Showing posts with label surveillance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label surveillance. Show all posts

NSA Phone-Snooping Program Didn’t Prevent Any Attacks

By David Sherfinski.   Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said Monday that the NSA’s phone-snooping program didn’t catch any terrorists or prevented any attacks, breaking from several of his 2016 GOP presidential rivals, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who have described the program as an effective tool in the fight against terrorism. “There will   ... MORE

VIDEO: The NSA Hasn't Actually Stopped Spying

Robert Hackett: No, NSA Phone Spying Has Not Ended

Only the framework changed.     Plenty of surveillance going on. At 11:59 P.M. on Saturday night, the U.S. National Security Agency supposedly yanked the cord on its bulk telephone records collection, thereby ending an expansive surveillance program that the nation’s intelligence community put in place in the wake of the September 11,     ... MORE

Andrew Napolitano: The Spies Who Ruin Us

The Fourth Amendment has numerous virtues.   In an effort to draw attention away from the intelligence failures that permitted the attacks of 9/11 and create the impression that it was doing something — anything — to avoid a repeat, the federal government tampered seriously with freedoms expressly guaranteed in the Constitution.   ... MORE

John W. Whitehead: The Surveillance State Is Alive & Well

Life in the electronic concentration camp.      Bottle up the champagne, pack away the noisemakers, and toss out the party hats. There is no cause for celebration. We have secured no major victories against tyranny. We have achieved no great feat in pushing back against government overreach. For all intents and purposes, the National ... MORE

Metadata Surveillance Didn’t Stop The Paris Attacks

by Marcy Wheeler.     And yet intelligence officials and politicians are now saying it could have. They’re wrong. Since terrorists struck Paris last Friday night, the debate over whether encryption prevents intelligence services from stopping attacks has reignited. The New York Times and Yahoo reported on vague claims that the terrorists’ use of     ... MORE

Calls For Boots On The Ground, Curbing Immigration And More Surveillance Powers Coming In Wake Of Paris Attacks

by Peter Suderman.   The politics of panic. CNN’s Jim Acosta captured the prevailing mood in the corridors of political power today when he asked President Obama about America’s willingness to step up attacks on ISIS following the terrorist attacks in Paris last Friday.  “I think a lot of Americans have this frustration that they see that the United    ... MORE

John W. Whitehead: The Real Issues That You Won't Hear From The 2016 Presidential Candidates This Election Year

Government's stealth tyranny.    We now have less than one year until the 2016 presidential election. Despite the dire state of our nation, however, you can rest assured that none of the problems that continue to undermine our freedoms will be addressed in any credible way by the presidential candidates—certainly not if doing so might        ... MORE

Two Years After Edward Snowden's Exposure, The NSA To End Bulk Collection Of Data From American's Phone Calls

At least, that is the official line.   The NSA is ready to end later this month collecting Americans' domestic call records in bulk. It will move to a more targeted system, meeting a legislative deadline imposed earlier this year, according to a government memo seen by Reuters. The memo, sent on Monday from the NSA to relevant committees in the U.S.   ... MORE

VIDEO: Rand Paul - Vision For America

How Law Enforcement Can Track Your Every Move

by Jana Winter.   The recent expansion of Google’s Timeline feature can provide investigators unprecedented access to users’ location history data, allowing them in many cases to track a person’s every move over the course of years, according to a report recently circulated to law enforcement. “The personal privacy implications are pretty clear ... MORE

Watch The Amazing 'Love Gov' Series

See all five episodes.    Love Gov portrays the federal government as an overbearing boyfriend — Scott “Gov” Govinsky — who foists his “good intentions” on a hapless, idealistic college student, Alexis. Each episode follows Alexis's relationship with Gov as his intrusions wreak (comic) havoc on her life, professionally, financially, and socially. Alexis's loyal  ... MORE

John W Whitehead: The Real Issues You Won't Hear From The 2016 Presidential Candidates This Election Year

The tyranny behind the curtain.   We now have less than one year until the 2016 presidential election.  Despite the dire state of our nation, however, you can rest assured that none of the problems that continue to undermine our freedoms will be addressed in any credible way by the presidential candidates—certainly not if doing so might      ... MORE

VIDEO: Government Like A Jealous Boyfriend

IRS Possessed Stingray Cellphone Surveillance Gear - Why?

by Nicky Woolf and William Green.     13th federal agency to use secretive dragnet!  The Internal Revenue Service is the latest in a growing list of US federal agencies known to have possessed the sophisticated cellphone dragnet equipment known as Stingray, according to documents obtained by the Guardian. Invoices obtained following a request  ... MORE

‘Neutralizing’ John Lennon: One Man Against the ‘Monster’

by John W. Whitehead.  John Lennon, born 75 years ago on October 9, 1940, was a musical genius and pop cultural icon. He was also a vocal peace protester and anti-war activist and a high-profile example of the lengths to which the U.S. government will go to persecute those who dare to challenge its authority. Long before Chelsea Manning and    ... MORE

John W. Whitehead: ‘Minority Report’ Is 40 Years Ahead Of Schedule: The Fictional World Has Become Today's Reality

Examples abound.     We are a scant 40 years away from the futuristic world that science fiction author Philip K. Dick envisioned for Minority Report in which the government is all-seeing, all-knowing and all-powerful, and if you dare to step out of line, dark-clad police SWAT teams will crack a few skulls to bring the populace under control. Unfortunately,  ... MORE

Henry Austin: North Dakota Becomes The First American State To Legalize Deployment Of Armed Drones By Police

The state gets a new toy.  Armed drones could be used by police in the US state of North Dakota after local lawmakers legalized their use. While they will be limited to “less than lethal” weapons, tear gas, tasers, rubber bullets and pepper spray could all be used in theory by the remote controlled flying machines. In a classic case of unintended      ... MORE