"They Are Watching Everyone" 166
A
Moscow Times story
shows us what happens when privacy protections are few or ineffective. A Russian private-eye firm has bought a $50,000 black-market database "on 140 politicians, journalists, businessmen and criminals," and is now publishing it. Why? Because "we want people to know the spirit of the KGB is alive ... the telephone tapping and surveillance of hundreds of Russian citizens indicates that the country is under a microscope and that this microscope is more intense than that of the KGB/FSB." One woman whose phone conversations were bugged by the free-lance spies says: "Soon, we will look back with nostalgia at the times when we were only listened to by the KGB and not by God-knows-whom, by anybody." Hyperbole? Perhaps. Fortunately, this could never happen here.
Technical solutions to technical problems (Score:1)
Instead we work on technical solutions, like widespread encryption, which cure the problem once and for all. Relying on politicians to protect your privacy is really, really dumb.
Re:NSA (Score:1)
You're wrong. What you're talking about would be a form of key escrow, which some agencies are eager to establish but which is still, in the general case, a threat rather than a fact.
Consider: when you generate a PGP (or GPG, or whatever) private key, you're doing it yourself, and you don't send a copy of it to anyone.
Now, if the crypto you're using is very lame, I suppose there might be a "master key" or small set thereof that could decrypt any message encrypted using that lame technique. But that would become obvious upon analysis, and open-sourced software especially wouldn't be around very long before someone noticed such a glaring flaw.
Re:Optimism at work (Score:1)
At least, I hope that was sarcasm...
Anyhow, I'll just go home and watch Big Brother, content in the fact that no one is watching me..... Is that a two-way mirror?
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pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate [ncsu.edu].
Yes, it would be better... (Score:2)
It's been shown that treatment programs work much better for curbing drug use than law enforcement does for preventing it. We can send millions of dollars and tons of equipment all over South America, but that isn't going to change a thing. All it does is help continue to create the artificial scarcity that makes drugs so profitable in the first place, which encourages more people to get into the business. Then there's all the corruption that it creates, even in our own military, police forces, and government. We need to quit trying to prevent the drugs from coming in and work on education and treatment. These are the most effective ways we have of dealing with the problem. Hopefully if we, as a country, ever get our sh|t together and tell the politicians to give up this never-ending "war," we can get some of our liberties back as a side-effect. I doubt they'll give up their new-found power easily though.
Beware (Score:1)
So when you base your privacy efforts on some information from Russian press, beware. This could be just a move in someone's information war, and you'll be just a pawn in this game.
Re:Too late (Score:2)
Great, just what we need: more conspiracy theories.
There is nothing stopping them from doing this now with your credit card number, your account number scanned from your check or if you're so paranoid you always pay with cash, even from the security cameras snapping your picture and comparing it with some sinister database with the intents you describe.
The tools already exist for them to do this, let's not freak out when something new comes along with just as much potential for evil big brother spying.
If your local supermarket is really doing this kind of thing to you, shop elsewhere. I think it's a pretty silly thought, myself.
Re:Technical solutions to technical problems (Score:1)
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Re:Technical solutions to technical problems (Score:2)
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Privacy is the greatest luxury... (Score:2)
I disagree. Privacy costs. There are real, dollar savings I pass up by refusing discount cards. I can afford this now, but I know a lot of people for whom $20 or even $5 saved at the supermarket *is* a big deal. This is what's happening today.
In the future of (even more) pervasive surveillance, it's simply going to cost more to keep one's privacy; most won't be able to afford this, but I guarantee you, some will. You won't be getting snapshots of what Bill Gates or Gee-Dubya are buying at the supermarket. They don't have to go to the supermarket for themselves so their data trail is diffused.
Proponents of the "Transparent Society" are deluded if they think everyone's going to have the same access to information AND the same lack of privacy.
-Isaac
Re:Wakeup Call for the US! (Score:1)
Am I correct that the NSA is part of the Executive branch of the government?
I wonder if Congress doesn't have some sort of check or balance to reign in the NSA.
My biggest concern is that these intelligence community agencies are getting more and more power. I fear that eventually if nothing is done to curb the NSA's power, we're going to wonder how nice the Russians had it under the KGB!
Don't get me wrong, I don't think the NSA is as powerful or as ruthless as the KGB was WRT th the general citizenry, it's the slow erosion of rights over time I'm concerned with.
It's happened to my Parents! (Score:2)
I have to say that when I went there you are under a lot of scuritny. It is not uncommon to be followed wile walking down the street or to have people watch you out of the corner of their eye.
On the lighter side, Moscow is one fun town to party and I very much liked the females.
Re:Optimism at work (Score:3)
Irony, of course.
Jamie McCarthy
Re:Technical solutions to technical problems (Score:1)
How to stop this (Score:2)
So what to do about it? Well dig up dirt. Compile it. Share it. Let the world know Richard Nixon's social security number [totse.com]. Find out exactly what George W. Bush had for breakfast, and call him on his home phone number to let him know. Let the politicos understand why privacy is important and they will make the laws.
