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Apr 8 16 11:05 PM
(Reuters) – Digital privacy advocates and users of Reddit expressed their alarm on Friday over a change in the forum’s transparency report that suggested it may have been asked to give customer data to FBI investigators under a secretive government authority. The annual report lists a variety of requests the site has received for information on users and for removal of content. On Thursday, Reddit deleted a paragraph known as a “warrant canary.” The paragraph had said that Reddit had not been subject to national security letters, which are used by the FBI to conduct electronic surveillance without the need for court approval, or “any other classified request for user information.” Privacy advocates have long contested the letters, saying they are not subject to sufficient judicial oversight or transparency safeguards. Brett Max Kaufman, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said on Friday that authorities were possibly seeking the IP address, or an identifying number that corresponds to a specific computer, of an anonymous user on Reddit. Private messages between users could also be subject to search.
(Reuters) – Digital privacy advocates and users of Reddit expressed their alarm on Friday over a change in the forum’s transparency report that suggested it may have been asked to give customer data to FBI investigators under a secretive government authority.
The annual report lists a variety of requests the site has received for information on users and for removal of content. On Thursday, Reddit deleted a paragraph known as a “warrant canary.”
The paragraph had said that Reddit had not been subject to national security letters, which are used by the FBI to conduct electronic surveillance without the need for court approval, or “any other classified request for user information.”
Privacy advocates have long contested the letters, saying they are not subject to sufficient judicial oversight or transparency safeguards.
Brett Max Kaufman, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said on Friday that authorities were possibly seeking the IP address, or an identifying number that corresponds to a specific computer, of an anonymous user on Reddit. Private messages between users could also be subject to search.
Back in 2013, former CIA and former NSA Director Michael Hayden made an ill-advised joke when he alluded to wanting to put Edward Snowden on a kill list. Now, in an interview with Al Jazeera’s Mehdi Hasan, Hayden is finally clarifying hist stance—sort of. In the clip above, Hasan asks the former embodiment of Big Brother directly, “Do you believe [Snowden] should be assassinated and put on a kill list as many say you suggested?” Hayden is... less direct, spending a lot of time demurring and offering half answers to what should be a fairly simple of course not, I’m not a maniac.
Back in 2013, former CIA and former NSA Director Michael Hayden made an ill-advised joke when he alluded to wanting to put Edward Snowden on a kill list. Now, in an interview with Al Jazeera’s Mehdi Hasan, Hayden is finally clarifying hist stance—sort of.
In the clip above, Hasan asks the former embodiment of Big Brother directly, “Do you believe [Snowden] should be assassinated and put on a kill list as many say you suggested?”
Hayden is... less direct, spending a lot of time demurring and offering half answers to what should be a fairly simple of course not, I’m not a maniac.
The spy chief under the George W. Bush administration says that assassinating the whistleblower was something he considered during his ‘darker moments.’ In an interview last Friday with Al Jazeera’s Mehdi Hasan, former CIA and NSA director Michael Hayden admitted that he had daydreamed about having whistleblower and US citizen Edward Snowden assassinated. This isn’t the first time that the former head of America’s top-two surveillance agencies alluded to an extrajudicial killing of Snowden. In 2013, Hayden floated the idea that Snowden should be added to America’s drone war kill list.
In an interview last Friday with Al Jazeera’s Mehdi Hasan, former CIA and NSA director Michael Hayden admitted that he had daydreamed about having whistleblower and US citizen Edward Snowden assassinated.
Simon Fraser University hosts sold-out talk with the NSA whistleblower at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre as leak of Panama papers dominate global headlines. As the world reels from the release of the Panama Papers, Vancouverites are set to get a timely and unique perspective from the most famous leaker of all: Edward Snowden. The National Security Agency whistleblower will speak, via web link, to a sold-out audience at Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Tuesday evening as part of a Simon Fraser University Public Square forum. The forum, announced in February and sold out in six hours, was already going to delve deep into issues of big data, security and human rights during the panel discussion, but feels even more relevant in light of reportedly the biggest data leak in history. The Panama Papers, leaked to more than 100 news organizations including the Toronto Star, contains the private database of law firm Mossack Fonseca and reveals how offshore tax havens are used by companies and individuals, including some world leaders, to avoid billions of dollars in taxes. Simon Fraser University communications professor Catherine Murray, one of the expert panelists speaking at the event, could hardly believe her luck. “There was no set up for this, no way we could have contemplated the Panama Papers [coinciding with Snowden’s talk],” she said. “We’ll have to wait and see what he has to say about it, but he’s going to be no doubt deeply engaged.”
As the world reels from the release of the Panama Papers, Vancouverites are set to get a timely and unique perspective from the most famous leaker of all: Edward Snowden.
The National Security Agency whistleblower will speak, via web link, to a sold-out audience at Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Tuesday evening as part of a Simon Fraser University Public Square forum.
The forum, announced in February and sold out in six hours, was already going to delve deep into issues of big data, security and human rights during the panel discussion, but feels even more relevant in light of reportedly the biggest data leak in history.
The Panama Papers, leaked to more than 100 news organizations including the Toronto Star, contains the private database of law firm Mossack Fonseca and reveals how offshore tax havens are used by companies and individuals, including some world leaders, to avoid billions of dollars in taxes.
Simon Fraser University communications professor Catherine Murray, one of the expert panelists speaking at the event, could hardly believe her luck.
“There was no set up for this, no way we could have contemplated the Panama Papers [coinciding with Snowden’s talk],” she said. “We’ll have to wait and see what he has to say about it, but he’s going to be no doubt deeply engaged.”
Speaking at a conference Snowden refused to be seen as a warning sign to future leakers, saying of his time in Russia: ‘I am actually more effective now’ It’s not hard to argue that Edward Snowden is a warning to future leakers of government secrets. He’s stuck in Russia. Can only show up at parties as a video screen. And many of the western surveillance programs he outed continue three years later. But in a video interview on Friday at RightsCon, a technology conference in San Francisco focused on free speech, Snowden said that’s not how he sees it. That, he said, hopefully encourages more Snowden’s to come forward in the future. “I don’t think I’m an unhappy ending. I don’t think this is this great deterrent,” he told the audience. “I’m actually more fulfilled now, more connected now and more effective now in my work.” Whether or not Snowden, the former US spy agency contractor, is seen as having suffered for leaking troves of documents on classified programs to the Guardian, Washington Post and other outlets, is key for western authorities in deterring future cases. Former Obama administration officials, including Eric Holder, have suggested a plea deal could be possible with Snowden. Even Barack Obama has said Snowden prompted a needed debate, though he disagreed with his tactics. But the administration has held firm with Snowden because to do otherwise could open the floodgates for future leakers. Snowden has said he’d return to the US if he could be guaranteed a fair trial.
Speaking at a conference Snowden refused to be seen as a warning sign to future leakers, saying of his time in Russia: ‘I am actually more effective now’
It’s not hard to argue that Edward Snowden is a warning to future leakers of government secrets. He’s stuck in Russia. Can only show up at parties as a video screen. And many of the western surveillance programs he outed continue three years later.
But in a video interview on Friday at RightsCon, a technology conference in San Francisco focused on free speech, Snowden said that’s not how he sees it. That, he said, hopefully encourages more Snowden’s to come forward in the future.
“I don’t think I’m an unhappy ending. I don’t think this is this great deterrent,” he told the audience. “I’m actually more fulfilled now, more connected now and more effective now in my work.”
Whether or not Snowden, the former US spy agency contractor, is seen as having suffered for leaking troves of documents on classified programs to the Guardian, Washington Post and other outlets, is key for western authorities in deterring future cases.
Former Obama administration officials, including Eric Holder, have suggested a plea deal could be possible with Snowden. Even Barack Obama has said Snowden prompted a needed debate, though he disagreed with his tactics.
But the administration has held firm with Snowden because to do otherwise could open the floodgates for future leakers. Snowden has said he’d return to the US if he could be guaranteed a fair trial.
Panama has long been a haven for money launderers—including the CIA. It should come as no surprise that the CIA’s finances are a secret. One of the rare glimpses into the agency’s funding came when Edward Snowden leaked a copy of the intelligence “black budget” to The Washington Post in 2013. But if history is any indication, the CIA may well have resources that don’t appear on any congressional document, highly classified or otherwise. Covert operations, by their very nature, often require access to off-the-books funding. The CIA’s first operation was paid for with funds seized from the Nazis, and in the years since, the agency has been notoriously creative about how it obtains its money. Adnan Khashoggi would know. A “principal foreign agent” of the United States, as one Senate report referred to him, the billionaire playboy made a fortune (more than $100 million between 1970 and 1975 alone) from commissions negotiating arms deals with his native Saudi Arabia. He used these windfalls, in turn, to cultivate political clout—including, allegedly, with President Richard Nixon. In the aftermath of Watergate, when Congress began reining in the CIA, Khashoggi helped establish the supranational intelligence partnership known as the Safari Club. Soon after, he aided the CIA in circumventing another congressional impediment. With money borrowed from the Saudi and U.S. intelligence-linked Bank of Credit and Commerce International, he financed the illegal arms sales that set off the Iran-Contra scandal. One way Khashoggi structured his shadowy holdings during his heyday was through the specialized services of Mossack Fonseca, the law firm that is in the news for having helped global luminaries like Vladimir Putin hide their money. Thanks to a recent report from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, we now know Khashoggi to be among a number of former spies and CIA associates implicated by the 2.6 terabytes of offshore financial documents provided to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung last summer. That his name should appear in an international dark money scandal suggests something about the nature of tax havens that much of the media’s coverage has thus far avoided grappling with. The Panama Papers have largely been presented as an unprecedented insight into how global elites hide their fortunes from tax collectors and other regulators. But they also underscore how tax havens are used by covert agencies and other shadowy players to launder dirty money, a practice that has a long history in which Panama, in particular, has played a notable part.
Adnan Khashoggi would know. A “principal foreign agent” of the United States, as one Senate report referred to him, the billionaire playboy made a fortune (more than $100 million between 1970 and 1975 alone) from commissions negotiating arms deals with his native Saudi Arabia. He used these windfalls, in turn, to cultivate political clout—including, allegedly, with President Richard Nixon. In the aftermath of Watergate, when Congress began reining in the CIA, Khashoggi helped establish the supranational intelligence partnership known as the Safari Club. Soon after, he aided the CIA in circumventing another congressional impediment. With money borrowed from the Saudi and U.S. intelligence-linked Bank of Credit and Commerce International, he financed the illegal arms sales that set off the Iran-Contra scandal.
One way Khashoggi structured his shadowy holdings during his heyday was through the specialized services of Mossack Fonseca, the law firm that is in the news for having helped global luminaries like Vladimir Putin hide their money. Thanks to a recent report from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, we now know Khashoggi to be among a number of former spies and CIA associates implicated by the 2.6 terabytes of offshore financial documents provided to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung last summer.
That his name should appear in an international dark money scandal suggests something about the nature of tax havens that much of the media’s coverage has thus far avoided grappling with. The Panama Papers have largely been presented as an unprecedented insight into how global elites hide their fortunes from tax collectors and other regulators. But they also underscore how tax havens are used by covert agencies and other shadowy players to launder dirty money, a practice that has a long history in which Panama, in particular, has played a notable part.
The surprise resignation of the nation’s top federal privacy watchdog threatens to handicap a key government body that has only recently escaped irrelevance. The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) sat ineffective for years, until David Medine was confirmed by the Senate to be its chairman — and only full-time member — in 2013. The board then hit the ground running, with stinging criticism of federal spying powers and new details about U.S. surveillance. But Medine's unexpected announcement last week that he would resign his post this summer — a year and a half before the end of his term — could plunge the board back into obscurity. In the short-term, the PCLOB will be able to continue on without Medine, even though the four other members only work part-time. By law, they could increase the amount of time spent with the board, if they so chose. But without a chairman, the board will be unable to directly hire new staffers from outside the government, which could become a problem if the vacancy lingers. “With all due respect to all of the other board members … they’re part-time,” said Faiza Patel, co-director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s liberty and national security program. “Having somebody full-time, driving the work for the board like this, is really important to get things done.” And there could be more problems if it takes until 2017 for the Senate to confirm a new chairman.
