Leaks: NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year, audit finds
13 replies, posted
[URL="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-broke-privacy-rules-thousands-of-times-per-year-audit-finds/2013/08/15/3310e554-05ca-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_story.html"]Source[/URL]
[IMG]http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2013/08/16/National-Security/Graphics/fixed-NSA_breaches16_606.jpg[/IMG]
[quote]The National Security Agency has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since Congress granted the agency broad new powers in 2008, according to [URL="http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/national/nsa-report-on-privacy-violations-in-the-first-quarter-of-2012/395/"]an internal audit[/URL] and other top-secret documents. Most of the infractions involve unauthorized surveillance of Americans or foreign intelligence targets in the United States, both of which are restricted by statute and executive order. They range from significant violations of law to typographical errors that resulted in unintended interception of U.S. e-mails and telephone calls.
The documents, provided earlier this summer to The Washington Post by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, include a level of detail and analysis that is not routinely shared with Congress or the special court that oversees surveillance. In [URL="http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/national/what-to-say-and-not-to-say-to-our-overseers/390/"]one of the documents[/URL], agency personnel are instructed to remove details and substitute more generic language in reports to the Justice Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
In one instance, the NSA decided that it need not report the unintended surveillance of Americans. A notable example in 2008 was the interception of a “large number” of calls placed from Washington when a programming error confused the U.S. area code 202 for 20, the international dialing code for Egypt, according to a “quality assurance” review that was not distributed to the NSA’s oversight staff.
In another case, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which has authority over some NSA operations, did not learn about a new collection method until it had been in operation for many months. The court ruled it unconstitutional.
[I][[URL="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/court-ability-to-police-us-spying-program-limited/2013/08/15/4a8c8c44-05cd-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_story.html"]FISA judge: Ability to police U.S. spying program is limited[/URL]][/I]
The Obama administration has provided almost no public information about the NSA’s compliance record. In June, after promising to explain the NSA’s record in “as transparent a way as we possibly can,” Deputy Attorney General James Cole described extensive safeguards and oversight that keep the agency in check. “Every now and then, there may be a mistake,” Cole said in congressional testimony.
The [URL="http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/national/nsa-report-on-privacy-violations-in-the-first-quarter-of-2012/395/"]NSA audit obtained by The Post[/URL], dated May 2012, counted 2,776 incidents in the preceding 12 months of unauthorized collection, storage, access to or distribution of legally protected communications. Most were unintended. Many involved failures of due diligence or violations of standard operating procedure. The most serious incidents included a violation of a court order and unauthorized use of data about more than 3,000 Americans and green-card holders.[/quote]
They must not have been 'ordinary'.
Wow gosh darn spies
My life is so invaded
I'm so angry that obama is such a bad evil privacy invading person
This country sucks, i bet next obama will have people shot in the streets for insulting his ruthless regime
God damn police state America im so pissed off that all i have to deal with (that has been going on for years and years and years and i have never cared about until Snowden) is the NSA.
Well I might as well retire to my home where you know my family isn't getting blown up by just going to the market or you know there isn't constant fighting going on in the streets, and you know even though I constantly shit on Obama on the internet with my freedom of speech he hasn't had me put the firing squad or sentenced to life in a prison camp. Gosh darn NSA.
[QUOTE=ColdWave;41856462]Wow gosh darn spies
My life is so invaded
I'm so angry that obama is such a bad evil privacy invading person
This country sucks, i bet next obama will have people shot in the streets for insulting his ruthless regime
God damn police state America im so pissed off that all i have to deal with (that has been going on for years and years and years and i have never cared about until Snowden) is the NSA.
Well I might as well retire to my home where you know my family isn't getting blown up by just going to the market or you know there isn't constant fighting going on in the streets, and you know even though I constantly shit on Obama on the internet with my freedom of speech he hasn't had me put the firing squad or sentenced to life in a prison camp. Gosh darn NSA.[/QUOTE]
gj getting your point across with this insightful and reasoned argument
[QUOTE=ColdWave;41856462]Wow gosh darn spies
My life is so invaded
I'm so angry that obama is such a bad evil privacy invading person
This country sucks, i bet next obama will have people shot in the streets for insulting his ruthless regime
God damn police state America im so pissed off that all i have to deal with (that has been going on for years and years and years and i have never cared about until Snowden) is the NSA.
Well I might as well retire to my home where you know my family isn't getting blown up by just going to the market or you know there isn't constant fighting going on in the streets, and you know even though I constantly shit on Obama on the internet with my freedom of speech he hasn't had me put the firing squad or sentenced to life in a prison camp. Gosh darn NSA.[/QUOTE]
What are you even trying to say? That last paragraph, are you implying that NSA is only thing keeping the U.S. and Afghanistan apart?
[QUOTE=ColdWave;41856462]Wow gosh darn spies
My life is so invaded
I'm so angry that obama is such a bad evil privacy invading person
This country sucks, i bet next obama will have people shot in the streets for insulting his ruthless regime
God damn police state America im so pissed off that all i have to deal with (that has been going on for years and years and years and i have never cared about until Snowden) is the NSA.
Well I might as well retire to my home where you know my family isn't getting blown up by just going to the market or you know there isn't constant fighting going on in the streets, and you know even though I constantly shit on Obama on the internet with my freedom of speech he hasn't had me put the firing squad or sentenced to life in a prison camp. Gosh darn NSA.[/QUOTE]
I know I'm reading words here but all I'm getting is gibberish, can anyone translate this for me?
[editline]16th August 2013[/editline]
I get it now, it must be French. Sorry to break it to ya' bud, but this is an English forum.
[QUOTE=ForgottenKane;41856801]I know I'm reading words here but all I'm getting is gibberish, can anyone translate this for me?
