Snowden condemns Britain’s new surveillance bill

 

............................................................................................

Published time: 5 Nov, 2015 15:18

 

Former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. © Vincent Kessler / Reuters

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has voiced his opposition to the Investigatory Powers Bill, which was unveiled Wednesday by the British government, saying ministers are “taking notes on how to defend the indefensible.”

 

 

His remarks come as Home Secretary Theresa May has admitted that UK spy agencies MI5, MI6 and GCHQ secretly collected communications data for decades to protect “national security.”

Snowden, who sought asylum in Russia after leaking top-secret documents about American and British mass surveillance techniques, posted a series of tweets condemning the new bill.

He said the powers given to security agencies in the bill amounted to access to “the activity log of your life.”

May announced on Wednesday that internet companies would be required to store a record of every website accessed by users for a year. The new bill also targets encrypted messaging services, such as WhatsApp and iMessenger, which allow users to evade hackers and data collection.

Edward Snowden

 

✔ @Snowden

It's not about something to hide, it's about something to lose.

10:17 AM - 4 Nov 2015

 

 

Snowden expressed his opposition to the bill, which was created in the wake of his revelations.



 Read More Here

Turns Out Police Stingray Spy Tools Can Indeed Record Calls

...

A real cell tower. (Image: Flickr, Carl Lender via Bus. Insider)

.....................................................................................................................

WIRED

• Kim Zetter Security
• Date of Publication: 10.28.15. 10.28.15
• Time of Publication: 3:00 pm. 3:00 pm

The federal government has been fighting hard for years hide details about its use of so-called stingray surveillance technology from the public.

The surveillance devices simulate cell phone towers in order to trick nearby mobile phones into connecting to them and revealing the phones’ locations.

Now newly released documents confirm long-held suspicions that the controversial devices are also capable of recording numbers for a mobile phone’s incoming and outgoing calls, as well as intercepting the content of voice and text communications. The documents also discuss the possibility of flashing a phone’s firmware “so that you can intercept conversations using a suspect’s cell phone as a bug.”

The information appears in a 2008 guideline prepared by the Justice Department to advise law enforcement agents on when and how the equipment can be legally used.

The Department of Justice ironically acknowledges in the documents that the use of the surveillance technology to locate cellular phones 'is an issue of some controversy.'

The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California obtained the documents (.pdf) after a protracted legal battle involving a two-year-old public records request. The documents include not only policy guidelines, but also templates for submitting requests to courts to obtain permission to use the technology.




Read More Here

Related articles

• Holiday Travel on a Budget: 3 Strategies to Save Money with Travel Accessories

State lawmakers take action in the US as individuals prepare a globalized mobilization against encroaching digital surveillance

Published on Wednesday, February 5, 2014 by Common Dreams

Not Waiting for Feds, 'Fight Back' Against Surveillance Goes Local, Global

- Jon Queally, staff writer

Not content to wait for action at the federal level, those opposed to the ongoing mass surveillance of the NSA and other agencies are speaking out and pushing laws at the state level to ensure privacy rights are protected. (Image: thedaywefightback.org)Concerned about the government's increasing surveillance powers but unimpressed with the congressional response in Washington so far, state lawmakers from both major political parties are now taking it upon themselves to protect the online and communication privacy of their constituents.
Meanwhile, individuals and privacy groups are planning their own grassroots response to mass surveillance, hoping to repeat past victories by harnessing the power of digital communications to ensure they are adequately protected from government overreach.
As the Associated Press reports Wednesday, efforts are now underway "in at least 14 states are a direct message to the federal government: If you don't take action to strengthen privacy, we will."
According to AP:

Republican and Democratic lawmakers have joined in proposing the measures, reflecting the unusual mix of political partnerships that have arisen since the NSA revelations that began in May. Establishment leadership has generally favored the programs, while conservative limited government advocates and liberal privacy supporters have opposed them.
Supporters say the measures are needed because technology has grown to the point that police can digitally track someone's every move.
Devices such as license plate readers and cellphone trackers "can tell whether you stayed in a motel that specializes in hourly rates, or you stopped at tavern that has nude dancers," said David Fidanque, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon.
"It's one thing to know you haven't violated the law, but it's another thing to know you haven't had every one of your moves tracked," he said.

Next week, on February 11, privacy advocates and online freedom groups are mobilizing against NSA and other government surveillance in a day of action they've dubbed 'The Day We Fight Back.'
According to Katitza Rodriguez at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, one of the groups organizing the action, those participating will be demanding "an end to mass surveillance in every country, by every state, regardless of boundaries or politics."
Galvanized by what they see as 13 Principles of internet and communication freedoms, activists will use the day to call attention to those goals, lobby on their behalf with their representatives, and declare an end to the encroaching, unaccountable, and unregulated surveillance apparatus.
"The Principles spellout just why mass surveillance is a violation of human rights," explained Rodriguez, and they "give sympathetic lawmakers and judges a list of fixes they could apply to the lawless Internet spooks. On the day we fight back, we want the world to sign onto those principles. We want politicians to pledge to uphold them. We want the world to see we care."

_______________________________

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Related articles

• Not Waiting for Feds, 'Fight Back' Against Surveillance Goes Local, Global
• Thirteen Principles Against Unchecked Surveillance Launched at United Nations
• Governments break silence on surveillance as activists launch human rights principles
• February 11th: The Day We Fight Back Against Mass Surveillance
• Huge Global Coalition Stands Against Unchecked Surveillance

Glenn Greenwald full interview on Snowden, NSA, GCHQ and spying

NEWSNIGHT: Glenn Greenwald full interview on Snowden, NSA, GCHQ and spying

BBC Newsnight

Published on Oct 3, 2013

 

BBC Newsnight exclusive interview with journalist Glenn Greenwald on Edward Snowden, the PRISM revelations and mass surveillance

*************************************************************

The NSA debate is as much about journalism as surveillance

A 14-minute interview on BBC highlights the debate over the proper relationship between journalists and government

• • Glenn Greenwald
  • theguardian.com, Friday 4 October 2013 07.48 EDT

In late June, the economist Dean Baker astutely observed that our NSA reporting was "doing as much to expose corrupt journalism as to expose government spying." Indeed, from the earliest stages of this reporting, back in Hong Kong, we expected (and hoped) that the reporting we were about to do would expose conflicts in how journalism is understood and practiced as much as it would shine light on the NSA's specific surveillance programs.


Read More Here


**************************************************************

Related articles

• Video: Glenn Greenwald on GCHQ, NSA, Snowden and Spying
• NEWSNIGHT: Glenn Greenwald full interview on Snowden, NSA, GCHQ and spying
• Newsnight ~ Glenn Greenwald Full Interview On Snowden, NSA, GCHQ And Spying [Video]