What on earth!!!  If churches have this kind of technology I can’t even begin to imagine what the spies have to track and monitor people.  Very darn scary!  smiley: frown

Face-tracking tech knows when you skip church services

More than two dozen churches around the world have installed a facial-recognition system that monitors which members of the flock have actually shown up for the Sunday sermon. The system is called Churchix and was developed by Israeli software company, Face-six. It continually scans the religious center's CCTV feed and matches congregation members to a pre-existing database of their faces -- reportedly with 99 percent accuracy. 
Read more @ http://www.engadget.com/2015/06/23/face-tracking-tech-knows-when-you-skip-church-services/ 

And the same goes for Facebook!

 

Facebook Can Even ID You in Photos Where Your Face Isn’t Showing

You may have thought that Facebook knew a lot about you before, but now the company doesn't even need your face to spot you in photos. As part of its extensive machine vision research to improve facial recognition, the social network has developed a new algorithm that can recognize people based on things like hair, personal style, and body shape.

New Scientist reports that Facebook researchers presented the new system at the Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition conference in Boston earlier this month. The group used 40,000 publicly available photos from Flickr to develop a neural network that recognized both faces and other physiological characteristics. Once it was finalized, the algorithm was able to identify people 83 percent of the time.

There are a lot of cues we use. People have characteristic aspects, even if you look at them from the back," said Yann LeCun, the head of artificial intelligence at Facebook. "For example, you can recognize Mark Zuckerberg very easily, because he always wears a gray T-shirt." 


Read more @ http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2015/06/23/facebook_s_new_machine_vision_algorithm_can_identify_people_without_their.html 

 

GCHQ psychological operations squad targeted Britons for manipulation

The once-secretive, now-notorious Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group ran its online propaganda and manipulation operations at home as well as abroad.

JTRIG's domestic operations used fake accounts to "deter," "promote distrust" and "discredit" in political discussions on social media, uploaded fake book/magazine articles with "incorrect information," hacked websites, set up ecommerce sites that were fraudulent operations designed to rip off their adversaries and so on. They relied on psychological research on inspiring "obedience" and "conformity" to inform their work.

Most of the groups targeted by JTRIG are ones I have little time for -- Islamic extremists, neo-Nazis, etc -- but the right way for a state to intervene in political debates isn't through secret misinformation campaigns. The philosophies of these groups are laughable on their face, and it's alarming to learn that the UK establishment's go-to rebuttal for ideas this dumb is to create fake newspaper articles. If that's how debate works at Eton and Oxbridge, it's no wonder Prime Minister's Question Time is such a clownshow.

JTRIG’s domestic and law enforcement operations are made clear. The report states that the controversial unit “currently collaborates with other agencies” including the Metropolitan police, Security Service (MI5), Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), Border Agency, Revenue and Customs (HMRC), and National Public Order and Intelligence Unit (NPOIU). The document highlights that key JTRIG objectives include “providing intelligence for judicial outcomes;” monitoring “domestic extremist groups such as the English Defence League by conducting online HUMINT;” “denying, deterring or dissuading” criminals and “hacktivists;” and “deterring, disrupting or degrading online consumerism of stolen data or child porn.”

It touts the fact that the unit “may cover all areas of the globe.” Specifically, “operations are currently targeted at” numerous countries and regions including Argentina, Eastern Europe and the UK.

JTRIG’s domestic operations fit into a larger pattern of UK-focused and traditional law enforcement activities within GCHQ.

Read more @ http://boingboing.net/2015/06/22/gchqs-psy-ops-squad-targette.html?fk_bb 

Controversial GCHQ Unit Engaged in Domestic Law Enforcement, Online Propaganda, Psychology Research

The spy unit responsible for some of the United Kingdom’s most controversial tactics of surveillance, online propaganda and deceit focuses extensively on traditional law enforcement and domestic activities — even though officials typically justify its activities by emphasizing foreign intelligence and counterterrorism operations.

Documents published today by The Intercept demonstrate how the Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group (JTRIG), a unit of the signals intelligence agency Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), is involved in efforts against political groups it considers “extremist,” Islamist activity in schools, the drug trade, online fraud and financial scams.

