Sent: Friday, August 01, 2014 11:10 PM
Subject: Privacy World's August 2014 Newsletter Issue
1Aug
> Privacy World - The WORLD'S SHREWDEST PRIVACY
NEWSLETTER
>
> NSA Records and Stores at Least 80 Percent of All
Audio Calls in the US
>
> At least 80% of all audio calls, not just metadata,
are recorded
> and stored in the US, says whistleblower William
Binney - that's a
> 'totalitarian mentality'
>
> William Binney is one of the highest-level
whistleblowers to ever
> emerge from the NSA. He was a leading code-breaker
against the
> Soviet Union during the Cold War but resigned soon
after September
> 11, disgusted by Washington's move towards mass
surveillance.
>
> On 5 July he spoke at a conference in London
organised by the
> Centre for Investigative Journalism and revealed the
extent
> of the surveillance programs unleashed by the Bush
and Obama
> administrations.
>
> "At least 80% of fibre-optic cables globally go
via the US",
> Binney said. "This is no accident and allows
the US to view all
> communication coming in. At least 80% of all audio
calls, not just
> metadata, are recorded and stored in the US. The NSA
lies about
> what it stores."
>
> The NSA will soon be able to collect 966 exabytes a
year, the total
> of internet traffic annually. Former Google head
Eric Schmidt once
> argued that the entire amount of knowledge from the
beginning of
> humankind until 2003 amount to only five exabytes.
>
> Binney, who featured in a 2012 short film by
Oscar-nominated US
> film-maker Laura Poitras, described a future where
surveillance is
> ubiquitous and government intrusion unlimited.
>
> "The ultimate goal of the NSA is total
population control", Binney
> said, "but I'm a little optimistic with some
recent Supreme Court
> decisions, such as law enforcement mostly now
needing a warrant
> before searching a smartphone."
>
> He praised the revelations and bravery of former NSA
contractor
> Edward Snowden and told me that he had indirect
contact with a
> number of other NSA employees who felt disgusted
with the agency's
> work. They're keen to speak out but fear retribution
and exile, not
> unlike Snowden himself, who is likely to remain
there for some time.
>
> Unlike Snowden, Binney didn't take any documents
with him when he
> left the NSA. He now says that hard evidence of
illegal spying
> would have been invaluable. The latest Snowden
leaks, featured
> in the Washington Post, detail private conversations
of average
> Americans with no connection to extremism.
>
> It shows that the NSA is not just pursuing
terrorism, as it claims,
> but ordinary citizens going about their daily
communications. "The
> NSA is mass-collecting on everyone", Binney
said, "and it's said
> to be about terrorism but inside the US it has
stopped zero attacks."
>
> The lack of official oversight is one of Binney's
key concerns,
> particularly of the secret Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance
> Court (Fisa), which is held out by NSA defenders as
a sign of the
> surveillance scheme's constitutionality.
>
> "The Fisa court has only the government's point
of view", he
> argued. "There are no other views for the
judges to consider. There
> have been at least 15-20 trillion constitutional
violations for US
> domestic audiences and you can double that
globally."
>
> A Fisa court in 2010 allowed the NSA to spy on 193
countries
> around the world, plus the World Bank, though
there's evidence
> that even the nations the US isn't supposed to
monitor - Five Eyes
> allies Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand -
aren't immune
> from being spied on. It's why encryption is today so
essential to
> transmit information safely.
>
> Binney recently told the German NSA inquiry
committee that
> his former employer had a "totalitarian
mentality" that was the
> "greatest threat" to US society since that
country's US Civil War
> in the 19th century. Despite this remarkable power,
Binney still
> mocked the NSA's failures, including missing this
year's Russian
> intervention in Ukraine and the Islamic State's
take-over of Iraq.
>
> The era of mass surveillance has gone from the
fringes of public
> debate to the mainstream, where it belongs. The Pew
Research Centre
> released a report this month, Digital Life in 2025,
that predicted
> worsening state control and censorship, reduced
public trust,
> and increased commercialisation of every aspect of
web culture.
>
> It's not just internet experts warning about the
internet's
> colonisation by state and corporate power. One of
Europe's leading
> web creators, Lena Thiele, presented her stunning
series Netwars
> in London on the threat of cyber warfare. She showed
how easy it is
> for governments and corporations to capture our
personal information
> without us even realising.
>
> Thiele said that the US budget for cyber security
was US$67 billion
> in 2013 and will double by 2016. Much of this money
is wasted and
> doesn't protect online infrastructure. This fact
doesn't worry the
> multinationals making a killing from the gross
exaggeration of fear
> that permeates the public domain.
>
> Wikileaks understands this reality better than most.
Founder Julian
> Assange and investigative editor Sarah Harrison both
remain in
> legal limbo. I spent time with Assange in his
current home at the
> Ecuadorian embassy in London last week, where he
continues to work,
> release leaks, and fight various legal battles. He
hopes to resolve
> his predicament soon.
>
> At the Centre for Investigative Journalism
conference, Harrison
> stressed the importance of journalists who work with
technologists
> to best report the NSA stories. "It's no
accident", she said,
> "that some of the best stories on the NSA are
in Germany, where
> there's technical assistance from people like Jacob
Appelbaum."
>
> A core Wikileaks belief, she stressed, is releasing
all documents
> in their entirety, something the group criticised
the news site
> The Intercept for not doing on a recent story.
"The full archive
> should always be published", Harrison said.
>
> With 8m documents on its website after years of
leaking, the
> importance of publishing and maintaining source
documents for the
> media, general public and court cases can't be
under-estimated. "I
> see Wikileaks as a library", Assange said.
"We're the librarians
> who can't say no."
>
> With evidence that there could be a second NSA
leaker, the time for
> more aggressive reporting is now. As Binney said:
"I call people
> who are covering up NSA crimes traitors".
>
> The above by Antony Loewenstein, Guardian UK
>
> Until our next issue stay cool and remain low
profile!
>
> Privacy World
>
> PS - Inexpensive - NO id ATM card that allows you to
withdraw cash
> from PayPal and BitCoin? Acts same as a virtual
Credit card
> on-line as well!
>
> No problem, just send us an email with "$135
ATM" in your subject heading.
>
> Yes we accept BitCoin!