If we don't get privacy from them, why should they get privacy from us?
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Re:1984 (Score:1)
So I guess, goverment is not the only organization that is after your privacy. Of course, it could never happen in US. Yeah, right.....
Re:Technical solutions to technical problems (Score:2)
Doing nothing will most certainly not change anything. We don't need to prove that. At least makeing an effort has a chance.
Wait until encryption is outlawed because people are utterly passive about how the country is run. Then see what happens.
There is no fallback method you seem to be advocating. You must be active.
Woz
This will happen here regardless (Score:2)
Why? Because microtechnology will make it possible and incredibly cheap. Look at the micro air vehicles in development - only a couple of inches wingspan. Cameras the size of buttons. Microphones much smaller.
I expect that within ten years you will be able to buy cameras and microphones by the bucketload. It will come down to the Diamand Age fluff floating thru the air.
There is a difference between recording and broadcasting, though. I also expect that almost all recording will be done for review purposes, like black boxes in airliners -- something happens, you review the record. There will be so much recorded that actually watching it will be boring beyond belief.
When snooping becomes this easy and cheap and undetectable, it will be pervasive. Older generations will shudder in fear, but kids will grow up knowing their every move is recorded, whether in public or private. In a generation, it will be accepted and expected practice. I personally both dread it and look forward to it. Dread because it's not what I am used to, anticipate it because one of the causes of so much inequity in the world is the rich and powerful having access to information that the poor and weak don't. But if you can bug them as easily as they can bug you, power shifts. No longer will the powerful get away with crimes that their victims are punished for.
A very concrete example was Rodney King being beaten by the L.A. cops -- and video recorded. That recording was the beginning of the end. That's why so many cop cars now have video cameras -- to protect the cops from the citizens. A delicious harbinger of things to come!
I think physical crime will drop dramatically, because it will be so easy to find out who did it. Proof might be harder due to the ease of making false recordings, but anonymous email to friends and family of the accused will be rampant.
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Yeah, right. (Score:1)
Fortunately, this could never happen here.
Fat lot you know, Jamie.
Poison the well. (Score:1)
Swap Stop&Shop cards with buddies at the water cooler - send them cross-country - best still, make up a fake identity which only buys vice-foods, and watch those pre-approved credit card offers roll in for your imaginary friend.
Get a PO box. It's not a big help, but it's another level of indirection that an automated system has to filter. I have one. 99% of what I get there is junk, and 99% of that is from Micros~1 because I registered a few products..
Put spider-poison in your web page. A bunch of interesting words, and counter-referencing URLs in an HTML comment do wonders - but also confuse worthwhile serach engines. YMMV.
Encrypt. Even if you have nothing better to do it with but ROT13.
Why not IP6? Do you really have to ask? Whom would it inconvenience?
Happens here every day (Score:2)
You have a credit card? You use it? You're profiled. Your spending habits drive the issuing of credit and the supply of goods to your geographical area.
You have a wholesale club or grocery store card? You're a statistic. Your nutritional habits are monitored by your friendly neighborhood grocer, and your area is blanketted for health risks based on this information.
You have medical insurance? You're analysed for risk, allergies, immunizations, tests. Ever have a VD test? Pregnancy test? Cancer test? Those premiums just don't want to drop, do they? Doctors don't release your personal information, that would be unethical. HMO's are just protecting their investment.
You have a car? Then you not only have a license and registration, you also have insurance. You buy gas with on credit? If you buy a lot, your insurance premium reflects that you drive a lot. You must inform the DMV within 2 weeks of changing residence, but it's ok, since you're in a free country.
You have a phone? You're cross-linked with the people you call, and the above information is crunched for your 'circle of friends'. Ever call overseas? Which country?
Computers were invented to do math, but showed tremedous utility in data processing. It is naive to think that this sort of profiling does not go on in the most money-oriented, statisticaly driven, heavily computerized country in the world. People may not be organized enough to plan something like this, but corporations are, after all, there is huge money at stake.
Reality check for the future... You give blood? Which database will those genetic tests end up in? You have a LoJack? A cell-phone? No need to tell anyone where you're going, they already know. Wouldn't you like to protect your new born son against abduction through a genetic sample taken at birth? Just wait until his girlfriend's father checks that information in 16 years, for a nominal fee of course...
Paranoid? Probably. Wrong? Probably not.
Re:Wakeup Call for the US! (Score:2)
In theory, of course. But, in practice, all any intelligence agency needs to do to perform domestic surveillance, is apply to the special FISA court (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) Title 50, Chapter 36 US Code [cornell.edu], which, last I heard, had refused exactly one request (out of tens of thousands) since 1978. FISA warrants (which, unlike regular warrants are not published or released) have skyrocketed in the past few years -- averaging ca 250/yr in the first 15 years of FISA, and over 1000/yr by the latest Congressional figures I've seen (which may not be a complete count of recent warrrants for obvious reasons).