Though its existence was secret until last year, JTRIG quickly developed a distinctive profile in the public understanding, after documents from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that the unit had engaged in “dirty tricks” like deploying sexual “honey traps” designed to discredit targets, launching denial-of-service attacks to shut down Internet chat rooms, pushing veiled propaganda onto social networks and generally warping discourse online.

Early official claims attempted to create the impression that JTRIG’s activities focused on international targets in places like Iran, Afghanistan and Argentina. The closest the group seemed to get to home was in its targeting of transnational “hacktivist” group Anonymous.

While some of the unit’s activities are focused on the claimed areas, JTRIG also appears to be intimately involved in traditional law enforcement areas and U.K.-specific activity, as previously unpublished documents demonstrate. An August 2009 JTRIG memo entitled “Operational Highlights” boasts of “GCHQ’s first serious crime effects operation” against a website that was identifying police informants and members of a witness protection program. Another operation investigated an Internet forum allegedly “used to facilitate and execute online fraud.” The document also describes GCHQ advice provided “to assist the UK negotiating team on climate change.”

Particularly revealing is a fascinating 42-page document from 2011 detailing JTRIG’s activities. It provides the most comprehensive and sweeping insight to date into the scope of this unit’s extreme methods. Entitled “Behavioral Science Support for JTRIG’s Effects and Online HUMINT [Human Intelligence] Operations,” it describes the types of targets on which the unit focuses, the psychological and behavioral research it commissions and exploits, and its future organizational aspirations. It is authored by a psychologist, Mandeep K. Dhami.

Read more @ https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/06/22/controversial-gchq-unit-domestic-law-enforcement-propaganda/

Senate rejects US ruling on metadata, Snowden investigation

The federal government has refused to recognise a decision by a US appeals court which ruled that mass collection of telecommunications metadata.

Parliament today rejected a motion by Greens communications spokesman Senator Scott Ludlam that the senate take note the ruling and recognise that “Australians and the global community have legitimate and ongoing concerns about the erosion of privacy caused by the unchecked growth of government electronic surveillance programs”.

The Greens also recognise the work of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in exposing mass surveillance programs among the so-called ‘five eyes’ allies of which Australia is a member.

The motion was overwhelmingly rejected by 38 votes to 15.

Senator Ludlam said that Labor and the Liberals continued to collude on mass surveillance.

“This motion called on the Senate, which just months ago passed a data retention scheme, to acknowledge the reality that the US Court of Appeals has ruled the bulk collection of telecommunications metadata by US Government agencies to be unlawful,” Senator Ludlam said.

“Australians and users of telecommunications services everywhere have legitimate and ongoing concerns about the erosion of privacy caused by the unchecked growth of indiscriminate surveillance programs.

Read more @ http://www.cso.com.au/article/577660/senate-rejects-us-ruling-metadata-snowden-investigation/

 

It looks to me that governments are becoming more and more insecure…..  I did read an old prophecy many years ago that said that governments will end….. are we witness to seeing the death throes of governments in their bid to keep power over the people?

France parliament adopts new surveillance bill

[JURIST] The French Parliament [official website] on Wednesday adopted a surveillance bill [materials, in French] that would give French intelligence services the authority to monitor Internet use metadata. It is reported [AP report] that the bill also allows for court ordered surveillance of suspects homes and cars utilizing beacons and tracking devices. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has commented [JURIST report] on the new law and it's provisions stating,"[t]hese are legal tools, but not tools of exception, nor of generalized surveillance of citizens. There will not be a French Patriot Act." France's previous surveillance law was passed in 1991, before much of today's mobile and internet technology.

Read more @ http://jurist.org/paperchase/2015/06/france-parliament-adopts-new-surveillance-bill.php 

Government leaders have no compunction in writing laws to spy on everyone but when it’s them being spied on they get all uppity…..  what a joke.  It just shows how much they think they are better than everyone else.

 

New WikiLeaks docs: NSA eavesdropped on past 3 French presidents

PARIS — WikiLeaks published documents late Tuesday that it says show the U.S. National Security Agency eavesdropped on the last three French presidents, releasing material which appeared to capture officials in Paris talking candidly about Greece's economy, relations with Germany — and, ironically, American espionage.

