domestic surveillance

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FBI Thinks Americans Are Training for Terror in Syria

And it's watching them like a hawk

(Newser) - The FBI is keeping a close watch on Americans who have traveled to and returned from the war in Syria. The US believes that al-Qaeda affiliates in the war-torn country are actively attempting to recruit Americans there and train them to carry out attacks back home, senior intelligence and counterterror...

Snowden: My Mission Is Accomplished

'I already won,' he says in Moscow interview

(Newser) - While there's no sign of an end to the flow of leaked National Security Agency documents, Edward Snowden says he feels like his mission has already been accomplished. Speaking to a Washington Post reporter for more than 14 hours of interviews in Moscow, Snowden explained that he acted out...

Government Ruined My Life Over Auto-Complete: Suit

Man alleges that inadvertent search led to death threats, harassment

(Newser) - Jeffrey Kantor says the federal government mercilessly harassed him and got him fired over an accidental Google search. In a lawsuit spotted by Courthouse News , the Virginia man explains that he was trying to search for "How do I build a radio-controlled airplane?" But when he got as far...

Microsoft Moves to Foil NSA Snoops

Company suspects it was surveillance target

(Newser) - Microsoft, its suspicions raised by reports of the NSA spying on rivals Google and Yahoo —and seemingly everybody else—plans to beef up its defenses, sources tell the Washington Post . The company is working on new ways to encrypt its Internet traffic after documents released by Edward Snowden suggested...

NSA Has Hacked Google, Yahoo: Report

Snowden scoop: 'MUSCULAR' program allows access of all data, without court order

(Newser) - If you thought PRISM was bad, wait until you get a load of MUSCULAR. Documents from Edward Snowden reveal that the NSA has hacked the cables Google and Yahoo use to shuttle information between their massive cloud databases, giving them unfettered access to data from hundreds of millions of users,...

Court: We Don't Rubber Stamp All NSA Requests ...

... Just 75.6% of them, top judge testifies

(Newser) - The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court doesn't just rubber stamp every request government spies send it, its top judge protests in a letter sent to Congress—just 75.6% of them. The Justice Department has previously revealed that the court approves 99% of NSA requests. But that number is misleading,...

NSA Chief: Phone-Tracking Was Just a Test

Agency wanted to see if it could be done, he says

(Newser) - Top US intelligence officials are revealing more about their spying in an effort to defend the National Security Agency from charges that it has invaded the privacy of Americans on a mass scale. But the latest disclosure—that the NSA tried to track law-abiding Americans' cell phone locations—is only...

Yet Another NSA Target: Employees' Lovers

Also, director says 'no upper limit' on how many phone records can be kept

(Newser) - We've heard that the NSA kept an eye on Martin Luther King and Muhammad Ali , but it seems there were also lower-profile targets: some of its own employees' lovers. It's referred to as "loveint" (as in, collecting intel on love interests), and the NSA says it's...

The NSA Spied on MLK, Muhammad Ali

LBJ, Nixon kept tabs on Vietnam War protesters

(Newser) - The NSA once spied on no lesser Americans than Martin Luther King Jr. and Muhammad Ali, newly declassified documents reveal. They were targeted along with a pair of US senators, as well as journalists from the New York Times and Washington Post, as part of a six-year effort to investigate...

NSA Got Too Big to Understand: Report

New docs say NSA 'frequently and systematically' abused system

(Newser) - As Edward Snowden's trove began to leak, President Obama was quick to reassure Americans that Congress and the courts kept the NSA's powers and activities in check. But newly declassified documents from the 2009 probe into the agency's wiretapping show that—in 2009, at least—the NSA'...

US Uses Border Searches to Seize Devices: Manning Ally

Technique allows warrantless search of electronics

(Newser) - If you cross in to or out of the US, the government might seize your electronic devices—whether it's got a warrant or not. David House, a fundraiser for Chelsea Manning's legal defense fund, found that out the hard way in November 2010, after a trip to Mexico....

Move Over, NSA: DEA Uses Bigger Phone-Call Database

AT&T workers embedded with anti-drug units

(Newser) - The Drug Enforcement Administration has been working closely with AT&T to access a database of American phone calls that dwarfs the NSA's controversial data-collecting efforts, the New York Times finds. In the "Hemisphere Project," which began in 2007, AT&T employees are embedded in anti-drug units...

Feds Likely Would Have Used PRISM on King

Scary thought: What if the FBI's Hoover had today's technology: Joe Johns

(Newser) - As the nation remembers Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic speech—and considers Edward Snowden's revelations—it's worth remembering that in his time, King was virtually "Public Enemy No. 1," points out Joe Johns at CNN . J. Edgar Hoover's FBI had King under heavy...

Judge Blasted NSA for Violating Constitution

Secret 2011 court ruling declassified

(Newser) - It turns out 100% of the wrath directed at the NSA over its surveillance practices has not occurred in 2013. Major outlets are reporting that the agency was taken to task by the chief judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in 2011 for time and again misleading the court—...

Roberts Adds Rare Democrat to Secret Court

But José Cabranes is so conservative Bush almost appointed him

(Newser) - John Roberts has finally appointed another Democrat to the secretive FISA court that watches over the NSA's controversial surveillance programs—but it's security hawks, not civil libertarians, who should be celebrating. Though he was originally appointed by Bill Clinton in 2000, Judge José A. Cabranes leans conservative ideologically,...

NSA Can Scan 75% of the Internet

Intercepts in place at many major online traffic junctions

(Newser) - The National Security Agency is able to spy on a shocking 75% of US Internet traffic through agreements with telecommunications carriers, far more than has previously been disclosed, the Wall Street Journal finds in interviews with current and former officials. The agency, which is able to read the content of...

NSA Broke Privacy Rules 2,776 Times in Year
NSA Broke Privacy Rules
2,776 Times in Year
snowden documents
Aug 16, 2013 6:00 AM CDT

NSA Broke Privacy Rules 2,776 Times in Year

Washington Post reveals NSA internal audit obtained by Snowden

(Newser) - The Washington Post is today revealing some big news on NSA surveillance—thanks, again, to Edward Snowden. An internal audit and other records handed to the paper by Snowden "earlier this summer" show that when it comes to snooping, the NSA hasn't always been playing by government rules....

NSA Has 'Backdoor' to Search US Emails

Senator Ron Wyden confirms latest Snowden leak

(Newser) - The NSA has a secret legal "backdoor" allowing it to search for emails and other information related to specific Americans without a warrant, the Guardian reports. It's the latest leak from Edward Snowden, and this time it comes with confirmation from Senate Intelligence Committee member and perpetual NSA...

Christie No Conservative on Surveillance

Peggy Noonan worried by governor's 'manipulative' approach

(Newser) - At a meeting of major Republican donors, Chris Christie took a firm stand on domestic surveillance—and it's not sitting well with Peggy Noonan. Christie called the debate over the extent of government snooping "esoteric" and "intellectual," slamming the "strain of libertarianism that's going...

Yes, NSA Spying Is a Big Deal

 Yes, NSA Spying Is a Big Deal 
OPINION
Aug 1, 2013 1:50 PM CDT

Yes, NSA Spying Is a Big Deal

Your liberties are disappearing even if you haven't noticed, Elizabeth Goitein argues

(Newser) - Half of America seems outraged by the NSA's surveillance activities. But the other half seems to be heeding Harry Reid's advice to "just calm down." A court approved this stuff, and Congress knew about it, so what's the big deal? "The most obvious answer...

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