I discussed FISA in another story recently, and I don't like to think about it too much in one day (it's too depressing, for personal reasons) so please see my earlier post on wiretaps [slashdot.org] [there's a bug in slashcode, so you may have to click the post # to see the whole thing) or do a Google search for "FISA wiretap" (no quotes).
I like the NSA (also for personal reasons), but my personal fondness for the organizations doesn't blind me to the dangers intrisic in irresponsible policy.
One of the trends that brought down the USSR was the way technology disproportionately empowered the individual in a restrictive society. In the 70's, mimeographs and xeroxes were tightly regulated as potential printing presses. Even a senior scientist seeking a reprint usually had to get it copied by a designated library officer, who kept logs. One key to the maintaining power was maintaining a disparity in capability between the KGb (e.g.) and the indivisual. But the Soviet economy would not long stand unless they freely used computers, networks, fax, xerox, and other technologies that were growing common in the West, and these tools could be (and were) used for dissent as well
In a society where technology and openness traditionally favor the individual, the balance can easily swing the other way -- it really has nowhere else to go. Overly broad powers, in actual experience yield little, and even in theory should yield very little, given practical realities.
Powers tend to be used, regardless of the target. US vs THEM is very deep in the human tribal nature, and is a common attitude in any gov't agency or business. The Geeks (individuals) led technology, but now the technology is so powerful that for many individual applications it doesn't matter if you have a P-100 or a Beowulf cluster... large organizations, however, can harness the full power of the new technology...
We need to use our Mark I jello-ware neural-nets before it's too late!
It will never be like the KGB (Score:1)
The KGB had a really great survelance system because most of their information came from the civilian population itself, from citizens who where looking for a little extra money or simply a better life, and this was a difficult task in a communist country. Now that Russia and the other ex-USSR countries have a free market economy, people have a lot more options to improve their quality of life. In short, to achieve the level the KGB had as a spying state-driven organization this new agency has to hire thousands, if not millions, of russian citizens to watch one another. Even so, the quantity of the information would be so much that most of it would be unreachable or not usable, and that's without checking the quality of it.
I dont recall exacly but I think the german secret police, the Stasi, had this problem, they where overwelmed with information and most of it was useless.
What the Russian goverment should do is protect civil rights and enforce them like western countries do. This is part of a transition, and Russian citizens are more or less used to this kind of espionage and invasion or personal privacy.
Blasphamy.. (Score:1)
Hold on a moment...
*Silently*Hay someone get the brainwashing machine working.... we got one... yeah.. he's on to us BIG TIME...
Re:1984 for real? (Score:1)
Re:Selling vrs. Killing (Score:2)
Slashdotting Russia (Score:1)
I don't know what kind of internet connectivity they have there but I'm sure this is not going to help the situation
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IanO
Re:Wakeup Call for the US! (Score:1)
Your answer: the NSA could blackmail any (not every) politician in Congress out of office in a microsecond. Every politician has large skeletons in the closet, and NSA knows everything. Do you need a more plausible reason why Congress didn't press the point?
Re:Too late (Score:1)
Pharmacies are a better example, where the data collected are not voluntary -- you want meds, you have to give them a minimum of info. They've tried (and changed their minds when it hit the evening news) to sell the data. That's scary!
Re:Optimism at work (Score:1)
I think he was being sarcastic.
Re:Wakeup Call for the US! (Score:2)
-B
Re:Optimism at work (Score:3)
One of the reasons that those requests are rarely denied is because the police know what is required to get permission and don't want to waste their own, or the judges, time making a request without reasonable suspicion. Also, just because a judge gives permission for a wiretap doesn't mean that a good defense lawyer won't get it thrown out in court.
-B
PS- I'm not saying the system works perfectly, but it is designed well.
Re:Optimism at work (Score:4)
-Agent B
Russian government doesn't have Internet access?! (Score:2)
Re:Wakeup Call for the US! (Score:1)
To a certain extent, I agree with this now, but there are a few important issues I have with that:
I'm not saying this is anything that will affect your or me significantly in our lifetimes, but they are issues that need to be dealt with as soon as possible. Besides, just because it doesn't affect us doesn't mean it's not important. Senators are people too!
1984 for real? (Score:2)
However, I've always wondered how many of these things were simply 1-way speakers, and how many were 2-way speaker/microphones, like George Orwell's 2-way TVs.
Sarcasm at work (Score:3)
<sarcasm>Fortunately, this could never happen here</sarcasm>
so we wouldn't have to deal with people who can't recognize sarcasm pointing out how naive he (she?) is.
