N.S.A. Said to Search Content of Messages to and From U.S.
Source: New York Times
WASHINGTON The National Security Agency is searching the contents of vast amounts of Americans e-mail and text communications into and out of the country, hunting for people who mention information about foreigners under surveillance, according to intelligence officials.
The N.S.A. is not just intercepting the communications of Americans who are in direct contact with foreigners targeted overseas, a practice that government officials have openly acknowledged. It is also casting a far wider net for people who cite information linked to those foreigners, like a little used e-mail address, according to a senior intelligence official.
While it has long been known that the agency conducts extensive computer searches of data it vacuums up overseas, that it is systematically searching without warrants through the contents of Americans communications that cross the border reveals more about the scale of its secret operations.
It also adds another element to the unfolding debate, provoked by the disclosures of Edward J. Snowden, the former N.S.A. contractor, about whether the agency has infringed on Americans privacy as it scoops up e-mails and phone data in its quest to ferret out foreign intelligence.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/us/broader-sifting-of-data-abroad-is-seen-by-nsa.html
msongs
(67,465 posts)own post lol
Koios
(154 posts)... have been in email contact with thus far this week, under the normal course of my consulting business, include, including some emails which I am bound under a binding NDA ...
Germany (100+)
Canada (50+)
UK (12 or so)
Brazil (12 or so)
Japan (12 or so)
Others I do not recall.
Right Obama talks about during campaigns, but apparently has forgetting now that he's president and no longer lectures on Con Law:
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)was that it allowed us to reach out and get to know people in every country in the world, talk to people we would never have known otherwise, expand our horizons, and realize our common humanity.
Now, talking to a person in the "wrong country" can make you a person of interest.
It is beyond chilling, and sick.
They_Live
(3,241 posts)that everybody knows somebody that communicates with somebody else outside of the US, and by that standard we are all connected and therefore all suspect. See? I figured this out waaay back in the W years when the N S A admitted they would only spy on international communications. The only way to find those is to monitor ALL communications. And if your monitoring ALL communications then you'll want to monitor the contacts (even domestic) of the suspects who are communicating internationally. To make things more efficient, just back up ALL communication records. See?
DallasNE
(7,404 posts)This is how it has been explained since Snowden's first disclosure so I'm not sure why the NYT thinks this is some kind of breaking story. If one side of the communication is thought to be at least 51% sure it's foreign then it is captured. Of course those lax standards will scoop up a vast amount of American citizen's communications.
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)Enrique
(27,461 posts)intended to make the spying appear more limited than it really is.
by the way, where are the calls for this supposed leaker to show his face, like people did before Snowden revealed himself?
Amonester
(11,541 posts)The pay is good, mfer?
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)underpants
(182,968 posts)wow they sure are advanced
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)How cute.