The surprise resignation of the nation’s top federal privacy watchdog threatens to handicap a key government body that has only recently escaped irrelevance.
The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) sat ineffective for years, until David Medine was confirmed by the Senate to be its chairman — and only full-time member — in 2013.
The board then hit the ground running, with stinging criticism of federal spying powers and new details about U.S. surveillance.
But Medine's unexpected announcement last week that he would resign his post this summer — a year and a half before the end of his term — could plunge the board back into obscurity.
In the short-term, the PCLOB will be able to continue on without Medine, even though the four other members only work part-time. By law, they could increase the amount of time spent with the board, if they so chose.
But without a chairman, the board will be unable to directly hire new staffers from outside the government, which could become a problem if the vacancy lingers.
“With all due respect to all of the other board members … they’re part-time,” said Faiza Patel, co-director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s liberty and national security program. “Having somebody full-time, driving the work for the board like this, is really important to get things done.”
And there could be more problems if it takes until 2017 for the Senate to confirm a new chairman.
ALVARO BEDOYA HAS been working on surveillance, privacy, and technology in Washington for years now. Before founding Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy & Technology, he served as chief counsel to Senator Al Franken, D-Minn., and the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law. But as surveillance became a major national issue thanks to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, Bedoya saw something disturbing amid the Washington wonkery: A huge gulf between the discussions of government spying, on the one hand, and aggressive policing tactics in minority communities on the other. “We’re having these two separate debates that are running in parallel and never intersecting,” Bedoya explains. “There’s no recognition that those issues constantly overlap. The level of policing of the black community is facilitated by the surveillance laws and surveillance technology developed for the war on terror.” Today’s much-anticipated all-day conference, “The Color of Surveillance: Government Monitoring of the African American Community,” is an attempt to bridge the gulf. The conference, organized by Bedoya and Georgetown Law professor Paul Butler, runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, and is being live streamed here, hashtag #ColorofSurveillance.
ALVARO BEDOYA HAS been working on surveillance, privacy, and technology in Washington for years now. Before founding Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy & Technology, he served as chief counsel to Senator Al Franken, D-Minn., and the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law.
But as surveillance became a major national issue thanks to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, Bedoya saw something disturbing amid the Washington wonkery: A huge gulf between the discussions of government spying, on the one hand, and aggressive policing tactics in minority communities on the other.
“We’re having these two separate debates that are running in parallel and never intersecting,” Bedoya explains. “There’s no recognition that those issues constantly overlap. The level of policing of the black community is facilitated by the surveillance laws and surveillance technology developed for the war on terror.”
Today’s much-anticipated all-day conference, “The Color of Surveillance: Government Monitoring of the African American Community,” is an attempt to bridge the gulf. The conference, organized by Bedoya and Georgetown Law professor Paul Butler, runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, and is being live streamed here, hashtag #ColorofSurveillance.
VANCOUVER — Former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden says a trove of leaked data on offshore tax havens in Panama highlights more than ever the vital role of the whistleblower in a free society. The ex-National Security Agency analyst told a Vancouver audience the so-called Panama papers demonstrate that the most privileged and powerful are operating by a different set of rules. Over video conference from Moscow, Snowden says it's happening without citizens' knowledge, awareness or consent, adding they don't even pay the same taxes as everyone else.
VANCOUVER — Former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden says a trove of leaked data on offshore tax havens in Panama highlights more than ever the vital role of the whistleblower in a free society.
The ex-National Security Agency analyst told a Vancouver audience the so-called Panama papers demonstrate that the most privileged and powerful are operating by a different set of rules.
Over video conference from Moscow, Snowden says it's happening without citizens' knowledge, awareness or consent, adding they don't even pay the same taxes as everyone else.
The National Security Agency has never been particularly forthcoming. But its latest tight-lipped refusal to share information with the public is egregious, even for the NSA. Now, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the National Security Agency is withholding its own ethical and legal guidelines, calling them "top secret." This is ridiculous. This all began with a 2013 press release issued by the agency, in which it sought to "clarify" troubling issues swirling around XKEYSCORE, a secret spy tool first revealed by Marc Ambinder and me, and later confirmed by the Edward Snowden documents. XKEYSCORE is basically the NSA's Google, used for searching through the agency's myriad databases and servers. Because of the sheer volume of data collected by the agency, the program is enormously flexible and allows data to be sliced and cross referenced with other agency tools. The potential for abuse of such a system is obvious, and amid such Snowden revelations in 2013 as LOVEINT, a practice by some NSA employees in which the awesome power of the "panopticon" is used to spy on ex-lovers, the agency sought to set the record straight.
The National Security Agency has never been particularly forthcoming. But its latest tight-lipped refusal to share information with the public is egregious, even for the NSA.
Now, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the National Security Agency is withholding its own ethical and legal guidelines, calling them "top secret." This is ridiculous.
This all began with a 2013 press release issued by the agency, in which it sought to "clarify" troubling issues swirling around XKEYSCORE, a secret spy tool first revealed by Marc Ambinder and me, and later confirmed by the Edward Snowden documents. XKEYSCORE is basically the NSA's Google, used for searching through the agency's myriad databases and servers. Because of the sheer volume of data collected by the agency, the program is enormously flexible and allows data to be sliced and cross referenced with other agency tools.
The potential for abuse of such a system is obvious, and amid such Snowden revelations in 2013 as LOVEINT, a practice by some NSA employees in which the awesome power of the "panopticon" is used to spy on ex-lovers, the agency sought to set the record straight.
CBC senior correspondent Laura Lynch will speak with Edward Snowden at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre via web-link on Tuesday, April 5. Before you go—or tune in on SFU Public Square’s Youtube Channel—here is a quick background of what you should know: Who is Edward Snowden and what did he do? Edward Snowden is a former contract computer administrator with theUnited States National Security Agency (NSA). In 2013, he copied and supplied thousands of classified documents detailing U.S. government mass surveillance techniques to journalist Glenn Greenwald and the Guardian newspaper. Where is Snowden now? Snowden is wanted by the United States government for espionage. He has been granted temporary political asylum for three years in Moscow. The European Union voted to protect him from extradition within their borders if he leaves Russia. Why does Snowden matter? The documents Snowden leaked revealed that NSA had been spying, domestically and abroad, on citizens’ phone and web records. The leaks also showed cooperation from a number of intelligence agencies, including those in Canada and cooperation from some European governments and major global telecommunication companies.
CBC senior correspondent Laura Lynch will speak with Edward Snowden at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre via web-link on Tuesday, April 5.
Before you go—or tune in on SFU Public Square’s Youtube Channel—here is a quick background of what you should know:
Edward Snowden is a former contract computer administrator with theUnited States National Security Agency (NSA). In 2013, he copied and supplied thousands of classified documents detailing U.S. government mass surveillance techniques to journalist Glenn Greenwald and the Guardian newspaper.
Snowden is wanted by the United States government for espionage. He has been granted temporary political asylum for three years in Moscow. The European Union voted to protect him from extradition within their borders if he leaves Russia.
The documents Snowden leaked revealed that NSA had been spying, domestically and abroad, on citizens’ phone and web records. The leaks also showed cooperation from a number of intelligence agencies, including those in Canada and cooperation from some European governments and major global telecommunication companies.
GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE IS not an abstract thing, says Hamid Khan, coordinator for the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition. For the communities Khan works with in Los Angeles — from transgender people to recipients of government benefits to the homeless on Skid Row — surveillance is a daily reality that impacts their lives and exacerbates other societal ills, like mass incarceration and police violence. Khan’s coalition works to track, publicize, and ultimately dismantle the highly intrusive ways the Los Angeles Police Department surveils the area’s citizens, using an infrastructure of advanced intelligence gathering linked to federal government counterterrorism initiatives. The LAPD uses big data for “predictive policing,” street cameras with highly accurate facial recognition capabilities, Stingrays, and DRT boxes — which imitate cellphone towers to track nearby phones or jam signals — automatic license plate readers, body cameras, and drones. “How many different ways are our bodies being constantly tracked, traced, and monitored, not just online?” Khan asked in a phone interview.
GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE IS not an abstract thing, says Hamid Khan, coordinator for the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition. For the communities Khan works with in Los Angeles — from transgender people to recipients of government benefits to the homeless on Skid Row — surveillance is a daily reality that impacts their lives and exacerbates other societal ills, like mass incarceration and police violence.
Khan’s coalition works to track, publicize, and ultimately dismantle the highly intrusive ways the Los Angeles Police Department surveils the area’s citizens, using an infrastructure of advanced intelligence gathering linked to federal government counterterrorism initiatives.
The LAPD uses big data for “predictive policing,” street cameras with highly accurate facial recognition capabilities, Stingrays, and DRT boxes — which imitate cellphone towers to track nearby phones or jam signals — automatic license plate readers, body cameras, and drones.
“How many different ways are our bodies being constantly tracked, traced, and monitored, not just online?” Khan asked in a phone interview.
The US Congress must take measures to end domestic surveillance by the US National Security Agency (NSA) because it is against the Constitution, a journalist and political analyst says. “It’s high time that someone in the US Congress took some direct action against the NSA for their intrusion into Americans’ privacy and violation of their Second Amendment rights,” said Mike Harris, the financial editor at Veterans Today. “The NSA was never meant to be a domestic spy organization; the NSA was meant to gather foreign intelligence, not to spy on the American citizenry,” Harris told Press TV on Saturday. “This is in direct violation against the Second Amendment of free speech and the Fourth Amendment to be safe and secure in one’s housing,” he added. A couple of US lawmakers have called on the NSA to abandon its planned expansion of domestic spying.
The US Congress must take measures to end domestic surveillance by the US National Security Agency (NSA) because it is against the Constitution, a journalist and political analyst says.
“It’s high time that someone in the US Congress took some direct action against the NSA for their intrusion into Americans’ privacy and violation of their Second Amendment rights,” said Mike Harris, the financial editor at Veterans Today.
“The NSA was never meant to be a domestic spy organization; the NSA was meant to gather foreign intelligence, not to spy on the American citizenry,” Harris told Press TV on Saturday.
“This is in direct violation against the Second Amendment of free speech and the Fourth Amendment to be safe and secure in one’s housing,” he added.
A couple of US lawmakers have called on the NSA to abandon its planned expansion of domestic spying.
The federal intelligence community — a group of 16 agencies with overlapping missions — has been scrambling to build trust with the American populace since one of the IC's former contractors, Edward Snowden, outed a number of sensitive and controversial spy programs. A major part of this effort is the newly established IC Transparency Council, which had its official charter signing on April 5. Download: Intelligence Community Transparency Council Charter The council was born out of a working group created two years ago that established the four Principles of Intelligence Transparency [see below], which “provide guidance to the intelligence community on being more transparent with the public while protecting the sources and methods necessary for performing its national security mission,” according to a post on the IC blog announcing the charter signing.
The federal intelligence community — a group of 16 agencies with overlapping missions — has been scrambling to build trust with the American populace since one of the IC's former contractors, Edward Snowden, outed a number of sensitive and controversial spy programs.
A major part of this effort is the newly established IC Transparency Council, which had its official charter signing on April 5.
Download: Intelligence Community Transparency Council Charter
The council was born out of a working group created two years ago that established the four Principles of Intelligence Transparency [see below], which “provide guidance to the intelligence community on being more transparent with the public while protecting the sources and methods necessary for performing its national security mission,” according to a post on the IC blog announcing the charter signing.
The British Prime Minister has admitted benefitting from an offshore trust Fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden has put further pressure on David Cameron following the release of the Panama Papers by urging the British public to force his resignation. Mr Cameron faced a difficult week of questions before he admitted on Thursday to profiting from the sale of shares in an offshore fund. Mr Snowden, who resides in Russia – whose leadership has been linked with the Panama Papers revelations – sought to ratchet up the pressure on the PM on social media.
