New Zealand spooks face South Pacific dragnet probe

New Zealand Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Cheryl Gwyn on Thursday launched an inquiry into complaints that a spy agency, the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), intercepted the communications of the country's citizens in the South Pacific.

In a statement, Gwyn said the complaints and other public allegations raise wider questions regarding the collection, retention, and sharing of communications data.

"I will be addressing the specific complaints that I have received, in accordance with the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act 1996," she said.

"But there is also a clear need to provide as much factual information to the complainants, and to the wider public, as is possible."

Documents released by United States National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed last week that the GCSB had collected the email, phone, and social media communications of its Pacific neighbours.

Read more @ http://www.zdnet.com/article/nz-spooks-face-south-pacific-dragnet-probe/

Government Surveillance Dilemmas Present Challenges for Data Centers

Since the summer of 2013 when Edward Snowden, a government system administrator and insider, unveiled secret government snooping on large volumes of citizen data (without proper legal tools such as search warrants), media coverage and discussion of government surveillance operations have been widespread.

It’s been revealed that U.S. law enforcement and spy agencies with the three-letter acronyms (NSA, FBI, CIA and so on) have enormous data gathering operations, including accessing and analyzing data about phone calls as well as the content of emails, documents and web visits of U.S. and foreign citizens.

The Internet infrastructure industry is experiencing business and operational impacts, since these headlines caused renewed focus on data privacy and surveillance issues.

Read more @ http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2015/03/26/government-surveillance-dilemmas-present-challenges-for-data-centers/

 

Social media paranoia, existential crises and FOMO (fear of missing out)

Read more @ https://www.marketingmag.com.au/hubs-c/social-media-paranoia-existential-crises-fomo-fear-missing/

Why Doesn’t the Intelligence Community Care Whether Its Surveillance Programs Work?

The new cybersecurity bill joins a long list of efforts launched without adequate thought.

Editors Note: “Rethinking Intelligence” is a project of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law that examines the contemporary U.S. intelligence community, which fellow Michael German argues “has grown too large, too expensive, too powerful, too ineffective, and too unaccountable to the American people.”

In this occasional series, Defense One presents a selection of commentaries and interviews conducted by the Brennan Center with officials from defense, homeland security, federal law enforcement, Congress, intelligence, and other groups who present their ideas to improve the business of American intelligence.

Their arguments tackle three fundamental questions: what is the scope of the new intelligence community, why does it sometimes fail, and how should the US reform it? For more, visit the Brennan Center online

The House and Senate Intelligence Committee just passed a cybersecurity bill that critics argue isn’t likely to improve cybersecurity. In fact, because it undermines the privacy of electronic communications by encouraging companies to broadly share private data with the government and each other, it may actually damage cybersecurity.

Read more @ http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2015/03/why-doesnt-intelligence-community-care-whether-its-security-programs-work/108550/

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us."  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~