The release caused an uproar among French politicians, although it didn't reveal any huge surprises or secrets. France itself is on the verge of approving broad new surveillance powers and is among several U.S. allies that rely heavily on American spying powers when trying to prevent terrorist and other threats.

There was no instant confirmation of the accuracy of the documents released in collaboration with French daily newspaper Liberation and investigative website Mediapart, but WikiLeaks has a track record of publishing intelligence and diplomatic material. It appeared serious enough to prompt an emergency meeting of President Francois Hollande's defense council, according to presidential aides. The council, convening Wednesday morning, includes top French security officials.

WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson told The Associated Press he was confident the documents were authrance entic, noting that WikiLeaks' previous mass disclosures — including a large cache of Saudi diplomatic memos released last week — have proven to be accurate.

Read more @ http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/new-wikileaks-docs-nsa-eavesdropped-on-past-3-french-presidents-1.354160

 

France summons U.S. ambassador after reports U.S. spied on presidents

PARIS (AP) — Embarrassed by leaked conversations of three successive French presidents and angered by new evidence of uninhibited American spying, France demanded answers Wednesday and called for an intelligence "code of conduct" between allies.

France's foreign minister summoned the U.S. ambassador to respond to the WikiLeaks revelations, while President Barack Obama spoke by phone with his French counterpart. And all eyes were fixed on the top floor of the U.S. Embassy after reports that a nest of NSA surveillance equipment was concealed there, just down the block from the presidential Elysee Palace.

"Commitments were made by our American allies. They must be firmly recalled and strictly respected," Prime Minister Manuel Valls said. "Being loyal doesn't mean falling into line."

Obama told Hollande in the phone conversation Wednesday that the U.S. wasn't targeting his communications, the White House said. Obama said the U.S. was abiding by a commitment that he made in 2013 not to spy on the French leader after Edward Snowden disclosed the extent of NSA surveillance powers.

That pledge came a year after the last of the revelations in the new Wikileaks trove, which date from 2006 to 2012 and appear to capture top French officials talking candidly about relations with Germany, Greece's economy and American spying on allies.

Read more @ http://www.ksl.com/?nid=157&sid=35214540 

WikiLeaks: France plays the victim in the intelligence game

French officials have reacted with outrage to new WikiLeaks revelations that the US spied on French presidents. But some analysts say the response is just an act of political theatre from a nation that does some significant spying of its own.

French officials were quick to condemn new WikiLeaks revelations this week that the US National Security Agency (NSA) had spied on the last three French presidents – incumbent François Hollande, Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac – as well as other high-level officials.

A special session of the Defense Council was called at the Elysée presidential palace and the US ambassador was duly summoned. France’s intelligence coordinator and the director general of France’s external security agency, the DGSE, were dispatched to Washington, ostensibly to demand an explanation from their American counterparts.

Read more @ http://www.france24.com/en/20150625-wikileaks-france-nsa-victim-intelligence-game-spying-espionage-hollande 

US envoy in Paris pledges cooperation after spy allegations

The United States ambassador to France is reiterating American pledges of close cooperation in intelligence and security after revelations that the NSA was eavesdropping on three French presidents.

Ambassador Jane Hartley released a statement Thursday, a day after she was summoned by France's foreign minister to answer for the WikiLeaks revelations.

US President Barack Obama told French President François Hollande that the isn't targeting his communications, according to the White House. Obama said the is abiding by a commitment that he made in 2013 not to spy on the French leader after Edward Snowden disclosed the extent of NSA surveillance powers.

On Wednesday, the French parliament passed a law giving the state intelligence services more latitude to eavesdrop on the public, amid outrage over revelations that the US spied on the last three French presidents.

Despite vocal opposition from civil rights groups, Hollande's government rushed the bill out earlier this year, after Islamist militant attacks that killed 17 people in January.

Read more @ http://www.todayszaman.com/world_us-envoy-in-paris-pledges-cooperation-after-spy-allegations_391874.html 

French President Blasts U.S. Over Spying Allegations

Government spokesman Stephane Le Foll called the revelations "incomprehensible."