The British Prime Minister has admitted benefitting from an offshore trust
Fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden has put further pressure on David Cameron following the release of the Panama Papers by urging the British public to force his resignation.
Mr Cameron faced a difficult week of questions before he admitted on Thursday to profiting from the sale of shares in an offshore fund.
Mr Snowden, who resides in Russia – whose leadership has been linked with the Panama Papers revelations – sought to ratchet up the pressure on the PM on social media.
Read more @ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/david-cameron-panama-papers-offshore-fund-edward-snowden-british-public-should-rise-up-and-force-pm-a6974231.html
The fugitive whistleblower urged voters to attend a protest outside Downing Street to force the Prime Minister from office Edward Snowden has called on the British people to rise up and demand that David Cameron resign. The fugitive whistleblower urged voters to attend a protest outside Downing Street to force the Prime Minister from office. In a series of tweets, Mr Snowden , said the next 24 hours "could change Britain." He suggested the outrage at Mr Cameron's admission that he trousered thousands in profits from his father's offshore fund could spark the same kind of protests that yesterday forced Icelandic PM Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson to quit. An estimated 10% of Icelandic voters took to the streets on Tuesday night, furious at the revelation that Mr Gunnlaugsson had hidden millions in an offshore fund. Up to the British public, not us. In #Iceland, 10% of all voters were in the streets within 24 hours, and for less. https://t.co/IkUZztX8WG — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) April 7, 2016 Mr Snowden tweeted: "It's up to the British people, not us. In Iceland, 10% of all voters were in the streets within 24 hours, and for less." Responding to people on Twitter saying they "hope Cameron resigns," he said: "With respect, hope is not a strategy."
Edward Snowden has called on the British people to rise up and demand that David Cameron resign.
The fugitive whistleblower urged voters to attend a protest outside Downing Street to force the Prime Minister from office.
In a series of tweets, Mr Snowden , said the next 24 hours "could change Britain."
He suggested the outrage at Mr Cameron's admission that he trousered thousands in profits from his father's offshore fund could spark the same kind of protests that yesterday forced Icelandic PM Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson to quit.
An estimated 10% of Icelandic voters took to the streets on Tuesday night, furious at the revelation that Mr Gunnlaugsson had hidden millions in an offshore fund.
Up to the British public, not us. In #Iceland, 10% of all voters were in the streets within 24 hours, and for less. https://t.co/IkUZztX8WG
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) April 7, 2016
Mr Snowden tweeted: "It's up to the British people, not us. In Iceland, 10% of all voters were in the streets within 24 hours, and for less."
Responding to people on Twitter saying they "hope Cameron resigns," he said: "With respect, hope is not a strategy."
Read more @ http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/edward-snowden-calls-british-people-7712007
Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency whistle-blower, has been quite vocal on social media about the Panama Papers leak and the international fallout from the millions of documents released. He's commented on global leaders involved with the documents, mocking British Prime Minister David Cameron and Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, who stepped aside amid the fallout. With scandals in Russia, China, UK, Iceland, Ukraine, and more, perhaps a new rule: if you're in charge of a country, keep your money in it. — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) April 5, 2016 "If you're in charge of a country, keep your money in it," Snowden tweeted Tuesday, Cameron was dragged into the scandal about offshore tax havens this week over his late father's connections to an investment fund that avoided paying tax in the United Kingdom by having its directors hold board meetings in Switzerland and the Bahamas rather than in London. Ian Cameron, a stock broker who died in 2010, was named in the documents stolen from the Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca. The company set up for Ian Cameron was called Blairmore.
Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency whistle-blower, has been quite vocal on social media about the Panama Papers leak and the international fallout from the millions of documents released.
He's commented on global leaders involved with the documents, mocking British Prime Minister David Cameron and Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, who stepped aside amid the fallout.
With scandals in Russia, China, UK, Iceland, Ukraine, and more, perhaps a new rule: if you're in charge of a country, keep your money in it.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) April 5, 2016
"If you're in charge of a country, keep your money in it," Snowden tweeted Tuesday,
Cameron was dragged into the scandal about offshore tax havens this week over his late father's connections to an investment fund that avoided paying tax in the United Kingdom by having its directors hold board meetings in Switzerland and the Bahamas rather than in London.
Ian Cameron, a stock broker who died in 2010, was named in the documents stolen from the Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca. The company set up for Ian Cameron was called Blairmore.
Read more @ http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/04/06/david-cameron-edward-snowden-panama-papers/82705208/
Snowden told more than 2,700 people at the Vancouver event that the 2.6 terabytes of data contained in the Panama Papers show how the most privileged and powerful people in the world are operating by a different set of rules. VANCOUVER—A trove of leaked data about offshore tax havens in Panama highlights more than ever the vital role of the whistleblower in a free society, says one of the tech era’s most prominent figures to expose state secrets. Edward Snowden, the former U.S. intelligence contractor said Tuesday that the Panama Papers, which were given to journalists by an anonymous source, demonstrate that “change doesn’t happen by itself.” “The media cannot operate in a vacuum and ... the participation of the public is absolutely necessary to achieving change,” the ex-National Security Agency analyst said during a video conference from Moscow. Snowden was speaking from exile on a panel organized by Simon Fraser University examining the opportunities and dangers of online data gathering. The 32-year-old remains wanted by the U.S. government on charges of espionage after leaking classified documents in 2013 as evidence that government spy agencies were monitoring citizens’ telecommunication. The 11.5 million documents taken from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca reportedly reveal the offshore dealings of more than 100 politicians and public figures from multiple countries.
VANCOUVER—A trove of leaked data about offshore tax havens in Panama highlights more than ever the vital role of the whistleblower in a free society, says one of the tech era’s most prominent figures to expose state secrets.
Edward Snowden, the former U.S. intelligence contractor said Tuesday that the Panama Papers, which were given to journalists by an anonymous source, demonstrate that “change doesn’t happen by itself.”
“The media cannot operate in a vacuum and ... the participation of the public is absolutely necessary to achieving change,” the ex-National Security Agency analyst said during a video conference from Moscow.
Snowden was speaking from exile on a panel organized by Simon Fraser University examining the opportunities and dangers of online data gathering.
The 32-year-old remains wanted by the U.S. government on charges of espionage after leaking classified documents in 2013 as evidence that government spy agencies were monitoring citizens’ telecommunication.
The 11.5 million documents taken from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca reportedly reveal the offshore dealings of more than 100 politicians and public figures from multiple countries.
Read more @ http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/04/06/panama-papers-show-world-needs-whistleblowers-edward-snowden-tells-vancouver-audience.html
Just shows that politicians want us all spied on and to know everything about us while they operate in complete secrecy……
Whistleblower points out David Cameron had little interest in privacy before tax leak Edward Snowden has drawn attention to David Cameron’s apparently new interest in privacy, in the wake of questions about his family’s tax affairs. The Prime Minister avoided questions about his tax situation, following mentions of his father Ian Cameron in the “Panama papers”. Mr Cameron has looked to argue that his tax affairs are not public and so shouldn’t be discussed. Oh, now he's interested in privacy. https://t.co/jfCSYgensb — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) April 4, 2016 Sharing a tweet about Mr Cameron’s spokesperson’s comment that his tax affairs are a “private matter”, Mr Snowden suggested that the focus on privacy was a new interest. “Oh, now he’s interested in privacy,” the whistleblower wrote in a tweet that was shared over 18,000 times.
Edward Snowden has drawn attention to David Cameron’s apparently new interest in privacy, in the wake of questions about his family’s tax affairs.
The Prime Minister avoided questions about his tax situation, following mentions of his father Ian Cameron in the “Panama papers”. Mr Cameron has looked to argue that his tax affairs are not public and so shouldn’t be discussed.
Oh, now he's interested in privacy. https://t.co/jfCSYgensb
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) April 4, 2016
Sharing a tweet about Mr Cameron’s spokesperson’s comment that his tax affairs are a “private matter”, Mr Snowden suggested that the focus on privacy was a new interest. “Oh, now he’s interested in privacy,” the whistleblower wrote in a tweet that was shared over 18,000 times.
Read more @ http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/panama-papers/panama-papers-edward-snowden-ridicules-david-cameron-over-privacy-34604856.html
Read more @ http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/edward-snowden-ridicules-david-cameron-for-defending-private-matter-of-panama-papers-leak_uk_57039d27e4b069ef5c00cdb2
Read more @ http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/panama-papers-david-cameron-had-little-interest-in-privacy-before-tax-leaks-edward-snowden-points-a6969706.html
The rich play by their own rules is something I have been saying all along…. Having rubbed shoulders with some in my lifetime and seen it for myself.
'They don't even pay the same taxes as we do' VANCOUVER -- A trove of leaked data about offshore tax havens in Panama highlights more than ever the vital role of the whistleblower in a free society, says one of the tech era's most prominent figures to expose state secrets, Edward Snowden. The former U.S. intelligence contractor said Tuesday that the so-called Panama Papers, which were given to journalists by an anonymous source, demonstrate that "change doesn't happen by itself." "The media cannot operate in a vacuum and ... the participation of the public is absolutely necessary to achieving change," the ex-National Security Agency analyst said during a video conference from Moscow. Snowden was speaking from exile on a panel organized by Simon Fraser University examining the opportunities and dangers of online data gathering. The 32-year-old remains wanted by the U.S. government on charges of espionage after leaking classified documents in 2013 as evidence that government spy agencies were monitoring citizens' telecommunication. The 11.5 million documents taken from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca reportedly reveal the offshore dealings of more than 100 politicians and public figures from multiple countries. Snowden told more than 2,700 people at the Vancouver event that the 2.6 terabytes of data contained in the papers demonstrate the most privileged and powerful people in the world are operating by a different set of rules.
VANCOUVER -- A trove of leaked data about offshore tax havens in Panama highlights more than ever the vital role of the whistleblower in a free society, says one of the tech era's most prominent figures to expose state secrets, Edward Snowden.
The former U.S. intelligence contractor said Tuesday that the so-called Panama Papers, which were given to journalists by an anonymous source, demonstrate that "change doesn't happen by itself."
"The media cannot operate in a vacuum and ... the participation of the public is absolutely necessary to achieving change," the ex-National Security Agency analyst said during a video conference from Moscow.
The 32-year-old remains wanted by the U.S. government on charges of espionage after leaking classified documents in 2013 as evidence that government spy agencies were monitoring citizens' telecommunication.
Snowden told more than 2,700 people at the Vancouver event that the 2.6 terabytes of data contained in the papers demonstrate the most privileged and powerful people in the world are operating by a different set of rules.
Read more @ http://www.torontosun.com/2016/04/06/edward-snowden-panama-papers-leak-proves-the-rich-play-by-their-own-rules
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~
Interact
04/14/16 10:09:06
A new draft bill in Congress will force tech companies to undermine or break their own security features and encryption anytime law enforcement asks them to. Sound terrible? It is. Here’s what the bill says, and what you can do about it. For those just catching up, Apple and the FBI had a big legal throwdown recently over an iPhone owned by Syed Rizwan Farook, the gunman in the San Bernandino mass shooting. The FBI demanded that Apple create a tool to get around the phone’s PIN lock. Apple argued this was an undue burden and would weaken the security of all iPhones. Eventually, the FBI backed down and found a third-party firm to unlock the iPhone, although there’s another phone in play right now, just across the country.
A new draft bill in Congress will force tech companies to undermine or break their own security features and encryption anytime law enforcement asks them to. Sound terrible? It is. Here’s what the bill says, and what you can do about it.
For those just catching up, Apple and the FBI had a big legal throwdown recently over an iPhone owned by Syed Rizwan Farook, the gunman in the San Bernandino mass shooting. The FBI demanded that Apple create a tool to get around the phone’s PIN lock. Apple argued this was an undue burden and would weaken the security of all iPhones. Eventually, the FBI backed down and found a third-party firm to unlock the iPhone, although there’s another phone in play right now, just across the country.