Wakeup Call for the US! (Score:2)
Get over it... (Score:2)
Re:The Moscow Times? (Score:1)
Re:Too late (Score:3)
The law enforcement types say they need to curtail civil liberties to be effective.
Ok, they got it.
Step back from an occaisional drug bust and look at the situation as a whole. Are they demonstratively more effective than before?
If not,then we've just traded our liberties for nothing.
Re:db link (Score:2)
We have tools to help. (Score:2)
We have ways and means to prevent this (to an extent. gpg/pgp, ssh, ssl for web. This covers most things that people do on the net. These aren't perfect and are still prone to human error but using these simple things can lessen the effects of this.
Re:Yeah? And what is the /. crowd doing about it? (Score:1)
^^--- This ad hominem attack was brought to you by the letter "M" and the number "23" -- ^^
- Rev.
Yeah? And what is the /. crowd doing about it? (Score:5)
Every day, it seems, we see more and more stories about how group X is violating privacy. From Echelon to RealNetworks, privacy abuse is very, very obviously pervasive and almost totally unchecked.
And what does the /. crowd do? They bitch. Bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch. Katz spews out another horror piece. User comments that amount to little more than "that sucks!" are moderated up to 5. Endless debate occurs over the rights of states & corporations vs. the rights of the individuals. On and on and on...
In the meantime, little harm occurs to those who violate these rights. Have you written or called your Congresscritter to bitch about this? Yes, money rules politics. But so does the ballot box. If they think that there are concerned citizens out there it will at least give them pause before voting for the "Feinstein-Helms Let's Give the Corporations More Power to Eavesdrop Bill of 2000". PLEASE spend less time posting comments here and more time calling up Congressmembers. Bitch to THEM. Get active! As cool as /. is, it affects policy only marginally. "They've got the guns but we've got the numbers" as Jim Morrison famously said. Bitch, moan, complain and do so loudly and consistently.
[Note: This message applies worldwide: just replace "Congress" with "Parliament" or "Duma" or whatever happens to apply to your particular locale. But fucking DO it. Nothing positive will happen in the "real world", no matter how high your karma is here.]
This should probably be modded as flamebait, because I am trying to be inflammatory. I *want* people to get pissed.
And while we're at it, can someone email me & tell me why IPv6/IPsec hasn't been widely implemented yet? Packet level encryption would help in situations like this.
- Rev.Re:Even better - lie on the application (Score:3)
I told *two* grocery stores that I would change my shopping habits and never darken their door again rather than provide personally identifiable marketing information. Fortunately the third chain (Albertsons) has repeatedly stated that they will not introduce them. When I really wanted something that only a carded store carried, I shopped at the local grocery store and paid full price. (It subsequently went bankrupt and was purchased by Albertsons.)
This was a pain, but nobody can accuse me of sitting on the fence. I was also always very clear that I would accept their cards if they were truly anonymous - put a bowl of them out on the customer service desk and donate any bonus points to charity. I'll grab a new card every few months - long enough for you to collect real marketing information, but not long enough that I would worry about my privacy. I have been told by all stores that that is "impossible."
In contrast, you're already in bed with the marketers. You lie, other people swap cards at parties, but you all buy into the Big Lie that it's legitimate for a grocery store to demand personal information in exchange for token discounts on merchandise they artificially marked up in the first place. (E.g., I noticed that 2-liter bottles of soda shot up from $0.99/2L to $3.99/2L, with a "sale" price of $1.99/2L, after the introduction of these cards.) When they decide to crack down on identity fraud and demand that you provide real information to get your discounts you're not in a strong moral position to protest.
This seems like a minor point, but if you look at the civil disobediences that worked (including the experiences of POW camp survivors) you'll see that one of the common threads is that the leaders and members always made an explicit effort to avoid any benefits which weren't available to all. I'll take advantange of a sales price which is available to everyone, card or not, but I won't accept a sales price that in any way - no matter how small - reflects special treatment in return for cooperation.
It's everywhere (Score:1)
Man, I just joined this place, and NO ONE knows anything about the PBX, which is just in an unlocked 'closet' that I can go into anytime. Why do telcos and employers think that "all those wires" make no sense to anyone? It's actually a piece of cake. Security through obscurity at it's worse!
Anyway, what would keep your employer from coughing up any of the information they already have on you? We've already had court cases where the Company's backup tapes are open for viewing! Add this to that Quova company that is port scanning everyone on the internet, and the information your employer has is their's to peruse. Some people asked how in the heck could Quova get your buying habits and interests from this... Maybe text parsign through all your emails. Or simply finding the Net-Nanny-Watch type software that already has all of your web site visits handy... and coded to your name.
Rader
Re:Technical solutions to technical problems (Score:1)
It's unfortunate that most people are too scared to even think about going against Big Brother.
