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Does the NSA Tap That? What We Still Don’t Know About the Agency’s Internet Surveillance
Among the snooping revelations of recent weeks, there
have been tantalizing bits of evidence that the NSA is tapping
fiber-optic cables that carry nearly all international phone and Internet data.
The idea that the NSA is sweeping up vast data streams via cables and other infrastructure — often described as the “backbone of the Internet” — is not new. In late 2005, the New York Times first described the tapping, which began after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. More details emerged in early 2006 when an AT&T whistleblower came forward.
The idea that the NSA is sweeping up vast data streams via cables and other infrastructure — often described as the “backbone of the Internet” — is not new. In late 2005, the New York Times first described the tapping, which began after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. More details emerged in early 2006 when an AT&T whistleblower came forward.
Is the NSA really sucking up everything?
http://www.propublica.org/article/what-we-still-dont-know-about-the-nsa-secret-internet-tapping
1 comment:
We now know from WaPo's recent profile that Gen Keith Alexander's goal for the NSA has been to "capture it all" (incidentally, this is identical to the mantra that Erich Mielke announced for the Stasi in 1981, "Noch einmal wiederhole ich: Wir müssen alles erfahren! Es darf an uns nichts vorbeigehen!"), but the question remains as to how successful he has been in this effort. We now know that an absolutely extraordinary, and extremely expensive effort has been undertaken to collect the private conversations of our close allies—in flagrant violation of the criminal law, but with the apparent full knowledge and blessing of Alexander's higher ups in the Obama administration, and even of Congressional "oversight." One wonders how deep and how serious the effort are targeting the more legitimate targets of intelligence gathering, particularly in light of the reported statement made by one departing commander in Iraq to Alexander that he had failed to furnish even one single shred of useful intelligence from all his intercepts during the entire period of the general's command. (The NSA makes tall claims in this regard, and goes predictably silent when pressed for details. People I know who have heard the details all tell me that, considering the cost, what they have to show is pathetic). Here Justin Elliott attempts a survey of the known knowns and the known unknowns of NSA surveillance. At its heart is a fascinating story of tight corporate cooperation between major service providers and the NSA—something about which both the NSA and the service providers have systematically and consciously lied to the public.
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