Read more @ http://lifehacker.com/what-you-should-know-about-congresss-latest-attempt-to-1770468594
04/14/16 12:38:31
Fugitive U.S. whistleblower warns Vancouver audience corporate data laws ‘not stringent enough’ Edward Snowden didn’t hesitate to paint an Orwellian portrait of the future for Vancouverites inclined to be passive observers of creeping government surveillance. It might be fitting, as he spoke for more than an hour April 5 via live stream from Russia, his head blanketing a giant screen before a sold-out crowd at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. “Rather than being partner to government, we have become subject to it,” he said as his imposing image dominated the stage, eliciting images of George Orwell’s 1984. But the American whistleblower, who in 2013 leaked thousands of National Security Agency documents that revealed widespread government surveillance, also took aim at the private sector during a big-data webcast hosted by Simon Fraser University (SFU). Between sharing his insights on the Panama Papers and Bill C-51 (now the Anti-terrorism Act, 2015), Snowden criticized corporate efforts to collect consumer data for targeted online advertisements. Targeted ads rely on metadata – or, as Snowden calls it, “a perfect record of a private life” – to learn about users’ personal information, such as age, sex and buying habits, which is collected through online activity and other means. He compared this kind of data collection to that of a private investigator who follows people around, observes their movements and reports on interactions with other people. “These are all things that increasingly we have access to in the corporate context because there are not stringent enough regulations about how metadata should be handled,” he said.
Edward Snowden didn’t hesitate to paint an Orwellian portrait of the future for Vancouverites inclined to be passive observers of creeping government surveillance.
It might be fitting, as he spoke for more than an hour April 5 via live stream from Russia, his head blanketing a giant screen before a sold-out crowd at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
“Rather than being partner to government, we have become subject to it,” he said as his imposing image dominated the stage, eliciting images of George Orwell’s 1984.
But the American whistleblower, who in 2013 leaked thousands of National Security Agency documents that revealed widespread government surveillance, also took aim at the private sector during a big-data webcast hosted by Simon Fraser University (SFU).
Between sharing his insights on the Panama Papers and Bill C-51 (now the Anti-terrorism Act, 2015), Snowden criticized corporate efforts to collect consumer data for targeted online advertisements.
Targeted ads rely on metadata – or, as Snowden calls it, “a perfect record of a private life” – to learn about users’ personal information, such as age, sex and buying habits, which is collected through online activity and other means.
He compared this kind of data collection to that of a private investigator who follows people around, observes their movements and reports on interactions with other people.
“These are all things that increasingly we have access to in the corporate context because there are not stringent enough regulations about how metadata should be handled,” he said.
European privacy watchdogs say they have a number of significant “concerns” with new international data transfer scheme Privacy Shield, promising further legal uncertainty for the thousands of companies reliant on transatlantic data flows. The Article 29 Working Party praised improvements of Privacy Shield compared to its predecessor on Wednesday, but still raised concerns, including on bulk surveillance and the lack of powers of the proposed ombudsman. The Working Party’s decisions are not legally binding, but carry significant weight — particularly ahead of likely legal challenges to the agreement. Privacy Shield is designed as a replacement to Safe Harbour — a transatlantic legal mechanism that legitimised the transfer of personal data from Europe to the US, despite America’s lesser privacy protections.
European privacy watchdogs say they have a number of significant “concerns” with new international data transfer scheme Privacy Shield, promising further legal uncertainty for the thousands of companies reliant on transatlantic data flows.
The Article 29 Working Party praised improvements of Privacy Shield compared to its predecessor on Wednesday, but still raised concerns, including on bulk surveillance and the lack of powers of the proposed ombudsman.
The Working Party’s decisions are not legally binding, but carry significant weight — particularly ahead of likely legal challenges to the agreement.
Privacy Shield is designed as a replacement to Safe Harbour — a transatlantic legal mechanism that legitimised the transfer of personal data from Europe to the US, despite America’s lesser privacy protections.
Read more @ http://www.businessinsider.com.au/article-29-working-party-verdict-on-privacy-shield-data-transfer-mechanism-2016-4
Read more @ http://www.computerworld.com/article/3055918/cloud-computing/privacy-regulators-commission-could-do-better-on-privacy-shield.html
Read more @ http://www.wsj.com/articles/eu-regulators-dont-endorse-eu-u-s-data-deal-1460548439
Read more @ http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36036531
* EU, U.S. data transfer pact agreed in February * Previous one struck down on U.S. spying concerns * Microsoft is first major U.S. firm to endorse new framework * EU member states still have to approve new data pact BRUSSELS, April 11 Microsoft became on Monday the first major U.S. tech company to say it would transfer users' information to the United States using a new transatlantic commercial data pact and would resolve any disputes with European privacy watchdogs. Data transfers to the United States have been conducted in a legal limbo since October last year when the European Union's top court struck down the Safe Harbour framework that allowed firms to easily move personal data across the Atlantic in compliance with strict EU data transferral rules. EU data protection law bars companies from transferring personal data to countries deemed to have insufficient privacy safeguards, of which the United States is one, unless they set up complex legal structures or use a framework like Safe Harbour. Microsoft said it would sign up to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, the new framework that was agreed by Brussels and Washington in February to fill the void left by Safe Harbour and ensure the $260 billion in digital services trade across the Atlantic continues smoothly. "I'm pleased to announce today that Microsoft pledges to sign up for the Privacy Shield, and we will put in place new commitments to advance privacy as this instrument is implemented," John Frank, Vice President of EU Government Affairs, wrote in a blog.
* EU, U.S. data transfer pact agreed in February
* Previous one struck down on U.S. spying concerns
* Microsoft is first major U.S. firm to endorse new framework
* EU member states still have to approve new data pact
BRUSSELS, April 11 Microsoft became on Monday the first major U.S. tech company to say it would transfer users' information to the United States using a new transatlantic commercial data pact and would resolve any disputes with European privacy watchdogs.
Data transfers to the United States have been conducted in a legal limbo since October last year when the European Union's top court struck down the Safe Harbour framework that allowed firms to easily move personal data across the Atlantic in compliance with strict EU data transferral rules.
EU data protection law bars companies from transferring personal data to countries deemed to have insufficient privacy safeguards, of which the United States is one, unless they set up complex legal structures or use a framework like Safe Harbour.
Microsoft said it would sign up to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, the new framework that was agreed by Brussels and Washington in February to fill the void left by Safe Harbour and ensure the $260 billion in digital services trade across the Atlantic continues smoothly.
"I'm pleased to announce today that Microsoft pledges to sign up for the Privacy Shield, and we will put in place new commitments to advance privacy as this instrument is implemented," John Frank, Vice President of EU Government Affairs, wrote in a blog.
Read more @ http://www.reuters.com/article/microsoft-dataprotection-eu-idUSL5N17E2RY
And so it should, governments shouldn’t have the right to snoop into everyone’s lives! If Muslims are the center of the problem then countries should stop taking them in.
Deputy secretary says encryption trend growing ANDERSON – Radicalization of domestic terrorists, cybersecurity and encryption, and the potential chilling effect on travel and tourism because of increased vigilance at airports are some of the matters that weigh heavily on officials in the federal Office of Homeland Security, the agency’s second in command said. That’s a change from a year ago when the threat of terrorism from abroad was the agency’s primary focus, Alejandro Mayorkas told about 120 people in a lecture Wednesday at Anderson University. “It’s a very different paradigm,” he said. Invited to speak by AU President John Pistole, Mayorkas is President Barack Obama’s appointee as deputy secretary of the Office of Homeland Security, the U.S. government’s third-largest department with a $60 million budget and workforce of 240,000 worldwide. Mayorkas also opened up the floor to questions from the audience on topics including human trafficking, Homeland Security’s role in tracking money transferred internationally through apps and the naturalization of young undocumented immigrants who have never known any other nation as home.
ANDERSON – Radicalization of domestic terrorists, cybersecurity and encryption, and the potential chilling effect on travel and tourism because of increased vigilance at airports are some of the matters that weigh heavily on officials in the federal Office of Homeland Security, the agency’s second in command said.
That’s a change from a year ago when the threat of terrorism from abroad was the agency’s primary focus, Alejandro Mayorkas told about 120 people in a lecture Wednesday at Anderson University.
“It’s a very different paradigm,” he said.
Invited to speak by AU President John Pistole, Mayorkas is President Barack Obama’s appointee as deputy secretary of the Office of Homeland Security, the U.S. government’s third-largest department with a $60 million budget and workforce of 240,000 worldwide.
Mayorkas also opened up the floor to questions from the audience on topics including human trafficking, Homeland Security’s role in tracking money transferred internationally through apps and the naturalization of young undocumented immigrants who have never known any other nation as home.
Read more @ http://www.heraldbulletin.com/news/local_news/homeland-security-official-shares-agency-s-priorities-in-lecture-at/article_f0287e0a-a14f-5297-8e96-5ae6cd39075a.html
The National Security Agency has appointed its first transparency officer — three years after leaks made by former contractor Edward Snowden exposed the agency’s surveillance programs and led to calls for increased public disclosures. Rebecca Richards, who already serves as director of the NSA’s Civil Liberties and Privacy, will take on the dual role as the agency’s transparency officer. A brief NSA announcement of the appointment states that the dual role “complements ongoing initiatives to ensure that NSA has the best civil liberties and privacy practices.” Officials did not immediately respond to questions regarding why a stand-alone position was not created. As the NSA transparency officer, Ms. Richards will serve on the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s Intelligence Transparency Council, which the NSA describes as a forum meant to develop and coordinate transparency measures.
The National Security Agency has appointed its first transparency officer — three years after leaks made by former contractor Edward Snowden exposed the agency’s surveillance programs and led to calls for increased public disclosures.
Rebecca Richards, who already serves as director of the NSA’s Civil Liberties and Privacy, will take on the dual role as the agency’s transparency officer.
A brief NSA announcement of the appointment states that the dual role “complements ongoing initiatives to ensure that NSA has the best civil liberties and privacy practices.” Officials did not immediately respond to questions regarding why a stand-alone position was not created.
As the NSA transparency officer, Ms. Richards will serve on the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s Intelligence Transparency Council, which the NSA describes as a forum meant to develop and coordinate transparency measures.
Read more @ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/12/nsa-appoints-first-transparency-officer/
A US spy agency’s new $1.7 billion western headquarters will be constructed in St Louis, Missouri, where the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has had its offices for 70 years. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) hopes to build its new western HQ in north St Louis, where it was offered free land on the site of the failed Pruitt-Igoe public housing complex.
A US spy agency’s new $1.7 billion western headquarters will be constructed in St Louis, Missouri, where the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has had its offices for 70 years.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) hopes to build its new western HQ in north St Louis, where it was offered free land on the site of the failed Pruitt-Igoe public housing complex.
Read more @ https://www.rt.com/usa/338099-stlouis-nga-spy-agency-headquarters/
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blowing the Whistle In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg released the Pentagon Papers. His position as a United States military analyst gave him access to information that he felt should not be hidden from the public. The papers he copied and distributed to the New York Times contained evidence showing that what the government was telling the public it was doing in Vietnam was not true. They sent more troops than they said they were sending. They told the public that the war was winding down when in fact they were broadening their reach in Vietnam. The Pentagon Papers had proof that more than one administration during the Vietnam War put their desire for reelection ahead of ending the war. In a hotel room in Hong Kong in 2013, Edward Snowden, a government contractor and former CIA employee, passed on classified information he obtained from the National Security Agency to a couple of trusted journalists. The documents he and the subsequent journalists revealed have given the public an idea of just how far the government can reach into our private lives. Because of Edward Snowden we know that 90% of the people placed on surveillance in the United States are ordinary citizens. On Sunday, April 3, 2016, numerous media organizations, coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) based in Washington DC, began releasing information gleaned from the 11.5 million documents that an anonymous person obtained from the Panamanian law firm Massack Fonseca nearly a year ago. The orchestrated release of the documents, now called the Panama Papers, has given the public insight into how some of the world’s richest and most powerful individuals have used the law firm and its services to hide their wealth in offshore tax havens. In all three of these cases individuals had access to information they felt should not be kept from the public. In all three of these cases the investigative journalists they trusted with the information agreed with them. In all three of these cases, individuals put their lives and their freedom on the line in order to inform the public of the truth they were able to obtain. Money Management vs. Wealth Management Most adults know what it means to manage money. We have to earn money, buy groceries, pay utility bills, and hopefully save for the unexpected events that inevitably arise. We also have to pay our taxes. If we’re lucky we can plan for our immediate future and possibly for our retirement. There is another class of people though, that has wealth to manage. They are working on an entirely different scale than the rest of us. According to an Oct. 26, 2015 article in The Atlantic by Brooke Harrington, a woman who actually trained to become a wealth manager in order to understand more about the profession, the ultra wealthy are able to “pay wealth management professionals hefty fees to help them avoid taxes, debts, legal judgments, and other obligations the rest of the world considers part of everyday life.”