Re:Is DEA not an excuse? (Score:1)
Re:Time to Wake Up (Score:1)
But more on the subject, I don't understand why you state-righters think that giving the states more power will somehow lead to better protection of civil liberties. There isn't a tie between the two. In fact, as the federal government has gained power(thanks to FDR and LBJ, JFK), people have gained even more rights and protections....thanks to the federal government's ability to coerce the states(like Mississippi, Alabama, etc)
to sum it up, Federalism(the balance of power between the states and the federal government) isn't tied to civil liberties...and if it is, federal power is good for increasing civil liberties.
your friendly poly sci major
quatto
Re:Wakeup Call for the US! (Score:2)
I seriously doubt this is any sort of wake-up call to a politician.
Re:1984 (Score:2)
It's called Echelon, and it is very real.
Echelon is "sigint." Or signal intelligence. I remember reading an article in Time Magazine [time.com] shortly after Australia first announced that it was taking part in the project to monitor the worlds private and public communications. Time reported that all email, land-line phone, cell phone, newsgroup, message board, pager, etc was open to interception by this singal monitoring project.
They originally reported that it looks for key words (ie presidential threats). The monitoring has been done by computer which flags suspected transmissions and sends them off for further investigation.
Conclusion: It has long sinc been possible to monitor you phone calls. Big Brother is watching.
Re:Wakeup Call for the US! (Score:2)
Suppose we allow this to happen, with a little resistance, but in the end the government encroaches upon our privacy more and more. We give up a little privacy here, and a little more there. All in the name of national security, drug wars, what have you.
This is when things go wrong. What happens if people begin to fight against injustice, speak out against toxic dumping, or disagree with the political actions of the government. With all the resitricted privacy, the voice of the people is truly drowned out. Anyone who doesn't agree with the president and might not vote for him could be "quieted." It's not about your slashdot karma now, or your criminal record, it's about preserving what we have for the moments in history when they are needed.
I'm not saying either that right now our government is evil, but I'm saying that the potential for abuse is great. That is why we were given these rights in the first place. The American people are the ultimate form of checks and balances.
Re:Too late (Score:2)
Fess up! what did they have on you. I'm not expecting you to give details, but was it accurate, scarily precise, or just vague and uninformative.
Me, I'm proud of the fact that the credit agencies do a knock-kncok routine ("Johan who?") when they hear my name. Tho it does make getting appartments a hassle.
It's in Russian? (Score:1)
Re:Too late (Score:3)
More likely, it will be because of cigarettes or alcohol. Cigarettes are almost ALWAYS cheaper with a card.
There was one particular lawsuit where someone sued a grocery store, and they brought up alcohol purchases on his club card in their legal defense.
I generally avoid these type of cards for that reason. Of course, if you have use a credit card, all of that information is logged anyway. For maximum privacy the only option is cash.
Dunno about you 'Mericans... (Score:1)
To quote [canoe.ca]: "The "extraordinarily detailed database" holds a dossier on almost every person in Canada with as many as 2,000 pieces of information about each person's education, marital status, ethnic origin, mobility, disabilities, income tax, employment and social assistance history.".
It's scary stuff to say the least. Ostensibly, this information has been collected "to plan schools, hospitals, utilities", but it's only one step from being a huge money-maker when sold to advertisers. How would you like to receive targeted marketing from medical companies when they learn from your medical records that you have such-and-such a disease/condition?
Apparently (though I can't find the news article relating to it), there is going to be a dismantling of this database, but do you trust that the information will be destroyed? Or will it be broken down into smaller chunks and disseminated among government agencies responsible for particulars? When you decide to run for prime minister at age 50, will the two months that you were on welfare in your 20's be delivered to the media by some source?
TheGeek
Handbook for Privacy (Score:1)
1. Don't communicate. No phone, no internet, no speaking, hell, don't even blink your eyes.
2. Don't go anywhere. People can see where you're at.
3. Don't shed any skin/hair/bodily fluid. People can look at your genetic code and engineer a biotoxin that can only make YOU sterile. (Which shouldn't matter if you follow this rule anyway, as you can't spill bodily fluid.)
4. Don't touch ANYTHING, as then they can get your fingerprint.
5. Stop living. This is the only surefire way to rid mortals of keeping tabs on you. (Except for the U.S. Census, which has a tendancy to count graveyards in their polls, but no on listens to them anyway.)
The point is, you are safe nowhere as long as you exist. Why anyone would be SURPRISED that we are all being spied on all of the time is beyond me. I mean what the hell do you think all of those satillites are for? Weather Forecasting?! PSHAW!
Vulgrin the MAD
Re:Too late (Score:1)
But what do you do about this? Take away all of the DEA's powers? Make everything go in front of a judge? Think of what that will do for red-tape.
I'm not defending them at all, but you have to think of alternatives to give them the tools they need to solve their task. Either that or legalize all drugs and have the country turn into a cesspool.
My 2 cents. Any unused currency can be returned for a full refund within 30 days.