[editline]16th August 2013[/editline]
I get it now, it must be French. Sorry to break it to ya' bud, but this is an English forum.[/QUOTE]
"Our government isn't shooting us and we still have our cola, all is well."
[QUOTE=Zenreon117;41856810]"Our government isn't shooting us and we still have our cola, all is well."[/QUOTE]
I didn't know it was that bad in France, jeez I feel bad for them now.
[QUOTE=ColdWave;41856462]Wow gosh darn spies
My life is so invaded
I'm so angry that obama is such a bad evil privacy invading person
This country sucks, i bet next obama will have people shot in the streets for insulting his ruthless regime
God damn police state America im so pissed off that all i have to deal with (that has been going on for years and years and years and i have never cared about until Snowden) is the NSA.
Well I might as well retire to my home where you know my family isn't getting blown up by just going to the market or you know there isn't constant fighting going on in the streets, and you know even though I constantly shit on Obama on the internet with my freedom of speech he hasn't had me put the firing squad or sentenced to life in a prison camp. Gosh darn NSA.[/QUOTE]
Congrats. I know your entire world's coming down around your ears and you're desperately trying to cling to reasons to be proud of your country, but the fact is that your other first-world neighbors can meet a higher standard, and there's no reason the USA shouldn't. "Hey guys, at least we're not a middle-eastern warzone!" is not an argument. Your fellow Americans here on FP are patriots in that they have an idea of the values their country should champion and uphold, and they're upset that those values are being violated by their own government - And have been for ages without their knowledge or consent. They're not about to retreat into a tiny shell or shrink from saying what they need to because of fear. Some people out there don't just value security, even if that's all that matters to you. They value liberty and equal opportunity, and they're well within their right - No, their duty - to speak for it.
The United States was founded by men and women who left comfortable jobs, military and political office, lovers, friends, and brothers to fight against the British Empire for independence, because they did not want to be beholden to a government that imposed such rigid rule and control over their lives, nor taxed to fund wars in which they had no interest or personal investment. They did not want to be ruled by a king or queen who reigned from an ocean away, heedless to the needs and development of the culture of the settlers in the Americas. These people went underground, fought as guerillas, were branded terrorists by the British, and in the end, they got what they wanted.
You see, Americans value freedom. Even your freedom to prefer comfort and security over that freedom. And under a good government that serves its people rather than corporate oligarchs or a military-industrial complex, the two aren't mutually exclusive. That is what you need to understand.
The more I hear about our government, the more I realize they aren't evil, they're a mixture of incompetence and doing their best.
[QUOTE=katbug;41856861]The more I hear about our government, the more I realize they aren't evil, they're a mixture of incompetence and doing their best.[/QUOTE]
The issue isn't evil; it's apathy toward the wellbeing of the populace.
Sadly, that apathy is found in both the government and the population itself.
Haven't they jammed a new law in that invading privacy is legal now?
I heard they did.
This NSA ordeal is pathetic for both parties involved, those that dislike it seem to feel they live in a state like those I referenced. It is a blind rampant hate. Eventhough the NSA can view a file of you its not like they are actively looking over every inch of every person in the country at the same time all of the time.
The NSA is at fault also for not clarifying and being very secretive. To be honest when I first heard about the NSA ordeal I was mad, but then I realized "What reason would I have given the NSA to even look into my person?"
More so, if you really want these things to change then contact your local congressmen and women. Attend political speeches/rallies, meet your local politicians, and if of age do your voting, make use of your resources. Hell even become a politician yourself if you are so gung-ho. Its not like a damn firing squad will break down your door and put you in the slammer for some shitty post on the internet (like how many of you have sensationalized this shit in all of the wrong ways) unless they determine you are a credible threat. I see so much anger in all of you, but when it comes to taking extra leaps to make change I don't think any of you really have done so.
Sure you can say "Well coldwave what have you done to incite change? huh?" To which all I can say is not much, I have never attended a political rally or anything like that because I feel that I'am leading a pretty good life here in this "fat obese corrupt merican gun land of spies".
"But all politicians are corrupt and they don't listen/just want power" Well then contact these people in power who want to stay in power, if power is their goal then they will adapt to keep it.
The whole point is, stop sensationalizing the NSA as a corrupt freedom stealer and start sensationalizing it as something that needs change and reform if it supposedly is destroying your life.
[QUOTE=archangel125;41856838]The United States was founded by men and women who left comfortable jobs, military and political office, lovers, friends, and brothers to fight against the British Empire for independence, because they did not want to be beholden to a government that imposed such rigid rule and control over their lives, nor taxed to fund wars in which they had no interest or personal investment.[/quote]
Erm, the American colonies were already pretty self-determining by the 1770s anyways. Most of the matter was over taxation reform which undercut American merchants (muh protectionism).
Plus the leaders of that revolution booted out anybody who disagreed with them and then confiscated their lands. In a country where a significant minority of the population identified as British, its fascinating how a minority of slaveholding landowners not only had the balls to make a declaration of independence and claimed that they spoke for everybody, but then drive the economy into the ground, confiscate peoples lands, crushed attempts at self-rule or protests by Americans after the war, and only managed to stay afloat due to heavy foreign intervention.
[quote]They did not want to be ruled by a king or queen who reigned from an ocean away, heedless to the needs and development of the culture of the settlers in the Americas.[/quote]
The British King was utterly powerless by this time.
[quote]These people went underground, fought as guerillas, were branded terrorists by the British, and in the end, they got what they wanted.[/QUOTE]
For the first few decades, the USA was a tinpot country with heavy emigration, crushing often a lot of rebellions, and participating in an unsuccessful war on the same side as Napoleon. Plus Indians lost out anyways and kept being pushed westwards.
For all intents and purposes, the people of America were no more free under American masters than British ones.
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