(TRNS)- French President Francois Hollande met with his Defense Council Wednesday following the release of documents by WikiLeaks which say the United States spied on the last three French presidents.

The documents were published in the French paper Liberation and on the investigative website Mediapart late Tuesday. The materials allege that from at least 2006 to 2012, the NSA eavesdropped on the secret communications of Hollande and his predecessors, including discussions on Greece and France’s relationship with Germany.

The Elysee Palace, or French presidential palace, issued a statement Wednesday calling the alleged spying “unacceptable” and that France “will not tolerate any activity that threatens its security and the protection of its interests.”

U.S. Ambassador to France Jane Hartley was summoned to the French Foreign Ministry, government spokesman Stephane Le Foll told reporters.

“France does not listen in on its allies,” Le Foll said.

Read more @ http://www.talkradionews.com/white-house/2015/06/24/french-president-blasts-u-s-over-spying-allegations.html 

Anger, no surprises as US is accused of spying on an ally - this time, France

PARIS – Embarrassed by leaked conversations of three successive French presidents and angered by new evidence of uninhibited American spying, France demanded answers Wednesday and called for an intelligence “code of conduct” between allies.

France’s foreign minister summoned the U.S. ambassador to respond to the WikiLeaks revelations, while President Barack Obama spoke by phone with his French counterpart. And all eyes were fixed on the top floor of the U.S. Embassy after reports that a nest of NSA surveillance equipment was concealed there, just down the block from the presidential Elysee Palace.

“Commitments were made by our American allies. They must be firmly recalled and strictly respected,” Prime Minister Manuel Valls said. “Being loyal doesn’t mean falling into line.”

Read more @ http://www.570news.com/2015/06/24/anger-no-surprises-as-us-is-accused-of-spying-on-an-ally-this-time-france/ 

Pakistani Activists Slam ‘Unethical’ British Hacking Claims

Opposition lawmaker says Islamabad should protest to London over the illegal intrusion.

Pakistani rights campaigners and opposition lawmakers have urged Islamabad to protect the privacy of its citizens after leaked top-secret documents appeared to show British intelligence had gained access to almost all the country’s Internet users.

The revelations were based on a cache of files from 2008 released by former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden and reported by journalists Andrew Fishman and Glenn Greenwald in The Intercept, an online news outlet, this week.

In a document marked “TOP SECRET STRAP2 UK EYES ONLY” allegedly issued by Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the spy agency discusses its computer network exploitation (CNE) and software reverse engineering efforts abroad.

“Capability against Cisco routers developed by this means has allowed a CNE presence on the Pakistan Internet Exchange which affords access to almost any user of the Internet inside Pakistan,” it said, referring to a U.S. technology company that provides most of the world’s network infrastructure. “Our presence on routers likewise allows us to re-route selected traffic across international links towards GCHQ’s passive collection systems.”

Pakistan’s Digital Rights Foundation, a non-profit that campaigns for online privacy, said in a statement Tuesday: “This hacking operation, at a scale never previously seen before from the British intelligence agency, seriously undermines the right to privacy of all users of the internet in Pakistan.”

Read more @ http://newsweekpakistan.com/pakistani-activists-slam-unethical-british-hacking-claims/ 

Pak activists slam ‘unethical’ UK hacking claims

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani rights campaigners and opposition lawmakers have urged Islamabad to protect the privacy of its citizens after leaked top-secret documents appeared to show British intelligence had gained access to almost all the country’s Internet users.
The revelations were based on a cache of files from 2008 released by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden and reported by journalists Andrew Fishman and Glenn Greenwald in The Intercept, an online news outlet, this week.
In a document marked “TOP SECRET STRAP2 UK EYES ONLY” allegedly issued by Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the spy agency discusses its computer network exploitation (CNE) and software reverse engineering efforts abroad. 
Read more @ http://www.arabnews.com/news/766761 

Internet world in Pakistan pried by UK, GCHQ claims

ISLAMABAD: Concerns among digital rights activists and lawmakers have increased after the Britain Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) claimed to have gained access to Pakistan’s Internet Exchange under its computer network exploitation (CNE).