Vulgrin the MAD
Re:Too late (Score:1)
Imagine if they HADN'T been doing what they have been doing for so long. Would it be better or worse?
Its a completely pointless question, that I don't personally agree with, but I'm trying to look at both sides.
Vulgrin the MAD
one thing to remember... (Score:1)
For all we know, Bill Clinton has a mega database with all our names in it, or was that Bill Gates.
Re:one thing to remember... (Score:1)
> Uh, don't you mean "black ops"?
No not really, but I should probably explain it for the intellectually challenged. "[B]lack ops" would refer to an operation. A Black box project refers to a project that may or may not contain operations. The project I am refering to contained both. Research and people actually using it.
Re:Wakeup Call for the US! (Score:1)
Note, 'tho, that the NSA's charter is pretty darn specific. In most circumstances, they are NOT allowed to deliberately eavesdrop on an American citizen, or to arrange for any other nation to do so -- and their own FAQ reiterates this. Exceptions, if memory serves, include conversations with foreign nationals.
Consequently, they stand to get nailed if anybody proves that they directly or indirectly (via UKUSA) arrange for blanket SIGINT collection on domestic conversations...
Re:Wakeup Call for the US! (Score:1)
Asking them to prove that they did NOT violate privacy of Americans in contravention of their Charter is also obviously impossible, since they would have to "prove" that they did not dispose of evidence, and so forth. So it's an utterly bogus request.
Soliciting whistleblowing employees past and present is more logical if one believes that the Agency violates its charter.
Re:db link (Score:2)
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Here's your reference (Score:2)
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Ancient Goth: Someone who overthrew the Roman Empire.
Re:So... (Score:1)
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Is Hans Reiser on the list? (Score:1)
diff between judge and police (Score:1)
There's a reason for that. Figure it out.
Re:diff between judge and police (Score:1)
Police - likes to put people in prison
You are a moron.
Re:Wakeup Call for the US! (Score:2)
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Optimism at work (Score:4)
I hate to be the pessimist/conspiratory theorist here, but truthfully, for all that I know my phones are tapped by uncounted numbers of people/organizations. I would never know about it, from the "end user" point of view, but somebody could easily be eavesdropping on all my conversations, e-mail (can anybody say Echelon?), and God knows what else. Just because the U.S. government says they are upholding the law and not bending it does not make it true. I recall a bit of text placed on the music video for Van Halen's "Right Now" song... "Right Now, our government is doing things you think only other governments do" It's not far from the truth, folks.
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Re:Too late (Score:2)
I've got an easy solution for those cards. Lie. There's nothing on the form you fill out that says you can't. Lie, and then trade the cards with your friends on a regular basis. There's nothing on the form you fill out about that either.
Not Huxley but Heinlein (Score:1)
Maybe it is me, but Russia is starting to sound more and more like a perfect liberterian society: a tiny government that has pulled back significantly, leaving the free market to govern itself.
And market it did, everything it could, at maximum profit and perfect prices. Suddenly a database of private lives is only worth 50k, and no pesky law telling you what you can sell or not.
Funny enough, it just doesn't sound like a place to raise children or grow old in.
Too late (Score:5)
The Drug Enforcement Agency has lobbied for and received an amazing suite of powers, ostensibly for use in fighting the 'War on Drugs'. Not only can the DEA seize cash and assets without proof of wrongdoing, mere suspicion, they can also get wiretaps on suspected criminals with minimal evidence. In fact, DEA and other law enforcement can now get wiretaps without the inconvenience of justifying it to a judge by merely waving the flag of 'Drug War'. After that, it's basically a blank wiretapping check that's written in their name.
For a more pervasive example of observastion, take a look at the grocery 'Club Cards' that are becoming popular. These cards allow the stores to attach names to the lists of purchases made. There is nothing to prevent them from selling this information to insurance companies and marketing companies in the years to come. Of course, you won't realize it until one day your health insurance agent says they are downgrading you to a 'At Risk' group, doomed to pay more, simply because they noticed that you haven't been buying the 5% fat beef instead of the 20% fat beef. A marketer might call you up one day and ask you to try Pepsi instead of Coke, or browbeat you on your choice of laundry detergents.
Phone tapping isn't the biggest problem anymore, it's all the OTHER data that's sorted, collated, and filed under you social security number.
Those poor, oppressed souls... (Score:2)
It already happens here (Score:2)
Re:It already happens here (Score:2)
do you read the stories? (Score:3)
This is news?
Echelon... (Score:1)
Re:Wakeup Call for the US! (Score:1)
I met a person at Usenix last month who keeps his pgp key on a disk, in an undisclosed physically secure location (probably in a safe). When he signs someones key, he boots his laptop (cold boot) off a CDROM, containing ONLY software that he personally audited, with a copy of gpg or pgp (I forget) on the CDROM.
He then uses that to sign the keys.
