nsa

NSA shifts to e-mail, Web, data-mining dragnet

The National Security Agency was once known for its skill in eavesdropping on the world's telephone calls through radio dishes in out-of-the-way places like England's Menwith Hill, Australia's Pine Gap, and Washington state's Yakima Training Center.

Today those massive installations, which listened in on phone conversations beamed over microwave links, are becoming something akin to relics of the Cold War. As more communications traffic travels through fiber links, and as e-mail and text messaging supplant phone calls, the spy agency that once intercepted telegrams is adapting yet again.

Recent evidence suggests that the NSA has been … Read more

The day the wiretaps go dead

With all of the attention that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) update (and the administration's vigorous attempts to immunize the criminals telcos), it seems like a good time to explore the issues surrounding surveillance and privacy in America today.

While there are so many scary things being done by intelligence and law enforcement, hope is not far away. Easy to use privacy technologies are upon us, and with them, comes a radical shift in the balance of power. As this article will explain, the scalable techniques with which the NSA, FBI and other agencies can spy on innocent … Read more

Spy law showdown postponed until next year

Update December 18, 4:43 a.m. PST: Adds more analysis and background.

Congress won't decide until next year whether to pass a complex law that would let telephone and Internet companies off the hook from lawsuits alleging illicit cooperation with federal government spies.

After a day of back-and-forth on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid emerged on Monday evening and announced he would postpone debate on the so-called FISA Amendments Act. That bill, which has already been approved in a closed-door meeting of the Senate Intelligence Committee, would grant such corporate immunity and make … Read more

Upcoming Senate vote may shield wiretap collaborators

Correction 2:40 p.m. PST: The original version of this story incorrectly stated the vote count. It was 76-10.

In a preliminary victory for the likes of AT&T and Verizon, the U.S. Senate has ventured a step closer to passing a law that would crush lawsuits accusing telecommunications companies of illegal cooperation with government spying programs.

By a 76-10 vote on Monday, the senators agreed to cut off the possibility of a filibuster that would delay final action on the so-called FISA Amendments Act, which the Bush administration argues is necessary to remove supposed hurdles to … Read more

Secret FISA court won't release wiretap rulings

A shadowy federal court that meets behind closed doors to hear wiretapping requests says it won't publicly release even portions of its rulings.

In response to a formal request from the ACLU, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court said on Tuesday that it won't divulge the abridged text of the orders dealing with the Bush administration's eavesdropping scheme on grounds that it could endanger national security.

The 24-page opinion (PDF) disagreed with the Bush administration's suggestion that the ACLU's request be necessarily dismissed out of hand. But after considering the request, the court rejected it on … Read more

Declassified docs show fight over surveillance, telecom immunity

The Bush administration has released formerly classified documents that show how it is pressing Congress to rewrite surveillance law and immunize telecommunications companies from lawsuits.

What's also interesting about the documents, which were released in response to the Freedom of Information Act on Monday, is how much is redacted. Entire pages have been excised, in one case leaving only two paragraphs visible.

A few highlights from the the files (1 and 2) obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation after a court battle:

• Pages 6-8 of file 1: National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell told Congress three months ago that … Read more

Bush administration forced to turn over spying documents by Friday

A federal judge has ordered the Bush administration to divulge documents related to immunizing telecommunications companies from lawsuits, saying they illegally opened their networks to the National Security Agency.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco gave the Office of the Director of National Intelligence until November 30 (Friday) to turn over documents relating to conversations it had with Congress and telecommunications carriers about how to rewrite wiretapping laws.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation had filed this case to seek faster processing of a Freedom of Information Act request it filed, which could help buttress its ongoing lawsuit against … Read more

Appeals court's ruling may aid spy suits against AT&T, Verizon

A federal appeals court may have given a boost on Friday to high-profile lawsuits alleging that AT&T and other telecommunications companies illegally opened their networks to the National Security Agency.

In a case involving an Islamic charity, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that it would be premature to pull the plug on the group's lawsuit based on the Bush administration's fears that court proceedings would necessarily disclose "state secrets."

That case is called Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation v. President Bush. It's unusual because the now-defunct foundation reportedly found, as the result of … Read more

What's the NSA doing in your e-mail?

A former technician is hauling communications giant AT&T into court for sharing "email, search, and Internet records for more than a dozen other global and regional telecommunications providers." If it's true, the company may have massively violated federal privacy and industry law, and the National Security Administration may have acted in direct violation of legal parameters governing its domestic surveillance mission. Read the full story at The Washington Post.