why the NSA would contact Huntsville schools. He said the student in Huntsville had made the online threats while chatting online with a group that included an individual in Yemen.
[...]
Wardysnki said the monitoring program is limited to threats against schools, and students are expelled from neighborhood schools and placed into alternative programs. Asked if school officials are also searching online for photos of alcohol, drugs and sex, Wardynski said: "None of that."
He said the focus is on gangs, threats of violence and threats of suicide. He said the security officials may contact city police, refer students for discipline or call in mental health services.
And so the question must be asked, is an Alabama highschool school making shit up or is the NSA lying the American people?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 06 2014, @04:30AM
You say "or" like you mean that one option might be false. I don't quite understand. The NSA lies almost as much as the CIA, and school administrators make shit up all the time. What's your problem with accepting both?
(Score: 1) by Whoever on Monday October 06 2014, @04:30AM
It's become abundantly clear that the NSA PR team (and possibly management) have no clue about what is really going on in the NSA.
Perhaps some low-level NSA analyst came across this, maybe asked the FBI to follow up, but decided to follow up on his own initiative.
However, if the pupil was posting in a publicly accessible location, I doubt that there really is a significant issue.
(Score: 3, Informative) by davester666 on Monday October 06 2014, @05:19AM
It is, because the NSA is supposed to 1) not monitor American citizens, particularly if they are located within the borders of the US and 2) if they happen to do so, throw away the information once they find out they are monitoring an American.
But based on their secret interpretation of a secret presidential memo, and knowing that the DOJ and Congress will never investigate them in any meaningful way, it makes no difference. They are above the law now.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 06 2014, @10:14AM
So... in order for the Public Relations people to fulfil their duty of denying everything without actually lying, their are told nothing about the real activities of NSA?-Ignacio Agulló
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 06 2014, @10:18AM
Sorry for the misspelling. "they are told nothing"-Ignacio Agulló
(Score: 2) by buswolley on Monday October 06 2014, @04:35AM
A prank call?
subicular junctures
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday October 06 2014, @04:43AM
A well spoken youngster could very well fool some Podunk high school official. It could have been one of the student's classmates, some person located anywhere in the world who observed and/or participated in the chat, or just some clown who "met" the student on line.
Basically, if you're able to sound convincing, throw in enough technical jargon, along with some legal sounding terms, you can probably do the same to any student, anywhere. All you really need to know about the student, is where he goes to school.
The clueless superintendant, principal, or counselor only hears what he is conditioned to hear, and what he wants to hear. If the student happens to be a black sheep within the school system, officials are going to jump to their own conclusions in addition to whatever you have told them. In view of some stories coming out about over reacting school officials, the student is likely to be shot to death by a SWAT team.
“Take me to the Brig. I want to see the “real Marines”. – Major General Chesty Puller, USMC
(Score: 5, Interesting) by PinkyGigglebrain on Monday October 06 2014, @04:35AM
The NSA are likely telling the truth in this case. The NSA doesn't get involved with domestic issues, it is outside their charter to get directly involved, usually they would pass any intel they had on a domestic threat to the FBI or Secret Service. Spying on American citizens is one thing, actually flashing a badge and giving orders to a county sheriff or other LEO would attract more attention to the NSA than they want.
A likely possibility was that someone who wanted to cause trouble for the teen, and it could be anyone with a grudge, called the school and said they were with the NSA. In general people are so afraid of the government now a days that they won't ask for ID or otherwise challenge someone claiming to be with a Federal agency lest they get investigated too.
This could become a new form of SWATIing, just call up a Principle or employer, say your with the NSA/FBI and that so-n-so is a danger for whatever reason sounds semi plausible. Sit back and eat popcorn as the victim's life gets turned upside down.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday October 06 2014, @01:31PM
"Spying on American citizens is one thing"
There is the interesting assumption in the comments that Huntsville only has american citizens. Now stay with me, this isn't a rant about spanish speaking illegal aliens.
I lived in Huntsville for about a year in the early 90s (actually the attached .mil base, thanks uncle sam) and to say it was a company town would be the understatement of the century. It was a super cool place to live because despite the stellar reputation the american south public education system has, with the possible exception of Cape Canaveral in FL, that couple square miles of Alabama seriously had more PHDs and literal rocket scientists than possibly anywhere else in the country. Seriously its like MIT was cloned in the deep south or something. You'd see insane stuff in buildings surrounded by multiple layers of barbed wire that I still probably can't talk about (not like alien invasion BS but just amazing high tech) And the town lived at the mercy of the .mil base and knew it. Anyway the place was crawling with foreigners every since the 40s and operation paperclip or whatever it was called when we kinda stole the German rocket scientists at the end of the war. Well we got more than just a handful of big names. And the place was crawling with contractors, some foreign nationals.
So anyway, I would totally not be surprised there's some Chinese national working as a contractor on ICBM guidance technology who has a Chinese national teenager who happens to be attending public high school in Huntsville, and they're totally fair game for the NSA to watch over.