Now this is all well and good but...very secure. However is it needed? I don't know about others but I figure that if someone is willing to expend the effort to A) Break into my masquerading host, B) break into my workstation host, and then C) invest the energy (CPU time etc) to try and crack the encryption on _MY_ gpg key (given that MY key has a strong passphrase)...
Well if someone had motive to expend THAT MUCH effort to get MY key...then I have larger problems than key protection is going to solve.
All we can really do is protect ourselves with deterrent systems, like the car locks and doors on houses, to make the barrier to entry high enough that its not worth it for most people to attack....then hope its enough.
I think the real problem with the net is the volume. If you want to listen to voice conversations in bedrooms...you need to have listening devices pointed at every bedroom. If you want to listen to email....all you need is a tap at a high volume net juncture...and you can get thousands upon thousands of messages.
(our mail exchangers alone do about 100k messages/day..upstream 1 or 2 hops from us..its probably more like 1 million or more)
Re:GnuPG PGP interoperability (Score:1)
The Moscow Times? (Score:1)
Re:The Moscow Times? (Score:2)
Actually, a bit of further research reveals the the Moscow Times is owned by something called Independent Media. From their site [moscowtimes.ru]:
Guess that explains it.
Re:Too late (Score:1)
Is DEA not an excuse? (Score:4)
BUT America wants to have an excuse (yes, I'm finally coming to my point here
The DEA is such a force, it's everywhere and when America thinks it's needed to do something about a thing they don't like, they use it. And. of course, everything and everyone has to be monitored everywhere. I think the DEA is just an excuse to get influence.
Am I lucky I live in the Netherlands! (Yes, I have used cannabis for years, absolutely problemless, I stopped, without any problem, and I'm not using any other drugs (apart from caffeine), never have used other drugs, and never wanted to. But that's off-topic again
Why could it not happen here? (Score:1)
Re:Optimism at work (Score:1)
Selling vrs. Killing (Score:1)
Bullshit. The KGB murdered people for political beliefs. This happens when law breaks down to the point that the government itself is simply a system of force. The US is a long way from there, despite incidents like Ruby Ridge, Waco, and Miami.
Don't try to compare M$ or DoubleClick using your email to sell shit, to the KGB. It's an insult to all the people that they killed.
Re:Miami? (Score:1)
Ruby Ridge: Government could have waited. Instead they used sniper to kill.
Waco: Government could have arrested leader in town. Instead they decided to go in with guns blazing, and failed. They then could have waited. Instead they decided to snipe and storm.
Elian: They could have waited for the court decision. Once again, they stormed a private house.
Now what laws? All of the above cases have the stench of abitrary and exmplerary enforcement. The last case was the shakiest legaly as A. Child Custody is a State matter. B. Federal law grants immunity rights to ANY Cuban that reaches US soil. C. No flight hazard was ever demonstrated.
The framers of the constitution put thought billiting of troops in private houses was evil enough to be mentioned in the Bill of Rights. I wonder what they might think of the above.
New Commie Party Line? (Score:1)
"Soon, we will look back with nostalgia at the times when we were only listened to by the KGB and not by God-knows-whom, by anybody."
Psst - Don't trust those bastards to snoop on you! Only the real KGB knows how to do it right. Just let us take charge again and never have to think for yourself again. We'll round up all of those pesky computers, copy machines, and other printing presses for you. Happy days will come again.
From what I've read, this is not winning anyone over but retirees and, suprise, party members who have taken some big hits. What can be worse than being killed for thinking? People want to be free.
The KGB is still watching you too!
RMS is involved! (Score:1)
He's mixed up with the KGB!? I always knew he was a communist!
----------------
Programming, is like sex.
Re:Too late (Score:2)
That happened to Robert Riveria, in a supermarket named Vons, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Safeway.
Briefly, what happened is that Mr. Riveria sued because he slipped in a yogurt spill that hadn't been cleaned up yet. (Seems a bit frivolous to me - but that's just my opinion.) According to Mr.Riveria's attorney, the mediator assigned to the case said Vons' lawyers informed them that theys had used his purchasing information to determine that he regularly purchased alchololic information, and they might imply in court that that was the reason why Mr. Riveria was unable to successfully negotiate his way around the wet cleanup.
Vons asserts their lawyers asked them for the information from the card record department, but it was never granted. (Interestingly, they didn't actually deny that their attorneys made the threat, only that it was baseless.) Note that the information was never used in court, and in fact it was the plantiff who held the press conference reporting it.
I'm note sure this is a case of black and white. Make the judgement yourself. You can find some info about it here [azstarnet.com]
Re:Too late (Score:4)
I certainly do think that the DEA should have to go in front of a judge to get a warrant for a wiretap, search, etc. The purpose of that "Red Tape" is to protect your rights. Going through the trouble to justify a warrant isn't some stupid formality that's there to get in the way. It's a vitally important step in preventing abuse of police powers. If there's actually a problem processing these things promptly that means you need more judges to deal with the workload, not that you should start ripping up the Bill of Rights to save time.
