Crunch Time Trash Talk
Sorry about the late start here, but I have been otherwise indisposed for the last day and a half or so. An old friend was around and we went walkabout downtown. Among the festivities taken in was the Phoenix Suns game against the 76ers. The…
NSA, Not China, the Global BIOS Suicide Cyber-Bomber
Remember when, to fearmonger as part of 60 Minutes NSA propaganda, they warned of a Chinese attack on the US economy that, if launched, would have amounted to China acting as a suicide cyber-bomber?
The attack would have targeted computers'…
Judge Pauley's Deliberate Blind Spot: Systematic Section 215 Abuses
Sorry for my silence of late, particularly regarding William Pauley's ruling finding the phone dragnet legal. The good news is my mom can now reach the light switch in her sewing room without risk of falling.
As noted, Judge Pauley ruled…
The Hellfires of Christmas
Last week, I noted that the US had a perfect excuse for ending its drone strikes that are a long-running violation of Pakistan's sovereignty because Pakistan had engaged in military action in North Waziristan to kill a number of TTP militants…
Coincidental Timing in NSA's Telecom Switch Collection
We knew the government had "shut down" the Internet metadata in "late" 2011.
But I believe Friday's filings are the first time they've specified publicly: they shut it down in December 2011.
That gives us the following chronology:
May…
Christmas Eve at Emptywheel
Well, it is that time of year again. We have reached another Christmas eve here at the Wheelhouse. Here at Casa de Bmaz we are still finishing up some shopping, doing some cooking and getting ready for happy hour. Marcy and Mr. Wheel are in…
The Disturbingly Hollow Message of the Alan Turing Pardon
Famed World War II code breaker, and computer pioneer, Alan Turing has been pardoned by the British government. From the New York Times story:
Nearly 60 years after his death, Alan Turing, the British mathematician regarded as one of the…
The Civil Liberties Celebration Hangover Wears Off
At the end of last week, I joked a little about privacy and civil liberties advocates having had the "best week ever". It was indeed a very good week, but only relatively compared to the near constant assault on the same by the government. But…
Emptywheel's Christmas Trash Talk
Well, Trash is harder to gin up for without the regular season college games in action. And, no, the Royal Purple Bowl was not enough to overcome that fact. The only bowl game even halfway interesting between now and next weekend is Boise State…
James Clapper Claims Publicly Acknowledged Details Are State Secrets While Boasting of Transparency
Between documents leaked by Edward Snowden, official court submissions, and official public statements, we know at least the following about the surveillance system set up after 9/11 and maintained virtually intact to this day:
Around of…
Conning the Record, Conning the Courts, Defrauding the People
In the parlance of the once and forever MTV set, civil libertarians just had one of the "Best Weeks Ever". Here is the ACLU's Catherine Crump weighing in on the surprising results of President Obama's Review Board:
Friday, the president's…
Is "Bribery" a Demand, or a Polite Request?
Back when the NSA sent its employees home with a claim that said,
NSA does not and will not demand changes by any vendor to any product, nor does it have any authority to demand such changes.
I said,
Again, watch the language carefully. NSA…
MEK Purchases 27 US Senate Votes for War With Iran
On Tuesday, I posited that the threat of new sanctions kicking in if a final agreement on nuclear technology is not reached could serve as a strong incentive for Iran to bargain in good faith with the P5+1 group of nations. But then, on Thursday,…
The NSA Review Group Ganders at Metadata
As you've no doubt heard, the NSA Review Group recommends real limits on the government's access to metadata, preferring that it be left with the telecoms and only be retained 2 years, and also recommending a higher standard for accessing it.
Which…
The NSA Review Group's Non-Denial Denial on Encryption
As part of a section on "Technical Measures to Increase Security and User Confidence," Recommendation 29 of the NSA Review Group is, in part, the following:
We recommend that, regarding encryption, the US Government should:
(1) fully support…
President's Review Group Suggests NSA Currently Acts as a Domestic Security Service
One amusing tension in the NSA Review Group report is that its members clearly have been briefed on some things that haven't been reported in the Snowden stories (yet), but it can't tell us what those are.
Which is why I'm curious what's…
Not a Drone: Pakistan Military Kills 23 Militants in North Waziristan
Not many small towns of only a few thousand people are in the news as often or as prominently as Miranshah in North Waziristan of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in Pakistan. Most often, it makes the news due to a drone strike carried…
3 Certifications -- Terror, Proliferation, and Cyber -- and Stealing from Google
For months, I have been suggesting that the government only uses Section 702 of FISA, under which it collects data directly from US Internet providers and conducts some upstream content from telecom providers, for three purposes:
Counterterrorism
Counterproliferation
Cyber
I…
Turns Out, Committee to Make You Love the Dragnet Soured on the Dragnet
Here's their report, which I'll have far more to say about.
But one-third of the way in, I've decided to do a working thread. Will fill in my earlier observations later. (Page numbers are to document page numbers, not PDF.)
(90) Report…
NSA's Bid for a 6 Month Delay in Protecting Larry Klayman's Phone Records
The White House has announced they're going to release the recommendations of the Committee to Make You Love the Dragnet today. Given that the report recommends putting the dragnet into someone else's hands, I suspect the White House changed…