This would be a totally different story if based in Mobile AL. Hunstville AL is (or was) basically a .mil base surrounded by .mil contractors, and everyone in the city either has a sec clearance or is related to someone with a sec clearance. Its not just a generic cotton field farm town in the south.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by jasassin on Monday October 06 2014, @04:40AM
If you use Facebook you deserve what you get. I watch Judge Judy, and woe have many been taken down by raging Facebook posts. I want everyone to realize Facebook is judicial gold. You've been warned.
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 1) by zenlessyank on Monday October 06 2014, @04:53AM
^^ This.
Also add to that list, anything 'cloud' related. Any CEO/CIO who thinks it is a good idea to have company data sitting in someone else's server room is a greedy fool.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 06 2014, @05:37AM
Judge Judy is not a judge, she is an arbitrator. She only holds the power to decide disputes because the parties involved give her that power. She has no obligation to follow legal procedures.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 06 2014, @07:39AM
I guess arbitrator Judy just doesn't have that nice ring to it. How is it possible, that she gets to say she's a judge? If i called myself a king, that wouldn't make it so, or a police detective, i'd get sued by the gonvernment.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Monday October 06 2014, @09:14AM
She is a Judge - a retired Judge. So they arent lying when they call her that, they are just telling the truth in a deceptive manner.
While she is a trained lawyer and a retired judge, when she's 'Judge Judy' she is also, as was said, acting as an arbiter with the (compensated) consent of both parties and is free to base her decisions on whatever she or her producers think might boost their ratings.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 06 2014, @02:49PM
She's an actress on TV! She's as much of a judge as Shatner was captain of a starship.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Monday October 06 2014, @02:51PM
Litigation Factor 10, Mr. Sulu! They've got money in their eyes.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 06 2014, @11:26AM
> If you use Facebook you deserve what you get. I watch Judge Judy,
There is great irony in someone who thinks watching Judge Judy is good thing criticizing people who think using facebook is a good thing.
(Score: 1) by OffTheWallSoccer on Tuesday October 07 2014, @08:55AM
+1
That was my first thought, too!
(Score: 1) by zenlessyank on Monday October 06 2014, @05:01AM
After growing up in said state (not there now, whew), My money is on the idea that some smartass called claiming to be NSA just to get the little bastard in trouble for the lulz. Maybe it was a drug deal gone bad, maybe a lovers' spat, or maybe his trailer home was longer. I would classify this as Jerry Springer Fodder.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by MrGuy on Monday October 06 2014, @12:03PM
The NSA:
a.) has more important things on their radar than wondering if a student may or may not have threatened to injured a teacher,
b.) has a MASSIVE operational security mindset, to the point where they would NEVER call someone up and say "hello, it's the NSA," nor would they ever confirm what their sources of information were or their tactics of monitoring people,
c.) have essentially a frictionless process to get gag orders for anyone they talk to,
d.) even if they were watching this, and cared to intervene, would have gone to local law enforcement, and had them develop a plausible "alternate discovery" story to substantiate the allegation, rather than admit involvement ("we got an anonymous tip, and went to facebook and lo and behold, a threat!"
This is simply not what happens. Either it's a prank that the school was too dumb to realize was a prank, or the school realizes they shouldn't have been monitoring students directly and invented this hamfisted NSA story to explain why they acted on information they weren't supposed to have.
I blame the school in either event.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 06 2014, @03:07PM
As the sayings go, facts are both stupid and stubborn things. I don't know how this plays in areas like Huntsville, but especially around here and on the green site anything bad about the police, the NSA in particular, and the US Gov't in general is God's gospel truth and any argument otherwise comes from a morally bankrupt and/or stupid person (I'm optimistic, just like in real life, that there is a silent majority here who don't quite have the same confidence in their knowledge of absolute truth and morality and ethics as the loudest and shrillest among us, who spare no quarter looking down their noses or wielding their mod points in vengeance against dissenting opinion). On certain topics, this site really turns into the Fox News of tech sites.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Monday October 06 2014, @06:00PM
Well, it's their own fault that only fools trust them. They've lied as often as a campaigning politician.
That said, the evidence for their involvement is scanty. But I'd almost list their denial of involvement as reasonable grounds for believing they were involved.
P.S.: Yeah, they've got a lot more important things to do than follow facebook. But they've also got a lot more important things to do than collect my email, but the evidence that they collect *everybody's* email is pretty good.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 06 2014, @07:13PM
So by the same reasoning, does that mean that if they had said they were involved in it, you would think otherwise?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 07 2014, @09:34AM
hypothetically if they did, you could make that case
but they didn't, so its not really relevant
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 06 2014, @08:40PM
> As the sayings go, facts are both stupid and stubborn things. I don't know how this plays in areas like Huntsville,
I don't know who attends this school, but Huntstville is a town with a lot of DoD and related work, a lot more than most southern towns. I could see him being primed to boogeymen threats because of that.