The key is that allowing a minor loophole in an important protection is like being a little bit pregnant. Once there's a single agency that can violate your rights, all of the other groups that want to can just call them up, trump up some bogus grounds for a search, and "happen" to find whatever else they were looking for.
The big thing to remember is that someone involved in a big, organized activity like large scale drug traffic will inherently produce a trail of physical and documentary evidence. Sooner or later some of that is going to show up in a way that will convince a judge that it's worth while letting the police have their warrant. It's people who haven't done anything wrong but just happen to look suspicious (or have pissed off a member of the police) who are the real potential victims here. When you let the police barge in wherever and whenever they want, you'll increase the number of innocent people harmed much more than the number of guilty people caught.
Re:Wakeup Call for the US! (Score:2)
I was dealing directly with the idea that we all are being spied on. When the resources simply aren't there to do the job, such statements should be pointed out as paranoid.
Re:Wakeup Call for the US! (Score:2)
I'm not aware of any legislation to prohibit smoking except in public areas where it can indeed hurt others. I am extremely sensitive to smoke, usually getting a headache before I can even smell it.
What happens when Billy boy thinks that high-cholesterol meats are bad for you, imagine that congress bill.
You talkin' about Double Cheeseburger Bill? The resident of the USofA? Not likely.
Re:You're lucky (Score:2)
I think there are actually very few who would do so. The media tend to play up the connection in a case like Matt Sheppard's (sp?) murder.
Similarly, people who support abortion are also often the victims of zealous murderous fundamentalists.
While abortion providers have been targeted, I don't believe the numbers justify the use of the term 'often'. Also, zeal and belief in the fundamentals of an individual's religion are superfluous and inflammatory with respect to this argument. There are just as many people who are zealous in their beliefs and twisted enough in their thinking to kill people simply because they are christians (or muslims, or bahai, etc.) as in school shootings in Kentucky, Littleton and the Baptist church in Texas. You could probably take the numbers of churchgoers killed in these three attacks and come up with a significantly larger number of deaths than those of abortion providers.
I recently read about a prominent atheist who was kidnapped and then was never seen again.
If you're referring to Madelyn O'Hare, she and two of her children are presumed murdered by an associate for $500,000.00 in gold (I think that's the right amount) and not because of her beliefs or activism.
These examples are similar to the idea that we are all being spied on in that they are exaggerated in and even sensationalistic. Does that mean that there aren't people who would just as soon kill homosexuals as look at them? No, I'm certain that there are, just as I'm certain that there are a few people who would target someone because of their religious beliefs or the color of their skin, or any number of other differences. They don't all belong to a single demographic, but a single mindset that says it's OK to use violence to achieve your ends. There are a few who would carry that as far as murder, far more who would beat the living daylights out of you, and still more who would scheme against you or rail against you publicly. I don't believe the increases from group to group to be incremental but exponential. This is not based on profiling, but simple observation.
carlos
Re:You're lucky (Score:2)
That's funny. Almost governmental, giving with one hand what you take away with the other.
If you check out my previous posts you'll see that I don't have a problem with a need to preserve privacy. I think all of us have things in our lives, past or present, that we'd just as soon weren't made public (except the sociopaths).
Re:Wakeup Call for the US! (Score:4)
That still probably holds true for most of us. The only names on the database are high-profile: 140 politicians, journalists, businessmen and criminals.
I doubt anyone's Slashdot Karma level is sufficient to bring about such scrutiny.
Let's say someone did tap my phone. What will they use the information for? Will they attempt to blackmail me with information regarding cheating on my diet? What would they expect to gain? My assets are few. I try to live my life peaceably with others and within the limitations of the law.
The simple fact is that there are so many people and only a few of them can be dedicated to playing back every phone call (even at high speed) or tailing a person in hopes of finding something useful. Targets have to be picked based on high profile or probable cause and I don't qualify. Neither, likely, do you.
carlos
Wiretaps (Score:2)
One of the the things I have noticed about watching Russia that last several years is there is tendency to take their new found freedoms to extremes. Kind of like a teenager driving.
The company suspected of doing the spying is a private broadcast company which produces "news" shows similiar to Hard Copy.
Their Mafia is more violent, there politicians more corrupt in general, their journalists more invasive, or are they.
I did notice that the commentary tends to indicate that the calls they cite as being tapped are long distance calls. My understanding of Russia's infrastructure is that a lot of their long distance calls still go out over microwave transmission. Microwave transmissions are notoriously easy to snoop. It has long been rumored that the NSA satellites regular snooped on microwave transmissions. Curious enough, is they used to "calibrate" their equipment over friendly countries.
Mind if I calibrate this bug in your office?
Time to Wake Up (Score:2)