NSA CS Man: My Tracking Algorithm Was 'Twisted' By the Government

decora writes "Crypto-mathematician Bill Binney worked in the Signals Intelligence Automation Research Center at the NSA. There, he worked on NSA's ThinThread program; a way to monitor the flood of internet data from outside the US while protecting the privacy of US citizens. In a new interview with Jane Mayer, he says his program 'got twisted. ... I should apologize to the American people. It's violated everyone's rights. It can be used to eavesdrop on the whole world. ... my people were brought in, and they told me, "Can you believe they're doing this? They're getting billing records on US citizens! They're putting pen registers on everyone in the country!"'"

Pen registers

[ciaran_o_riordan]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pen_register [wikipedia.org]

A pen register is an electronic device that records all numbers called from a particular telephone line. The term has come to include any device or program that performs similar functions to an original pen register, including programs monitoring Internet communications.

The USA statutes governing pen registers are codified under 18 U.S.C., Chapter 206 [cornell.edu].

Re:In other news

[definate]

This was a test of inference, to see whether or not you have aspergers.

You tested positive. I'm so sorry.

That's GREAT

[owlstead]

For some reason US citizens always only think of themselves. Personally, I think it is great that they treat themselves as they do other human beings on the planet. It may bring some hard needed reflections on how technology is abused (but I'm not holding my breath).

Re:The U.S. government is EXTREMELY corrupt.

[causality]

he U.S. government is EXTREMELY corrupt. Weapons investors want war all the time. Financial institutions get rich.

Yes, we were warned about this a very long time ago. The term used was the "military-industrial complex". The fear was that its interests would become better represented by government than any interests of the people. Sometimes all you have to do is read the handwriting on the wall and they will call you "prophet".

Re:Oh?

[dkleinsc]

Or, you know, Dick Cheney's commission of what we considered war crimes when the Germans and Japanese did it in the 1940's. It's an open-and-shut case: We have video footage and transcripts [go.com] of him telling the world all about the crimes he committed on national television.

Don't forget, though, we need to Look forward, not backward [youtube.com]. And they hate us for our freedoms [youtube.com]. It has nothing to do with committing crimes with impunity [bbc.co.uk], killing children and civilians [youtube.com], or supporting [youtube.com] dictators [wsws.org] in their country.

Re:Room 641A

[moonbender]

Thanks for that. Watching the PBS Frontline episode [pbs.org] on that whole thing now.

Re:mefi

[qubezz]

Here's a better link [newyorker.com] to the article, the whole article on one page instead of entering on page 3 of 10.

Re:Oh?

[qubezz]

Why shouldn't I work for the N.S.A.?....

Or say a coded message nobody else can break comes across your desk, you crack it, and discover it details the execution of the largest terrorist attack on US soil to date. You immediately communicate it to your superiors, they send in the G-men who grab the perpetrators red-handed with the dirty bomb that was set to kill tens of thousands. We never hear about it. Thanks NSA. That's what happens on TV every week.

Or you identify a massive illegal warrantless wiretapping campaign against American citizens, blow the whistle, and face 35 years in prison. That is what happened in referenced article...