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C.I.A. Is Collecting in Bulk Certain Data Affecting Americans, Senators Warn
The Central Intelligence Agency has for years been collecting in bulk, without a warrant, some kind of data that can affect Americans' privacy, according to a newly declassified letter by two senators.
The C.I.A. kept censored the nature of the data when it declassified the letter. At the same time, it declared that a report about the same topic, which had prompted the letter, must remain fully classified, except for some heavily redacted recommendations.
That report, called "Deep Dive II," was part of a set of studies by a watchdog board scrutinizing intelligence community operations under Executive Order 12333, rules for intelligence activities that Congress has left unregulated by statute. The watchdog, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, and its staff members have access to classified information.
In March 2021, the Senate Intelligence Committee received a copy of the report. In a letter the next month, two Democrats on the panel, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, urged Avril D. Haines, the director of national intelligence, and William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, to declassify the activity and any internal rules about querying the data for information about Americans.
(Score: 4, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Monday February 14 2022, @02:37AM (16 children)
Ever since the late 1990s, if the TLAs haven't been trawling the interwebs for all the big data they can get their hands on, I'd say they're failing their mission statements. Of course they have rules/laws they are required to play by, but laws and national security are like onions, they stink, they make you cry, and they have many layers...
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Snotnose on Monday February 14 2022, @03:17AM (14 children)
Moderated informative because in the 80s it was rumored the TLA(*)s had a closet in San Francisco, and Edward Snowden confirmed it was much worst than that.
TLA - 3 letter agency
IMHO, Snowden should get a 100% pardon providing he tells everything he knows in an open format to all news agencies. Hell, give the guy a trust fund so he never has to work another day in his life, in my book the dude's a hero.
Fun fact: In the early 80s I got interviewed by the NSA for a security clearance. Back then that stood for No Such Agency, and pretty much nobody had heard of them.
Relationship status: Available for curbside pickup.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 14 2022, @03:39AM (3 children)
If you think there's a chance in hell of Snowden getting pardoned... I would really enjoy a toke off what you are smoking, brotha.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 14 2022, @04:05AM
The key word is 'should', and he won't be for exactly the reasons he should.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 14 2022, @04:39AM (1 child)
He had a chance of being pardoned by Trump. Trump pussied out, and now Snowden is applying for Russian citizenship.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 14 2022, @05:16AM
-nomsg
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 14 2022, @03:41AM (1 child)
Snowden dropped the docs nearly a decade ago. Things are guaranteed to be crazier now, and in another decade they will have AI monitoring everybody and quantum computers breaking encryption.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 14 2022, @03:51AM
At the rate QC is advancing, it won't take a decade. 5 years tops.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 14 2022, @03:56AM
> Back then that stood for No Such Agency, and pretty much nobody had heard of them.
I heard of them through a mutual friend. This guy was an innovator in the early days of public key cryptography, it took me awhile to understand what he was talking about (c.1980)! As you can imagine, he was very much a person of interest to the NSA.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Monday February 14 2022, @04:08AM (1 child)
I blame Matt Damon for people hearing about them, by putting interviewing with them into the script of Good Will Hunting. Including his epic answer to "Why shouldn't I work for the NSA?":
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 14 2022, @07:27PM
This may be true, but it's only one sided.
Who are the people who are informing the US Government (and the world population) about Russia's posturing to invade Ukraine? There is a chance that Intelligence can be misused, much like how an army could be used to enforce a military dictatorship. The answer isn't to just disarm, unless you like being at the mercy of your neighbor's good graces.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday February 14 2022, @11:32AM
Snowden never has to work another day in his life. Three hots and a cot guaranteed, the only question is: where will he be living out his remaining days and how much liberty will he enjoy there?
One man's hero is another man's monster. By population numbers I believe Snowden should be a hero to most. For the stability and predictability loving power brokers? Mostly monster.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 15 2022, @02:39AM (2 children)
He did a smash and grab of a GB of data and dumped it all on the Chinese. There was a shit ton of stuff in there that was secret and legal and unknown to the Russians and Chinese. What about that stuff? He didn't do any culling of the data, he didn't make any case for what he did, he just dumped it all. If he was so concered with program X, Y, or Z, why didn't he take information on those programs, but no, he gave away the company store, then cries of persecution. He didn't even try going through the channels available to him to report his concerns for what he thought were violations. He was either turned, a useful idiot, or a narcissist with a hero complex. He's a guy who robbed a bank, took all its money, and dropped $100 in the hat of a homeless person, and you want to give him a parade for being a supporter of the poor and downtrodden. The blind hero worship of the ends-justify-the-means crowd is depressing. Its the same thing you see with people willing to try to overturn the democratic transfer of power and hail themselves as patriots: the obsessive fixation of one thing they use to justify and overlook everything else. I get modded down every time I even suggest that his shit doesn't stink, but who cares? Someone has to point out the naked emperor and let you know he deserves to sit in jail if he ever comes "home."
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 15 2022, @03:07AM
The problem is, we disagree from basic principles. We don't believe the ends justify the means, which is why we oppose surveillance, spying, and warmongering. You favor stability and governance. These outlooks are fundamentally incompatible.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 15 2022, @03:24AM
No culling? I want everything the NSA, CIA, and FIB have to be leaked. All the super secret programs, every zero day vulnerability. These are enemies of the people we're talking about.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 15 2022, @03:00PM
agree.
but it's a opaque democrazy not a transparent one.
pardoning with thrust fund would make democrazy transparent with copy-cat... national security and all.
mind you, it's not national security towards the outside but the inside -aka- secret juice of no-revolt?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Thexalon on Monday February 14 2022, @04:22AM
As an example, back in the George W Bush administration, this project was referred to as "Total Information Awareness", and being led by Iran-Contra crook John Poindexter. News about it eventually got out, and a bunch of the less-indecent politicians voted to defund it completely. And so what happened? They changed the name, increased the classification level, and kept going.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.