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg released the Pentagon Papers. His position as a United States military analyst gave him access to information that he felt should not be hidden from the public. The papers he copied and distributed to the New York Times contained evidence showing that what the government was telling the public it was doing in Vietnam was not true. They sent more troops than they said they were sending. They told the public that the war was winding down when in fact they were broadening their reach in Vietnam. The Pentagon Papers had proof that more than one administration during the Vietnam War put their desire for reelection ahead of ending the war.
In a hotel room in Hong Kong in 2013, Edward Snowden, a government contractor and former CIA employee, passed on classified information he obtained from the National Security Agency to a couple of trusted journalists. The documents he and the subsequent journalists revealed have given the public an idea of just how far the government can reach into our private lives. Because of Edward Snowden we know that 90% of the people placed on surveillance in the United States are ordinary citizens.
On Sunday, April 3, 2016, numerous media organizations, coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) based in Washington DC, began releasing information gleaned from the 11.5 million documents that an anonymous person obtained from the Panamanian law firm Massack Fonseca nearly a year ago. The orchestrated release of the documents, now called the Panama Papers, has given the public insight into how some of the world’s richest and most powerful individuals have used the law firm and its services to hide their wealth in offshore tax havens.
In all three of these cases individuals had access to information they felt should not be kept from the public. In all three of these cases the investigative journalists they trusted with the information agreed with them. In all three of these cases, individuals put their lives and their freedom on the line in order to inform the public of the truth they were able to obtain.
Most adults know what it means to manage money. We have to earn money, buy groceries, pay utility bills, and hopefully save for the unexpected events that inevitably arise. We also have to pay our taxes. If we’re lucky we can plan for our immediate future and possibly for our retirement.
There is another class of people though, that has wealth to manage. They are working on an entirely different scale than the rest of us. According to an Oct. 26, 2015 article in The Atlantic by Brooke Harrington, a woman who actually trained to become a wealth manager in order to understand more about the profession, the ultra wealthy are able to “pay wealth management professionals hefty fees to help them avoid taxes, debts, legal judgments, and other obligations the rest of the world considers part of everyday life.”
Read more @ http://www.alaskacommons.com/2016/04/05/why-the-panama-papers-matter/
Edward Snowden hasn't let his temporary asylum status stop him from injecting his own analysis of hot-button U.S. issues into national discourse. While the controversial whistleblower may be living somewhere under the radar in Russia, he's still very much clued into what's going on in Washington. Most recently, Snowden got snarky with Obama over Hillary Clinton's emails. Snowden took to Twitter with a short but snarky quip shortly after President Barack Obama said he still did not believe Clinton had jeopardized U.S. national security by using a private email server during her tenure as secretary of State because she wasn't sending highly sensitive information during an appearance on Fox News Sunday. "What I also know, because I handle a lot of classified information, is that there are — there's classified, and then there's classified," Obama said. "If only I had known," the whistleblower wrote in a retweet of CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller's report on Obama's "classified" comments. Clearly, Snowden already knows that sometimes the best digs are the subtlest. "There's stuff that is really top-secret, top-secret," Obama told Fox News. "And there's stuff that is being presented to the president or the secretary of state, that you might not want on the transom, or going out over the wire, but is basically stuff that you could get in open-source." If only I had known. https://t.co/yrPg8uxiQO — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) April 10, 2016 This isn't the first time Snowden has weighed in on the FBI's investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server while serving as secretary of State. Snowden said it was "completely ridiculous" to assume a private server would be more secure than a system operated by the government, in an interview with Al-Jazeera last September.
Edward Snowden hasn't let his temporary asylum status stop him from injecting his own analysis of hot-button U.S. issues into national discourse. While the controversial whistleblower may be living somewhere under the radar in Russia, he's still very much clued into what's going on in Washington. Most recently, Snowden got snarky with Obama over Hillary Clinton's emails.
Snowden took to Twitter with a short but snarky quip shortly after President Barack Obama said he still did not believe Clinton had jeopardized U.S. national security by using a private email server during her tenure as secretary of State because she wasn't sending highly sensitive information during an appearance on Fox News Sunday. "What I also know, because I handle a lot of classified information, is that there are — there's classified, and then there's classified," Obama said.
"If only I had known," the whistleblower wrote in a retweet of CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller's report on Obama's "classified" comments. Clearly, Snowden already knows that sometimes the best digs are the subtlest.
"There's stuff that is really top-secret, top-secret," Obama told Fox News. "And there's stuff that is being presented to the president or the secretary of state, that you might not want on the transom, or going out over the wire, but is basically stuff that you could get in open-source."
If only I had known. https://t.co/yrPg8uxiQO
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) April 10, 2016
This isn't the first time Snowden has weighed in on the FBI's investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server while serving as secretary of State. Snowden said it was "completely ridiculous" to assume a private server would be more secure than a system operated by the government, in an interview with Al-Jazeera last September.
Read more @ http://www.bustle.com/articles/153798-edward-snowdens-tweet-about-obamas-hillary-clinton-email-comments-was-a-deliciously-snarky-dig
If you are like me in love with technology and politics then you want to meet with Edward Snowden – the infamous man who is in virtual war (but real) against the US government. Edward Snowden brings his story to Australia in May 2016. Edward Snowden Is Coming To Australia In May 2016 The public lashing back against a governmental recording of private civilian data in the name of national security will be granting an audience to one of the most revered champions of individual freedom of the 21st century thus far: Edward Snowden. Risking his life and his freedom, Snowden is renowned for fighting back against the injustice of unauthorised government surveillance by exposing the invasive actions of the National Security Agency (NSA) and other intelligence agencies during his time as a high-level technology and cyber security specialist across US government agencies. Snowden revealed in 2013 that the NSA was secretly seizing private records from everyday civilians, which led to a nationwide scandal resulting in the most significant US surveillance policy reform in three decades and, consequently, criminal charges being laid against Snowden, leading him to flee the country. Facing controversial “espionage” charges in the US, he currently has legal residence in Russia, though he maintains that “Truth has its costs, but I would rather be without a State than without a voice.”
If you are like me in love with technology and politics then you want to meet with Edward Snowden – the infamous man who is in virtual war (but real) against the US government.
Edward Snowden brings his story to Australia in May 2016.
The public lashing back against a governmental recording of private civilian data in the name of national security will be granting an audience to one of the most revered champions of individual freedom of the 21st century thus far: Edward Snowden. Risking his life and his freedom, Snowden is renowned for fighting back against the injustice of unauthorised government surveillance by exposing the invasive actions of the National Security Agency (NSA) and other intelligence agencies during his time as a high-level technology and cyber security specialist across US government agencies. Snowden revealed in 2013 that the NSA was secretly seizing private records from everyday civilians, which led to a nationwide scandal resulting in the most significant US surveillance policy reform in three decades and, consequently, criminal charges being laid against Snowden, leading him to flee the country. Facing controversial “espionage” charges in the US, he currently has legal residence in Russia, though he maintains that “Truth has its costs, but I would rather be without a State than without a voice.”
The public lashing back against a governmental recording of private civilian data in the name of national security will be granting an audience to one of the most revered champions of individual freedom of the 21st century thus far: Edward Snowden.
Risking his life and his freedom, Snowden is renowned for fighting back against the injustice of unauthorised government surveillance by exposing the invasive actions of the National Security Agency (NSA) and other intelligence agencies during his time as a high-level technology and cyber security specialist across US government agencies. Snowden revealed in 2013 that the NSA was secretly seizing private records from everyday civilians, which led to a nationwide scandal resulting in the most significant US surveillance policy reform in three decades and, consequently, criminal charges being laid against Snowden, leading him to flee the country. Facing controversial “espionage” charges in the US, he currently has legal residence in Russia, though he maintains that “Truth has its costs, but I would rather be without a State than without a voice.”
Former CIA employee Edward Snowden is bringing his story to Australia in a series of shows around the country this May. In 2013 Snowden leaked classified information from the National Security Agencey (NSA) that he gained during his time as a high level cyber security specialist, regarding global surveillance programs run with the co-operation of telco companies and several European governments. The leak lead to a national security scandal, and thereafter he was charged by the US Department of Justice for two counts of violating the US Espionage Act and for theft of government property, following which Snowden fled to Russia to seek political asylum, where he remains to this day. Recently, Snowden addressed and criticised the Australian government's own new security surveillance initiatives. "Just months ago, an aggressive new ‘bulk collection’ program came into effect in Australia, mandating the indiscriminate interception of private records without regard to an individual’s guilt or innocence," he said. "This is the most classic form of mass surveillance, and it radically redefines the balance of power between citizen and state…a battle is beginning, and the internet and democracy hang in the balance.”
Former CIA employee Edward Snowden is bringing his story to Australia in a series of shows around the country this May.
In 2013 Snowden leaked classified information from the National Security Agencey (NSA) that he gained during his time as a high level cyber security specialist, regarding global surveillance programs run with the co-operation of telco companies and several European governments.
The leak lead to a national security scandal, and thereafter he was charged by the US Department of Justice for two counts of violating the US Espionage Act and for theft of government property, following which Snowden fled to Russia to seek political asylum, where he remains to this day.
Recently, Snowden addressed and criticised the Australian government's own new security surveillance initiatives. "Just months ago, an aggressive new ‘bulk collection’ program came into effect in Australia, mandating the indiscriminate interception of private records without regard to an individual’s guilt or innocence," he said. "This is the most classic form of mass surveillance, and it radically redefines the balance of power between citizen and state…a battle is beginning, and the internet and democracy hang in the balance.”
Read more @ http://www.craveonline.com/site/975417-edward-snowden-touring-australia-2016-sort
Recently, Edward Snowden, scourge of the National Security Agency, was pulled into a Twitter group chat of teenage cheerleaders and competitive dancers, an unexpected consequence of being an infamous whistleblower. Snowden, who introduced himself as Ed — "Not a big fan of formality," he said — had just one question for these enterprising kids: Where do you get your news? Welp, @Snowden has joined the teen chat and is asking questions now. What a world.pic.twitter.com/uPCCRMKTnZ https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfxP-QcXIAA__tu.jpg:large Most adults who are pulled into random roving group chats full of Twitter teens don't have time to keep in touch with the crew throughout the day. This is not a problem if you're currently serving out your asylum, like Snowden is — a situation that might give you some extra hours to go through your inbox. I went inquiring after the secret teen chat, and was suddenly pulled into the world of Taylor, Talia, Gabby and an assortment of curious "olds" who were pulled into the discussion at one point or another. Once embedded, I showed the group some modeling pics of Snowden when he was a teenager. "His modeling photos are the single greatest thing I have ever seen — he should really abandon scamming for a full time modeling career," Abby Misbin, who identifies as Queen of the Memes and "part time scam lord," told Mic in a direct message.
Recently, Edward Snowden, scourge of the National Security Agency, was pulled into a Twitter group chat of teenage cheerleaders and competitive dancers, an unexpected consequence of being an infamous whistleblower.
