Phone Sex, Banks & Google for Emails: The NSA Spying Is Bigger Than Verizon

The Atlantic Wire ^ | June 6, 2013 | Elspeth Reeve

[2ndDivisionVet]

The National Security Agency's warrant for metadata on every single Verizon call for three months is jaw-dropping in its scope. Except, well, the NSA's surveillance of our communications is most likely much, much bigger than that. Technology has made it possible for the American government to spy on citizens to an extent East Germany could only dream of. Basically everything we say that can be traced digitally is being collected by the NSA. We're supposed to trust that our government will be much better behaved, but they're not, and the White House almost admits it. That doesn't mean they're admitting everything.

"On its face, the document suggests that the U.S. government regularly collects and stores all domestic telephone records," The Week's Marc Ambinder writes of Glenn Greenwald's scoop last night. "My own understanding is that the NSA routinely collects millions of domestic-to-domestic phone records. It does not do anything with them unless there is a need to search through them for lawful purposes." Previous reporting from many outlets suggests that's true. In 2006, USA Today's Leslie Cauley reported the NSA was secretly collecting call records with data from AT&T, Verizon, and BellSouth. A source told Cauley, "It's the largest database ever assembled in the world" and that the NSA wanted "to create a database of every call ever made" within U.S. territory. Likewise, in 2011, The New Yorker's Jane Mayer spoke to former NSA crypto-mathematician Bill Binney, who "believes that the agency now stores copies of all e-mails transmitted in America, in case the government wants to retrieve the details later."(continued)

[Sopater]

"My own understanding is that the NSA routinely collects millions of domestic-to-domestic phone records. It does not do anything with them unless there is a need to search through them for lawful purposes."

That's like searching millions of domestic homes, cars, and persons, and not doing anything with what they find unless there is a need to for "lawful" purposes. Used to be that evidence obtained without a warrant was not admissible.

[PATRIOT1876]

“Caviar?....portabella?..Stasi?”

[SE Mom]

Just heard on FOX that the WaPo is reporting aprogram called prism that makes the Verizon phone records look like nothing

[a fool in paradise]

And yet still American lives were lost in terrorist attacks on Ft. Hood, Boston, and Benghazi. Strikes that our national security offices knew about in advance. So much for the lie that this is to make us safer.

Obama already surrendered the war on terror. This is data mining and nothing else.

[Billthedrill]

And the NSA isn't just collecting the things we say. It's also tracking what we buy and where we go.

Uh, now look, that five-speed musical vibrator was for a friend, all right?

[machogirl]

Well, I know now where the idea for “Person of Interest” on CBS came from.

[urbanpovertylawcenter]

Nothing here, folks, just another watchdog function of the government to ensure the unemployment rate drops before the 2014 congressional elections.

Think TSA on steroids. Hire thousands to mine for digital gold for homeland security and come up with nothing to show for it but employment for the unemployable.

With great benefits, I might add.

Will have to bring the Morse code back to plot anything of significance.

[AnAmericanAbroad]

Total Information Awareness, if you remember that would-be office from back in the day.

In theory it never took off, but I can’t say I’m surprised it came to life anyway. Admiral Poindexter’s idea, if I’m recalling correctly.

Welcome to the Brave New World, folks. Hell, they probably know what time people drop a deuce in the morning.

[Dubh_Ghlase]

I have a friend that, as soon as he retired, ditched every piece of electronic equipment he had. Hard to get a hold of, but hard to track too...

I've told mine that when the SHTF to smash/ditch their "smartphones" immediately, disconnect their computers from the internet, and hunker down. Walkie-talkies, CB, and Ham radio is coming back into style (just don't get DF'd)....

[Lera]

have to wonder just how many people are being blackmailed

[Black Agnes]

have to wonder just how many people are being blackmailed

This.

[rintense]

Justice Roberts. No doubt in my mind.

[Repeal The 17th]

“...DF’d...”
-
What’s that?

[tet68]

“It’s the largest database ever assembled in the world”

Isn’t that what that dingbat congresswoman said...
“Obama knows everything about everybody...”

[Carry_Okie]

Remember: The NSA Utah Data Center will capture every digital phone call as a bit stream. With the log data and the algorithm by which to search the stream, they can tap the call without a warrant.

[Lera]

No doubt

[cornelis]

"Why? Because you made a phone call!

[tet68]

So this means that if I call the aliens from Tau Ceti,
or they call me, NSA won’t know what we talk about but
will know their number??? I don’t blame them,
I tried to look up the alien’s phone number on the
computer the other night and gave up after an hour,
there were so many leads and they wanted between
$1.95 and $12 dollars for the actual number...