The disclosures, made by journalists Glenn Grennwald and Andrew Fishman in a recent article for The Intercept, clue that by utilizing vulnerabilities in ‘Cisco routers’ and software reveres-engineering (SRE), the agency was capable to access ‘almost any user of the Internet’ inside Pakistan and also able ‘to re-route selective traffic across international links towards GCHQ’s passive collection systems.’

Read more @ http://www.thenewsteller.com/tech/internet-world-in-pakistan-pried-by-uk-gchq-claims/18297/ 

Government Collection of Telephone Metadata Exceeds Statute's Authority

This month, we discuss American Civil Liberties Union v. Clapper,1 in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in an opinion by Judge Gerard E. Lynch and joined by Circuit Judge Robert D. Sack and Vernon S. Broderick (Southern District of New York, sitting by designation), with Sack issuing a concurring opinion, found that the collection of telephone metadata by the National Security Agency (NSA) exceeded the authority granted to it by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA),2 as amended by Section 215 of the U.S. Patriot Act.3 Specifically, the court ruled that the government's interpretation of Section 215 was overly broad and that Section 215 did not permit the collection of telephone metadata undertaken by the NSA. The court, however, found that its finding was insufficient to merit the court granting a preliminary injunction. In so ruling, the court reversed the district court's dismissal of the complaint and remanded the case to the district court.

Background

Congress enacted FISA in the 1970s against a backdrop of warrantless surveillance programs being conducted by the NSA, the FBI, and the CIA. These early surveillance programs were struck down by the Supreme Court in United States v. U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (Keith).4 In response to these surveillance programs and the Supreme Court's decision in Keith, the Senate created the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities (the "church committee"), to investigate the surveillance programs and to determine whether legislation was needed. FISA resulted from these efforts.

FISA created a statutory scheme whereby the government makes applications to a special court, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), which conducts its proceedings ex parte and in secret. Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Congress enacted the U.S. Patriot Act of 2001, which amended various surveillance laws, including FISA. Section 215 of this act substantially revised FISA to authorize the director of the FBI or his designee to request from the FISC orders for the production of "any tangible things…for an investigation to obtain foreign intelligence information not concerning a U.S. person or to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities."5

An order under Section 215 is limited to the production of anything that "can be obtained with a subpoena duces tecum issued by a court of the United States in aid of a grand jury investigation" or any other court order.6 This provision contained a sunset provision and has required subsequent renewals by Congress, with the most recent renewal expiring on June 1, 2015.7

Since at least May 2006, the FBI and NSA have been involved in a program of bulk collection of telephone metadata pursuant to a Section 215 order obtained from the FISC. This order became public as a result of the leaked classified material from former government contractor Edward Snowden in June 2013, when Snowden revealed a FISC order directed at Verizon to produce call detail records of all telephone calls made using Verizon's systems or services where one or both ends of the call were located within the United States. Since FISC orders must be renewed every 90 days, the program has been renewed 41 times since May 2006, with the most recent reauthorization occurring on Feb. 26, 2015, which lasted until June 1, 2015.

Read more @ http://www.newyorklawjournal.com/id=1202730150541/Government-Collection-of-Telephone-Metadata-Exceeds-Statutes-Authority?slreturn=20150525192710

Edward Snowden And The Strategy Of Tension – OpEd

It has been a little more than two years since the whistleblower Edward Snowden’s first leaks of classified National Security Agency (NSA) documents revealing unchecked mass surveillance practices by the U.S. government, and it is safe to say that we now live in a totally different world.

The core questions first raised by the Snowden leaks – whether or not governments should have power to wiretap and hack citizens without the burden of probable cause and warrants – have not disappeared or been forgotten, like so many other news stories. In fact, privacy advocates just recently celebrated the first tangible political victory with the passage of the USA Freedom Act on June 2, which although an exceedingly modest step, represents the first time in history that Congress has acted to restrain the powers of the NSA.

And we didn’t have to wait long to see a response from the intelligence community. Last week the UK newspaper The Sunday Times published its story “British Spies Betrayed to Russians and Chinese” citing a number of anonymous government sources who claimed Snowden had caused irreparable, far-reaching damage because foreign powers had allegedly “cracked” Snowden’s encrypted document cache. According to the unnamed officials, Snowden has “blood on his hands,” though the article acknowledges there’s no evidence backing it up.