Snowden, who introduced himself as Ed — "Not a big fan of formality," he said — had just one question for these enterprising kids:
Welp, @Snowden has joined the teen chat and is asking questions now. What a world.pic.twitter.com/uPCCRMKTnZ
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfxP-QcXIAA__tu.jpg:large
I went inquiring after the secret teen chat, and was suddenly pulled into the world of Taylor, Talia, Gabby and an assortment of curious "olds" who were pulled into the discussion at one point or another.
Once embedded, I showed the group some modeling pics of Snowden when he was a teenager.
"His modeling photos are the single greatest thing I have ever seen — he should really abandon scamming for a full time modeling career," Abby Misbin, who identifies as Queen of the Memes and "part time scam lord," told Mic in a direct message.
Read more @ http://mic.com/articles/140466/edward-snowden-infiltrated-a-teen-group-chat-to-school-them-about-privacy#.J5OvPAAwM
Former intelligence contractor and transparency rights activist Edward Snowden hasn't let his exile in Russia prevent him from staying involved in the global discourse on secrecy and corruption. After the first stunning revelation that 2.6 terabytes of data from a posh offshoring firm had been hacked and given to journalists, he wasted no time weighing in on the drama. Here's a look at what the prominent whistleblower is saying about the Panama Papers leak. As soon as the leak was announced, Snowden went on Twitter curating information for his followers. Staying up after midnight in Moscow, Snowden began sending out links to Süddeutsche Zeitung's main landing page for its findings. He then tweeted out a link from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists to its coverage of the event, followed by a note that traffic to the story crashed the SZ servers temporarily. The meta-story of the whole affair so far, according to Snowden, is that "courage is contagious." He tweeted out this talking point in apparent reference to his public exposure as a whistleblower himself. Encouraging whistleblowers to come forward when they have information vital to public discourse is one of the ways Snowden continues on his activist work from overseas, despite not being allowed to travel back to the U.S. for fear of prosecution.
Former intelligence contractor and transparency rights activist Edward Snowden hasn't let his exile in Russia prevent him from staying involved in the global discourse on secrecy and corruption. After the first stunning revelation that 2.6 terabytes of data from a posh offshoring firm had been hacked and given to journalists, he wasted no time weighing in on the drama. Here's a look at what the prominent whistleblower is saying about the Panama Papers leak.
As soon as the leak was announced, Snowden went on Twitter curating information for his followers. Staying up after midnight in Moscow, Snowden began sending out links to Süddeutsche Zeitung's main landing page for its findings. He then tweeted out a link from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists to its coverage of the event, followed by a note that traffic to the story crashed the SZ servers temporarily.
The meta-story of the whole affair so far, according to Snowden, is that "courage is contagious." He tweeted out this talking point in apparent reference to his public exposure as a whistleblower himself. Encouraging whistleblowers to come forward when they have information vital to public discourse is one of the ways Snowden continues on his activist work from overseas, despite not being allowed to travel back to the U.S. for fear of prosecution.
And again, Putin is not implicated in the Panama Papers…. The media keep saying he is when clearly he isn’t.
Edward Snowden, of "leaked NSA documents" fame, has been tweeting up a storm since the Panama Papers were released Sunday. He posted about the leaked documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm that has allegedly spent the last 40 years helping its clients — including many prominent politicians and their associates — launder money, avoid sanctions, and lower their tax bills. He's retweeted with abandon and even declared that "Courage is contagious." He's clearly proud of his fellow leaker, whoever they may be. So it's curious, then, that Snowden ignored one key figure from the Panama Papers: Vladimir Putin. His first tweet on the matter was covered in U.S. media: "Biggest leak in the history of data journalism just went live, and it's about corruption." So why ignore one of the biggest stories on the corruption that was revealed? The Guardian reports that a $2 billion trail of offshore accounts leads to close friends of the Russian president. And yet Snowden's Tweets have largely focused on Iceland and its embattled prime minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, which has led at least one German journalist to call him out. The answer is very simple: The only person keeping Snowden out of a U.S. jail cell is Putin himself.
Edward Snowden, of "leaked NSA documents" fame, has been tweeting up a storm since the Panama Papers were released Sunday. He posted about the leaked documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm that has allegedly spent the last 40 years helping its clients — including many prominent politicians and their associates — launder money, avoid sanctions, and lower their tax bills. He's retweeted with abandon and even declared that "Courage is contagious." He's clearly proud of his fellow leaker, whoever they may be. So it's curious, then, that Snowden ignored one key figure from the Panama Papers: Vladimir Putin.
His first tweet on the matter was covered in U.S. media: "Biggest leak in the history of data journalism just went live, and it's about corruption." So why ignore one of the biggest stories on the corruption that was revealed? The Guardian reports that a $2 billion trail of offshore accounts leads to close friends of the Russian president. And yet Snowden's Tweets have largely focused on Iceland and its embattled prime minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, which has led at least one German journalist to call him out. The answer is very simple: The only person keeping Snowden out of a U.S. jail cell is Putin himself.
Read more @ http://www.bustle.com/articles/152061-edward-snowdens-panama-papers-tweets-are-ignoring-this-key-stone-faced-figure
“There is always this question," Laura Poitras tells me. "How do you penetrate into topics that are being ignored?” The filmmaker, who won an Academy Award and shared a Pulitzer Prize for her reporting on NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s disclosures, has spent the past 15 years making movies that aim to keep the public talking about America’s war on terror and the growth of the surveillance state. For her most recent exploration of these topics, though, Poitras chose to make not a documentary, but an art exhibition.
Privacy examines the darker side of our digital footprint, basing its story on the testimony of real-life journalists, politicians and tech pioneers (via BBC News). Radcliffe has been cast as The Writer in a production that actually encourages audiences to contribute by texting during the show.
Privacy examines the darker side of our digital footprint, basing its story on the testimony of real-life journalists, politicians and tech pioneers (via BBC News).
Radcliffe has been cast as The Writer in a production that actually encourages audiences to contribute by texting during the show.
Read more @ http://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/theatre/news/a790437/daniel-radcliffe-is-returning-to-the-new-york-stage-in-edward-snowden-inspired-play-privacy/
04/17/16 06:52:21
Editor, This is the era when the processing of Big Data by artificial intelligence is revealing things about you and your past that even you don’t know -- revealed not to you, but to those who are looking to use what they find to act maliciously against you, both transnational criminal enterprises, and Big Government saying it is all for the greater good, of course. No, this is not the kind of AI that is beating the best GO player in the world; that kind of pattern recognition is superficial. This kind has built-in motive to spy on everything you do, in conjunction with everything you are in your being and every genetic predisposition you have in your body. What in the world is this snooping, often through secret malware, going to make humanity into, even as the slightest sliver of wrongdoing is used to, say, rejecting a generally bright graduate from getting that job? What letter of recommendation will not come through, given the professor knows, through the mandatory dossier every university is required to keep on your psychology (paid for by the FBI, given all the mass shootings on campus), that you profile out to be simply a creative genius of the tinkering kind, who would not be the right material for a narrow, tunneling researcher within a super-specialized field, as in pursuing a Ph.D? Would then the vast mass of people simply become like goodie-goodie boy scouts and girl scouts, spooked into good conduct and playing only cookie-cutter roles throughout their lives in resigned acceptance of everything that is not the next right thing to do being wrong, of every step sideways from the straight and narrow resulting in a fall off a steep cliff, so to speak – all such deviations flagged as such while presented by social media scans by parties who do not exactly have our best interests at heart?
Editor,
This is the era when the processing of Big Data by artificial intelligence is revealing things about you and your past that even you don’t know -- revealed not to you, but to those who are looking to use what they find to act maliciously against you, both transnational criminal enterprises, and Big Government saying it is all for the greater good, of course.
No, this is not the kind of AI that is beating the best GO player in the world; that kind of pattern recognition is superficial. This kind has built-in motive to spy on everything you do, in conjunction with everything you are in your being and every genetic predisposition you have in your body.
What in the world is this snooping, often through secret malware, going to make humanity into, even as the slightest sliver of wrongdoing is used to, say, rejecting a generally bright graduate from getting that job? What letter of recommendation will not come through, given the professor knows, through the mandatory dossier every university is required to keep on your psychology (paid for by the FBI, given all the mass shootings on campus), that you profile out to be simply a creative genius of the tinkering kind, who would not be the right material for a narrow, tunneling researcher within a super-specialized field, as in pursuing a Ph.D?
Would then the vast mass of people simply become like goodie-goodie boy scouts and girl scouts, spooked into good conduct and playing only cookie-cutter roles throughout their lives in resigned acceptance of everything that is not the next right thing to do being wrong, of every step sideways from the straight and narrow resulting in a fall off a steep cliff, so to speak – all such deviations flagged as such while presented by social media scans by parties who do not exactly have our best interests at heart?
Read more @ http://www.dailylobo.com/article/2016/04/7-ahuja-letter
The US government is developing a policy that would allow the Justice Department to prosecute criminals based on evidence acquired secretly by the National Security Agency (NSA), Human Rights Watch said in a press release. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The new policy would allow the NSA to share data with other US intelligence agencies, General Counsel of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Robert Litt, said last month.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The new policy would allow the NSA to share data with other US intelligence agencies, General Counsel of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Robert Litt, said last month.
Read more @ http://sputniknews.com/us/20160412/1037849674/nsa-spying-data-prosecution.html
As swiftly as it was announced, Edward Snowden's schedule of virtual appearances in Australia has been dramatically curtailed. ThinkInc, the edu-tainment firm that originally planned for the ex-National Security Agency contractor-turned-whistleblower to make live video appearances in nearly all of Australia's capital cities, has reduced those appearances to just two – Sydney and Melbourne. "Regrettably, due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, we have been forced to cancel the Adelaide, Perth, Canberra and Brisbane shows," the group said in a statement to ticket buyers.
As swiftly as it was announced, Edward Snowden's schedule of virtual appearances in Australia has been dramatically curtailed.
ThinkInc, the edu-tainment firm that originally planned for the ex-National Security Agency contractor-turned-whistleblower to make live video appearances in nearly all of Australia's capital cities, has reduced those appearances to just two – Sydney and Melbourne.
"Regrettably, due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, we have been forced to cancel the Adelaide, Perth, Canberra and Brisbane shows," the group said in a statement to ticket buyers.
Read more @ http://www.smh.com.au/world/edward-snowdens-australian-virtual-tour-dates-dramatically-cut-back-20160414-go6dw2.html
Microsoft on Thursday filed suit against the U.S. Department of Justice challenging the gag orders that accompany requests to access customers' private emails and other data. The orders prevent the company from notifying affected customers about the government's demands. The case is the fourth public lawsuit it has filed against the Justice Department in three years, including a lawsuit challenging a search warrant for a customer's emails in Ireland. The orders violate customers' privacy rights, the company has maintained. Microsoft has new data on the growing problem of secrecy orders and wants to propose new Justice Department and congressional actions that could resolve the issue, according to Microsoft Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith.
Microsoft on Thursday filed suit against the U.S. Department of Justice challenging the gag orders that accompany requests to access customers' private emails and other data. The orders prevent the company from notifying affected customers about the government's demands.
The case is the fourth public lawsuit it has filed against the Justice Department in three years, including a lawsuit challenging a search warrant for a customer's emails in Ireland.
The orders violate customers' privacy rights, the company has maintained.
Microsoft has new data on the growing problem of secrecy orders and wants to propose new Justice Department and congressional actions that could resolve the issue, according to Microsoft Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith.
Read more @ http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/83372.html
Read more @ http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2454814/microsoft-sues-us-government-over-right-to-warn-customers-of-spying
Venture firm In-Q-Tel has reportedly invested in startups to advance the CIA's online monitoring. The CIA's venture capital firm has reportedly invested in several companies designing technologies that would help the government collect social media information and rapidly process it to spot people viewed as potential threats. Documents obtained by The Intercept say the firm, called In-Q-Tel, funded four companies that specialize in social media mining and surveillance. The news website identified the companies as PATHAR, Geofeedia, TransVoyant and Dataminr. In-Q-Tel's new startup investments would make it easier for the CIA to collect and analyze data to give people "so-called threat scores" based on their online speech, personal contacts and other activities, says Lee Rowland, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. Large-scale social media surveillance by law enforcement occurs whether or not people have committed a crime, she says. "The government should not be in the business of suspicionless surveillance," she says.
