Tag Archives: Surveillance State Repeal Act
A Change of Seasons and Careers
October 24th marks my final day as senior policy advisor to Rep. Rush Holt of New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District. When I joined his staff during the first week of August 2004, my first crisis as his communications director was … Continue reading
NSA Reform Legislation Update
I’ll withhold final judgement on the pending Conyers-Sensenbrenner bill until I see the bill text, but here’s a reality check based on the summary provided thus far by the bill’s authors and some accounts online: Conyers-Sensenbrenner would leave the Surveillance … Continue reading
David Bromwich On “Liberty, Security, and Fear”
Yale literature professor David Bromwich has a superb piece on HuffPo today that articulates so well the fraud that is the American Surveillance State: And what of liberty? A view taken by many apologists for massive surveillance holds that liberty is … Continue reading
X-Keyscore, Or “How NSA Knows All About Your Blog Visitors, Your Emails, And Your Life”
From today’s edition of The Guardian: A top secret National Security Agency program allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals, according to documents provided … Continue reading
Some Whistleblower Resources From CRS
With the Manning verdict pending, I thought it might interest folks in what Congress’s research arm, the Congressional Research Service, has had to say about this topic: National Security Whistleblowers Survey of Federal Whistleblower And Anti-retaliation Laws Whistleblower Protections Under … Continue reading
ICYMI: Washington Post Puts Whistleblowers In The “Style” Section
Rather bizarre placement for this Emily Wax piece, and some interesting omissions. In the section on Thomas Drake’s case (involving the TRAILBLAZER fiasco at NSA), there’s this gem: The former top spokesman for the Justice Department, Matthew Miller, later said … Continue reading
Greenwald Repeats Claim NSA Analsyts Can Snoop Without Warrants
From The Hill, regarding Greenwald’s restated assertion that low-level NSA analysts can listen to To the phone calls or read the emails of U.S. Persons without a warrant: “These programs are, are very simple screens, like the ones that supermarket … Continue reading
Pew Poll Shows Hope For NSA Domestic Spying Opponents
Although the poll shows the public narrowly approving of NSA’s activities, a closer look at the data shows the following: And the historical trend shift is very encouraging: The key to moving public opinion further towards repeal is 1) more … Continue reading
Beware The Thief At Your Back Door
From this week’s National Journal cover story on the relationship between NSA and the telecoms: Then, in the late 1990s, a furor erupted over export controls on software encryption. The NSA sought to bar exports of the best encryption technology, … Continue reading
NSL’s: The Other PATRIOT Act Authority That’s Been Violated
Although the Section 215 PATRIOT Act and Section 702 FISA Amendment Act authorities are the ones that have received so much coverage in the wake of Edward Snowden’s revelations, it’s worth remembering that earlier this year a federal judge found … Continue reading
Long Strange Journey 