To do that, the NSA specifically targets the communications of everyone. It ingests them by default. It collects them in its system and it filters them and it analyzes them and it measures them and it stores them for periods of time simply because that’s the easiest, most efficient and most valuable way to achieve these ends. So while they may be intending to target someone associated with a foreign government, or someone that they suspect of terrorism, they are collecting YOUR communications to do so.
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| — | Edward Snowden |
We need to #stopPRISM and #restorethefourth
You stop one program, 5 more will pop up in its place over the course of a couple years. This doesn’t take into consideration the long list of other privacy destroying bills that have already passed and have long since been forgotten.
Google disclosed Wednesday that it uses secure FTP servers and occasionally in-person delivery when it complies to National Security Agency requests for user information.
“When required to comply with these requests, we deliver that information to the U.S. government — generally through secure FTP transfers and in person,” Google spokesperson Chris Gaither said in an e-mail. “The U.S. government does not have the ability to pull that data directly from our servers or network.”Well, that’s damn interesting because:
Federal law currently prohibits the disclosure of any information about requests made under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and permission to report even aggregate statistics about such requests would require an unprecedented declassification of national security information, USA TODAY reported Tuesday.
So, technically, they committed a felonious act by telling the general public how they deliver information to the FEDs? Why the double standard? Why is Larry Page not publicly besmirched for releasing that small amount of information like our Snowden?
Well they didn’t mention any request made. They just mentioned that they comply with the NSA and they informed the public how exactly they comply. But asking Google to reveal that information, knowing full well they’re legally not allowed to tell you, is a bit unfair.
But it’s highly unlikely that information is delivered via courier and personal delivery. I’m sure there is some secure FTP connection where they can pull the data from. The question comes down to: Who initiates this connection? Does Google put temporary data on the FTP account to allow the government to grab a copy? Or does the NSA just have carte blanche access to any data that it desires? Because the government’s actions are shrouded in secrecy (a fundamental component of a police state), then we will never know who’s really cooperating voluntarily with the government. Essentially, the government has turned these technological companies (for lack of a better word) like gmail, apple, att, microsoft, into a collective network of spies who are not bound by the Constitution. And if these companies come out and say anything, although many support it, they’ll be harassed, robbed, and possibly imprisoned. But if they keep their mouth shut, they may just get government hand-outs and exclusionary permissions for other services in the future, or perhaps a seat at the table on the next corporate tax restructuring. It’s one big circle-jerk.