The CIA's venture capital firm has reportedly invested in several companies designing technologies that would help the government collect social media information and rapidly process it to spot people viewed as potential threats.
Documents obtained by The Intercept say the firm, called In-Q-Tel, funded four companies that specialize in social media mining and surveillance. The news website identified the companies as PATHAR, Geofeedia, TransVoyant and Dataminr.
In-Q-Tel's new startup investments would make it easier for the CIA to collect and analyze data to give people "so-called threat scores" based on their online speech, personal contacts and other activities, says Lee Rowland, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. Large-scale social media surveillance by law enforcement occurs whether or not people have committed a crime, she says.
"The government should not be in the business of suspicionless surveillance," she says.
Read more @ http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-04-15/cia-tech-firm-seeks-more-social-media-spying
On Tuesday, Uber released its first ever transparency report, revealing some unsettling news for privacy advocates. The San Francisco-based ride-sharing company said that in the last half of 2015, it provided information on over 12 million riders and drivers to U.S. regulators. On top of the data going to regulators, Uber also provided information on 469 users to various state and federal law enforcement agencies. Uber said that the agencies requested information on trips, requests, pickup and drop-off spots, fares, and vehicles. According to the report, Uber received 415 requests from law enforcement agencies and was able to provide data in about 85% of the cases. A large percentage of the cases were related to fraud or credit card theft. It is unclear exactly what U.S. regulators did with the data, but Uber did say that it has not received any national security related requests or orders under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance act.
On Tuesday, Uber released its first ever transparency report, revealing some unsettling news for privacy advocates. The San Francisco-based ride-sharing company said that in the last half of 2015, it provided information on over 12 million riders and drivers to U.S. regulators.
On top of the data going to regulators, Uber also provided information on 469 users to various state and federal law enforcement agencies. Uber said that the agencies requested information on trips, requests, pickup and drop-off spots, fares, and vehicles.
According to the report, Uber received 415 requests from law enforcement agencies and was able to provide data in about 85% of the cases. A large percentage of the cases were related to fraud or credit card theft.
It is unclear exactly what U.S. regulators did with the data, but Uber did say that it has not received any national security related requests or orders under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance act.
Read more @ http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/213103/is-uber-spying-on-you-for-the-government
Almost a year ago, the FBI admitted it was behind a “mystery plane” circling over several locations in the Twin Cities for a few days, ending a social media firestorm in which people demanded to know who owned the plane and what it was doing. Curiously, once the FBI said “it’s us,” the questioning pretty much ended. Apparently, we don’t mind the government spying on us as much as we dislike someone we don’t know spying on us. Now, BuzzFeed has put together a clearer picture of how extensive this spying operation is. It’s extensive in the Minneapolis area…
Almost a year ago, the FBI admitted it was behind a “mystery plane” circling over several locations in the Twin Cities for a few days, ending a social media firestorm in which people demanded to know who owned the plane and what it was doing.
Curiously, once the FBI said “it’s us,” the questioning pretty much ended. Apparently, we don’t mind the government spying on us as much as we dislike someone we don’t know spying on us.
Now, BuzzFeed has put together a clearer picture of how extensive this spying operation is. It’s extensive in the Minneapolis area…
Read more @ http://blogs.mprnews.org/newscut/2016/04/spy-planes-overhead-still-keeping-an-eye-on-minneapolis-why/
Americans living abroad tend to have special point of view on U.S. elections. Things like taxes, immigration, and even voting rights can all affect you a little differently from thousands of miles away. There's one American, though, in particular who has a stake in the outcome of the 2016 election: Edward Snowden. He's what you might call a single-issue voter. He's jonesing for America after nearly three years in exile in Russia and said he would turn himself in on negotiated terms. The next president could make that happen — or not. So who would Edward Snowden vote for? First off, if you're thinking his run from the law would make him ineligible to vote, you're wrong. He faces espionage charges for leaking the classified NSA documents that proved the government agency was collecting telephone records on millions of American citizens — not to mention their internet data through program that tapped into the servers of big firms like Google and Yahoo. He hasn't been convicted of anything yet, though, and his lawyers say there's no precedent to stop him from casting his ballot. Snowden's lawyer, Ben Wizner, director of the Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, explained to The Daily Dot:
Americans living abroad tend to have special point of view on U.S. elections. Things like taxes, immigration, and even voting rights can all affect you a little differently from thousands of miles away. There's one American, though, in particular who has a stake in the outcome of the 2016 election: Edward Snowden. He's what you might call a single-issue voter. He's jonesing for America after nearly three years in exile in Russia and said he would turn himself in on negotiated terms. The next president could make that happen — or not. So who would Edward Snowden vote for?
First off, if you're thinking his run from the law would make him ineligible to vote, you're wrong. He faces espionage charges for leaking the classified NSA documents that proved the government agency was collecting telephone records on millions of American citizens — not to mention their internet data through program that tapped into the servers of big firms like Google and Yahoo. He hasn't been convicted of anything yet, though, and his lawyers say there's no precedent to stop him from casting his ballot.
Snowden's lawyer, Ben Wizner, director of the Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, explained to The Daily Dot:
Read more @ http://www.bustle.com/articles/154661-who-does-edward-snowden-support-for-president-the-famous-whistleblower-can-still-vote-for-his-choice
Never mind government spies, it's companies that have Kiwis uneasy about online snooping. A major survey of New Zealand internet users found close to half of people were concerned companies were violating their privacy online, while just a third held the same concerns about Government. The World Internet Project New Zealand survey canvassed nearly 1400 people last year, quizzing them on everything from privacy to how often they paid bills online. The AUT University researcher who led the project believed media coverage of online privacy issues might explain why respondents reported greater concerns over corporates accessing their data. "One possible explanation is the news coverage about the sort of information companies are able to access as a result of people agreeing to use their apps, social networking sites or websites," Dr Philippa Smith said. "People may also be getting a sense of that intrusion on their online privacy when they suddenly get an email or a pop-up on their browser selling them something which is close to what they might have been searching or reading about on the internet."
Never mind government spies, it's companies that have Kiwis uneasy about online snooping.
A major survey of New Zealand internet users found close to half of people were concerned companies were violating their privacy online, while just a third held the same concerns about Government.
The World Internet Project New Zealand survey canvassed nearly 1400 people last year, quizzing them on everything from privacy to how often they paid bills online.
The AUT University researcher who led the project believed media coverage of online privacy issues might explain why respondents reported greater concerns over corporates accessing their data.
"One possible explanation is the news coverage about the sort of information companies are able to access as a result of people agreeing to use their apps, social networking sites or websites," Dr Philippa Smith said.
"People may also be getting a sense of that intrusion on their online privacy when they suddenly get an email or a pop-up on their browser selling them something which is close to what they might have been searching or reading about on the internet."
Read more @ http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11622051
If legendary British spy-turned-KGB mole Kim Philby was alive to offer arrested U.S. Navy officer Edward Lin advice — regardless of his guilt or innocence — we know what it would be. Despite repeatedly coming under suspicion, Philby fed British and American secrets to Moscow for three decades before ultimately defecting in 1963. His survival, he told officers of the East German Stasi spy service in 1981, was partly down to organizational ineptitude and his privileged position as a member of Britain’s ruling class. But it was also, he said, simply down to the fact that when challenged, he always maintained his innocence. Even when confronted with incriminating evidence in his own handwriting, he simply denied having anything to do with it. “All I had to do really was keep my nerve,” said Philby according to a recording found by the BBC and published this month. “So my advice to you is to tell all your agents that they are never to confess.” For Taiwanese-American Lieutenant Commander Lin, it may already be too late for that. The United States government remains remarkably tight lipped — for now, it remains unclear whether he is suspected of spying for mainland China or only Taiwan. All that is known for sure is that he faces charges of espionage, attempted espionage and a charge of patronizing a prostitute.
If legendary British spy-turned-KGB mole Kim Philby was alive to offer arrested U.S. Navy officer Edward Lin advice — regardless of his guilt or innocence — we know what it would be.
Despite repeatedly coming under suspicion, Philby fed British and American secrets to Moscow for three decades before ultimately defecting in 1963. His survival, he told officers of the East German Stasi spy service in 1981, was partly down to organizational ineptitude and his privileged position as a member of Britain’s ruling class.
But it was also, he said, simply down to the fact that when challenged, he always maintained his innocence. Even when confronted with incriminating evidence in his own handwriting, he simply denied having anything to do with it.
“All I had to do really was keep my nerve,” said Philby according to a recording found by the BBC and published this month. “So my advice to you is to tell all your agents that they are never to confess.”
For Taiwanese-American Lieutenant Commander Lin, it may already be too late for that. The United States government remains remarkably tight lipped — for now, it remains unclear whether he is suspected of spying for mainland China or only Taiwan. All that is known for sure is that he faces charges of espionage, attempted espionage and a charge of patronizing a prostitute.
Read more @ http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2016/04/14/why-computers-may-never-replace-human-spies/
Read more @ http://fusion.net/story/289903/james-baker-fbi-color-of-surveillance/
Read more @ http://www.timesofisrael.com/information-held-by-pollard-still-top-secret-could-damage-us/
MARK COLVIN: Before the Internet, privacy was simple. Broadly speaking, anyone who opened enveloped and read your post or eavesdropped on your phone conversations was breaking the law unless they had a warrant. Digital phone calls and written conversations it seems are different. Yesterday saw the first confirmation by the Federal Police that it had scoured the metadata of a journalist's phone and emails without a warrant. Under Federal laws, telecos have to keep records of when, where and how we use mobile phones and search the web. But it's not just governments; more and more private corporations and big business has the same kind of information. But how many people really understand the privacy sacrifice every time the sign up for another app?
Read more @ http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2016/s4444174.htm
Despite applications closing in February, the government still has not called upon its industry working group to divvy up the almost AU$130 million in funding to compensate telcos for data-retention compliance.
Read more @ http://www.zdnet.com/article/government-yet-to-consider-au128m-data-retention-grants-comms-alliance-ceo/
Read more @ http://www.telecompaper.com/news/australian-telcos-still-unsure-about-data-retention-costs--1138354
Read more @ http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/597778/government-needs-act-data-retention-funding-communications-alliance/
NSA whistleblower responds to admission by Australian federal police that it investigated leaks to a Guardian journalist by requesting his metadata Edward Snowden has condemned Australian law enforcement for collecting the communications records of a Guardian journalist without a warrant. The world’s most prominent whistleblower, who disclosed dragnet surveillance unprecedented in its scale by the National Security Agency and its allies, singled out for critique the Australian government’s contention that it broke no laws in its leak investigation of Paul Farrell, a Guardian reporter who in 2014 exposed the inner workings of Australia’s maritime interception of asylum seekers. “Police in developed democracies don’t pore over journalists’ private activities to hunt down confidential sources,” Snowden told the Guardian. “The Australian federal police are defending such operations as perfectly legal, but that’s really the problem, isn’t it? Sometimes the scandal is not what law was broken, but what the law allows.”
NSA whistleblower responds to admission by Australian federal police that it investigated leaks to a Guardian journalist by requesting his metadata
Edward Snowden has condemned Australian law enforcement for collecting the communications records of a Guardian journalist without a warrant.
The world’s most prominent whistleblower, who disclosed dragnet surveillance unprecedented in its scale by the National Security Agency and its allies, singled out for critique the Australian government’s contention that it broke no laws in its leak investigation of Paul Farrell, a Guardian reporter who in 2014 exposed the inner workings of Australia’s maritime interception of asylum seekers.
“Police in developed democracies don’t pore over journalists’ private activities to hunt down confidential sources,” Snowden told the Guardian.
“The Australian federal police are defending such operations as perfectly legal, but that’s really the problem, isn’t it? Sometimes the scandal is not what law was broken, but what the law allows.”