Snowden’s opponents rejoiced – finally here was the proof that the NSA leaks have caused more harm than benefit. One opinion piece published in the German newspaper Bild slammed Snowden for his recklessness, arguing that he “does not fully understand” the scope of what he has revealed, and further, that his discrediting of the U.S. intelligence apparatus has enabled even worse abuses of espionage by less free governments – though I’m not so sure about this leap of logic.

It’s not my place to debate the journalistic standards of the Sunday Times report, though many others have picked it apart, including Glenn Greenwald. Writing at Wired, journalist Bruce Schneier argues that China and Russia likely already had access to this intelligence, and not because of Snowden. The Sunday Times author, Tom Harper, told CNN that he had seen no evidence that the files were breached, that he had no details about how it had been accomplished, nor did he have any information on what files were allegedly accessed, so the story appears rather weak.

Read more @ http://www.eurasiareview.com/22062015-edward-snowden-and-the-strategy-of-tension-oped/

Stewart Baker Calls Out Cyber-Surveillance Myths

In his book  Skating on Stilts, former US Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Policy Stewart Baker examines the numerous ways—air travel, biotech, the Internet—that America has left itself vulnerable to threats. Baker has been one of the most vocal proponents of the Patriot Act—especially section 215, the program to collect telephone records and other digital information. A litany of opponents, including everyone from the Electronic Frontier Foundation to Senator Rand Paul, consider the secretive program a gross invasion of privacy—on May 31, the program expired.

Baker, on the other hand, is of the mind that Americans don’t realize how much programs like 215 and other methods of government surveillance actually protect people from outside threats and bad guys—whether they’re Al Qaeda terrorists or North Korean hackers. And he’s not afraid to say it: Baker is often the counter-voice to those wanting to reign in or create more transparent government surveillance programs.

Read more @ http://www.wired.com/2015/06/oh-kiss-ass-thats-not-true-stewart-baker-calls-cyber-surveillance-myths/

 

The USA Freedom Act: what it changes and (mostly) doesn't for cloud services--and is it really the issue

The recent showdown over renewal of certain provisions of the USA Patriot Act (often called simply the Patriot Act) and the subsequent enactment of the USA Freedom Act have raised a number of questions about the ongoing impact of these laws on data traversing or being stored in the United States. While the new law takes the NSA out of the direct business of maintaining metadata (which includes phone number called, the time and duration of the call, and location information) on all phone calls originating or terminating in the US (with a declared intent of transitioning instead to a program that will allow court-moderated access to phone company data) and reinstates provisions that enable so-called “roving wiretaps” and monitoring of “lone wolves,” it essentially leaves unchanged the underlying laws that govern the US authorities access to data stored in the cloud.

 A look back at the history of the Patriot Act and then the specifics of the USA Freedom Act are helpful in evaluating the impact of recent events. First, the Patriot Act.

Rather than create new means of access to data, the Patriot Act primarily streamlined and consolidated various processes that had long been in place—processes similar to those found, it is worth noting, in the laws of many other countries. The Patriot Act made many changes to existing laws, including the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA), with the stated intent of allowing investigators to “connect the dots” to stop terrorists. From the perspective of a non-US person using a cloud service run by an entity subject to US jurisdiction, perhaps the most significant changes made concerned various thresholds of proof or nexus to gain access to data.  These changes broadened the scope of existing authority and lowered the burden on the government to show the need for access. Despite being passed in the wake of 9/11, the Patriot Act’s enactment was not without controversy and among the compromises made was the inclusion of automatic sun-set for some provisions (in the absence of Congressional reauthorization), including the changes to FISA authorizing enhanced data collection and access. These changes, in Section 215 of the Patriot Act, were largely the basis for the telephone metadata collection program disclosed by Edward Snowden, but are also relevant to access to other data.  So, with the expiration of the most recent extension to Section 215, the changes it made to FISA were swept away, leaving the prior provisions of the underlying statutes in place.

Read more @ http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=7b101392-691b-45fa-b0a8-ac3f2603b73e


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