Read more @ http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/apr/17/edward-snowden-on-police-pursuing-journalist-data-the-scandal-is-what-the-law-allows
David Davis says data retention laws turn ‘entire nation into suspects’, but UK lawyers say they are vital to terrorism cases The British government is “treating the entire nation as suspects” by ignoring safeguards on retaining and accessing personal communications data, according to the Conservative MP David Davis. Speaking before the opening of a test case at the European court of justice (ECJ), the former home affairs spokesman called for improved protections to prevent state abuses through bulk interception of private emails and online exchanges. Davis and the Labour deputy leader, Tom Watson, have jointly challenged the legality of the government’s Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 (Dripa).
David Davis says data retention laws turn ‘entire nation into suspects’, but UK lawyers say they are vital to terrorism cases
The British government is “treating the entire nation as suspects” by ignoring safeguards on retaining and accessing personal communications data, according to the Conservative MP David Davis.
Speaking before the opening of a test case at the European court of justice (ECJ), the former home affairs spokesman called for improved protections to prevent state abuses through bulk interception of private emails and online exchanges.
Davis and the Labour deputy leader, Tom Watson, have jointly challenged the legality of the government’s Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 (Dripa).
Read more @ http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/12/mp-david-davis-calls-limit-uk-surveillance-powers-european-court-justice
Outcome of hearing at European court of justice likely to influence final shape of government’s investigatory powers bill The legality of Britain’s surveillance laws will come under the intense scrutiny of 15 European judges on Tuesday in a politically sensitive test case that could limit powers to gather online data. The outcome of the hearing at the European court of justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg is likely to influence the final shape of the government’s investigatory powers bill and will test judicial relationships within the EU. Around a dozen EU states including the UK have intervened in the challenge against the government’s Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 (Dripa) that was originally brought by two MPs, the Conservative David Davis and Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson. The British case is being heard in conjunction with a Swedish case based on similar principles.
Outcome of hearing at European court of justice likely to influence final shape of government’s investigatory powers bill
The legality of Britain’s surveillance laws will come under the intense scrutiny of 15 European judges on Tuesday in a politically sensitive test case that could limit powers to gather online data.
The outcome of the hearing at the European court of justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg is likely to influence the final shape of the government’s investigatory powers bill and will test judicial relationships within the EU.
Around a dozen EU states including the UK have intervened in the challenge against the government’s Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 (Dripa) that was originally brought by two MPs, the Conservative David Davis and Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson. The British case is being heard in conjunction with a Swedish case based on similar principles.
Read more @ http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/11/european-court-to-consider-legality-of-uk-surveillance-laws
Read more @ http://www.computerweekly.com/news/450281281/Government-surveillance-under-fire-across-Europe
Those against would protest that it is a gross intrusion of privacy, but there are benefits in public disclosure Should all tax returns be available online? Most people’s knee-jerk reaction is that it would be absolutely horrifying for everyone to see what you earn. It’s an entirely private matter between you, your employer and the taxman. It would be a gross intrusion of privacy if it was made available to the public – and worse, to the newspapers. But these same arguments were used when we were first allowed to see sold house price data. It would be nothing less than a “snoopers charter”, argued some, with nosy curtain-twitchers checking out the silly price the neighbours paid for that dump next door. Today, hardly anybody thinks it’s intrusive that sold house prices are published all over the internet, except perhaps Tony Blair and family, when we learn they have hoovered up their zillionth buy-to-let property. If we took the plunge and opened up HM Revenue & Customs to scrutiny, might we get over our ourselves and see the benefit from public disclosure? In Norway, no one can disguise their earnings, with every tax return made available to anyone in the country to inspect. It’s not just a matter of the prime minister grudgingly forced into disclosing. Workers can see what their colleagues are earning, and neighbours can snoop on how much the people next door are making – all legally, and all available online.
Those against would protest that it is a gross intrusion of privacy, but there are benefits in public disclosure
Should all tax returns be available online? Most people’s knee-jerk reaction is that it would be absolutely horrifying for everyone to see what you earn. It’s an entirely private matter between you, your employer and the taxman. It would be a gross intrusion of privacy if it was made available to the public – and worse, to the newspapers.
But these same arguments were used when we were first allowed to see sold house price data. It would be nothing less than a “snoopers charter”, argued some, with nosy curtain-twitchers checking out the silly price the neighbours paid for that dump next door.
Today, hardly anybody thinks it’s intrusive that sold house prices are published all over the internet, except perhaps Tony Blair and family, when we learn they have hoovered up their zillionth buy-to-let property.
If we took the plunge and opened up HM Revenue & Customs to scrutiny, might we get over our ourselves and see the benefit from public disclosure?
In Norway, no one can disguise their earnings, with every tax return made available to anyone in the country to inspect. It’s not just a matter of the prime minister grudgingly forced into disclosing. Workers can see what their colleagues are earning, and neighbours can snoop on how much the people next door are making – all legally, and all available online.
Read more @ http://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2016/apr/16/should-we-all-post-tax-returns-online
OKLAHOMA CITY (April 15, 2016) – Yesterday, the Oklahoma House passed a bill that would put limitations on the storage and sharing of information collected by Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) by law enforcement in the state, and place significant roadblocks in the way of a federal program using states to help track the location of millions of everyday people through pictures of their license plates. Sen. Nathan Dahm introduced Senate Bill 1144 (SB1144) in February. The legislation would restrict the use of ALPRs to specific law enforcement functions, and place strict limits on the storage and sharing of any data collected by such systems. SB1144 passed the House by a 51-27 vote. Last month, it unanimously passed the Senate 45-0. Since the House made some technical amendments to the bill, it will now need to go back to the Senate for concurrence. The bill’s strength lies in its strict limits on data retention and sharing. Government agencies would be prohibited from sharing this data, or retaining data for more than 14 days without a warrant, a court issued preservation order or if the information is part of an ongoing investigation provided the data is a confirmed match to an alert. Any data retained as part of an ongoing investigation must be immediately destroyed at the conclusion of the investigation.
OKLAHOMA CITY (April 15, 2016) – Yesterday, the Oklahoma House passed a bill that would put limitations on the storage and sharing of information collected by Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) by law enforcement in the state, and place significant roadblocks in the way of a federal program using states to help track the location of millions of everyday people through pictures of their license plates.
Sen. Nathan Dahm introduced Senate Bill 1144 (SB1144) in February. The legislation would restrict the use of ALPRs to specific law enforcement functions, and place strict limits on the storage and sharing of any data collected by such systems.
SB1144 passed the House by a 51-27 vote. Last month, it unanimously passed the Senate 45-0. Since the House made some technical amendments to the bill, it will now need to go back to the Senate for concurrence.
The bill’s strength lies in its strict limits on data retention and sharing. Government agencies would be prohibited from sharing this data, or retaining data for more than 14 days without a warrant, a court issued preservation order or if the information is part of an ongoing investigation provided the data is a confirmed match to an alert. Any data retained as part of an ongoing investigation must be immediately destroyed at the conclusion of the investigation.
Read more @ http://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2016/04/oklahoma-house-passes-bill-to-restrict-alpr-use-help-block-national-license-plate-tracking-program/
When we interviewed him last year, the French electronic pioneer asked for our help in putting together a track with the NSA whistleblower The Guardian’s coverage of the Edward Snowden NSA leaks has had a wide variety of repercussions, but perhaps none are as improbable as the latest: a collaboration between the 32-year-old whistleblower and French electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre, on a techno track to be released this weekend. “Edward is an absolute hero of our times,” said Jarre, whose piece with Snowden, called Exit, appears on his forthcoming album of collaborations, Electronica Volume II: The Heart Of Noise, the former CIA employee making an unlikely appearance on a list of special guests that also includes the Pet Shop Boys, Gary Numan and rapper Peaches. “When I first read about him, it made me think of my mother,” said Jarre. “She joined the French resistance in 1941, when people in France still thought they were just troublemakers, and she always told me that when society is generating things you can’t stand, you have to stand up against it. The whole Electronica project is about the ambiguous relationship we have with technology: on the one side we have the world in our pocket, on on the other, we are spied on constantly. There are tracks about the erotic relationship we have with technology, the way we touch our smartphones more than our partners, about CCTV surveillance, about love in the age of Tindr. It seemed quite appropriate to collaborate not with a musician but someone who literally symbolises this crazy relationship we have with technology.”
When we interviewed him last year, the French electronic pioneer asked for our help in putting together a track with the NSA whistleblower
The Guardian’s coverage of the Edward Snowden NSA leaks has had a wide variety of repercussions, but perhaps none are as improbable as the latest: a collaboration between the 32-year-old whistleblower and French electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre, on a techno track to be released this weekend.
“Edward is an absolute hero of our times,” said Jarre, whose piece with Snowden, called Exit, appears on his forthcoming album of collaborations, Electronica Volume II: The Heart Of Noise, the former CIA employee making an unlikely appearance on a list of special guests that also includes the Pet Shop Boys, Gary Numan and rapper Peaches.
“When I first read about him, it made me think of my mother,” said Jarre. “She joined the French resistance in 1941, when people in France still thought they were just troublemakers, and she always told me that when society is generating things you can’t stand, you have to stand up against it. The whole Electronica project is about the ambiguous relationship we have with technology: on the one side we have the world in our pocket, on on the other, we are spied on constantly. There are tracks about the erotic relationship we have with technology, the way we touch our smartphones more than our partners, about CCTV surveillance, about love in the age of Tindr. It seemed quite appropriate to collaborate not with a musician but someone who literally symbolises this crazy relationship we have with technology.”
Read more @ http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/15/jean-michel-jarre-records-with-edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower
Read more @ http://www.news.com.au/world/europe/edward-snowden-releases-song-with-french-artist-jeanmichel-jarre/news-story/ae8367debe81f0a7b25e9432d85f85eb
Read more @ https://newrepublic.com/minutes/132750/edward-snowdens-techno-song-dorky-great
04/17/16 08:26:49
A new bill targeting encryption would force companies to comply with court orders at the cost of security. The Senate Intelligence Committee just released a draft of long-awaited legislation to tackle the problem authorities have with encrypted communications. Namely, because encryption is so secure, it interferes with court orders in the same way private property poses problems for police who just want to get things done. The Compliance with Court Orders Act of 2016 authored by Sens Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., mandates companies to shoulder the technical burden of accessing encrypted emails or files when investigators issue court orders. It doesn't specify penalties for noncompliance. When CCOA hit the internet this week, lots of techies, privacy advocates, reporters and security researchers saw red over what they described as legislation that makes encryption illegal or requires backdoors. Not so fast. The senators might be clueless about security, but they saw those arguments coming from a mile away. In reality, the Senate committee's Court Orders Act won't outlaw encryption. Nor does it mandate golden keys or backdoors in products -- it's very careful to avoid requiring or prohibiting any kind of design or operating system. No, this slippery little act says that when a company or person gets a court order asking for encrypted emails or files to be handed over and decrypted, compliance is the law.
The Senate Intelligence Committee just released a draft of long-awaited legislation to tackle the problem authorities have with encrypted communications. Namely, because encryption is so secure, it interferes with court orders in the same way private property poses problems for police who just want to get things done.
The Compliance with Court Orders Act of 2016 authored by Sens Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., mandates companies to shoulder the technical burden of accessing encrypted emails or files when investigators issue court orders. It doesn't specify penalties for noncompliance.
When CCOA hit the internet this week, lots of techies, privacy advocates, reporters and security researchers saw red over what they described as legislation that makes encryption illegal or requires backdoors.
Not so fast. The senators might be clueless about security, but they saw those arguments coming from a mile away.
In reality, the Senate committee's Court Orders Act won't outlaw encryption. Nor does it mandate golden keys or backdoors in products -- it's very careful to avoid requiring or prohibiting any kind of design or operating system.
No, this slippery little act says that when a company or person gets a court order asking for encrypted emails or files to be handed over and decrypted, compliance is the law.
Read more @ http://www.engadget.com/2016/04/15/senate-to-americans-your-security-is-not-our-problem/