NSA

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Facebook, Microsoft Unveil Thousands of User Data Requests

Just "a tiny fraction of 1% of our user accounts" targeted: social network

(Newser) - In the second half of last year, Facebook got between 9,000 and 10,000 requests from local, state, and federal officials for user data on 18,000 to 19,000 accounts, the company says. It complied with 79% of the requests, it says. Under fire, Facebook released the data...

Microsoft, McAfee Exchange Data With Feds: Sources

In exchange, they receive classified intel

(Newser) - Thousands of US companies—including banks, and software, internet, and telecommunications firms—are exchanging information with national security agencies, according to anonymous sources in a new Bloomberg report. Only, they aren't sharing your personal info or browsing data with the NSA, FBI, and CIA, but rather things like software...

On NSA Spying, Yahoo Fought Law (Law Won)

Secret court bid to reject spying on foreign clients failed in 2008

(Newser) - When the government came to Yahoo with a request that Yahoo help it spy on foreign users without a warrant, the company refused and sent its top lawyers to argue the case in a secret court proceeding, sources tell the New York Times . Its argument: users' Fourth Amendment rights would...

Snowden: NSA Has Been Hacking China Since 2009

Agency has had 61K targets globally

(Newser) - Edward Snowden is still in Hong Kong, where he's making more claims about NSA practices: In an interview with the South China Morning Post , he says the agency has been hacking systems in China and Hong Kong since 2009. "We hack network backbones—like huge internet routers, basically—...

Snowden Stole Secret Data With ... Thumb Drive

LA Times: But it's still not clear why he had access to such sensitive data

(Newser) - Edward Snowden didn't need any high-tech gadgetry to make off with the NSA's surveillance secrets—all it took was a humble thumb drive, reports the Los Angeles Times . Authorities have determined that the former contractor used the portable device to smuggle out his classified data, and they...

NSA Chief: Surveillance Stopped 'Dozens' of Plots

Gen. Keith Alexander defends data mining

(Newser) - The head of the NSA told a Senate panel today that his agency's controversial surveillance had helped prevent "dozens of terrorist events," reports the Wall Street Journal . Gen. Keith Alexander said he couldn't go into specifics but was working to declassify some of the details. He...

Critics Piling On US Intelligence Chief

James Clapper's 'least untruthful' explanation not sitting well

(Newser) - Edward Snowden may be getting vilified in some camps over the NSA leaks, but the nation's intelligence director isn't having such a great time, either. Witness this piece in Slate by Fred Kaplan demanding that James Clapper be fired for lying. The issue, as the Washington Post and...

Snowden: I&#39;m Neither Traitor Nor Hero

 Snowden: 
 I'm Neither 
 Traitor Nor Hero 
Interview
Jun 12, 2013 10:02 AM CDT

Snowden: I'm Neither Traitor Nor Hero

Whistleblower intends to throw himself on the mercy of Hong Kong

(Newser) - Edward Snowden, having apparently seen a plethora of headlines like this one , set the record straight today in an interview with the South China Morning Post . "I'm neither traitor nor hero," the NSA leaker said. "I'm an American." In his first interview since initially...

Snowden in &#39;Safe House&#39;
 Snowden in 'Safe House' 
Jun 12, 2013 7:43 AM CDT

Snowden in 'Safe House'

There's no record of him leaving Hong Kong

(Newser) - As of Monday, NSA leaker Edward Snowden had all but disappeared , having checked out of the $330-a-night Mira Hotel in Hong Kong. The Guardian reports what seems to be the most definitive update on his whereabouts, and it's pretty vague: "It is thought he is now in a...

ACLU Sues White House Over Phone 'Dragnet'

Group says its constitutional rights have been violated

(Newser) - The ACLU usually sues on behalf of others, but this time it's going to court on behalf of itself. The civil-liberties group has sued the federal government over the "dragnet" it uses to collect information about phone calls , reports Talking Points Memo . Because the ACLU is itself a...

NSA Mess Boosts Sales of One Book 6,021%

That book, of course, is Orwell's '1984'

(Newser) - All the furor about real-life Big Brother-esque surveillance has a lot of people reaching for the fictional version. As of this morning, Amazon sales of George Orwell's 1984 had jumped 6,021% in 24 hours, NPR reports. The dystopian classic is now No. 164 on the online bookseller's...

Edward Snowden: Hero or Traitor?
 Edward Snowden: 
 Hero or Traitor? 
OPINION
Jun 11, 2013 12:10 PM CDT

Edward Snowden: Hero or Traitor?

Pundits weigh in on both sides

(Newser) - He's either a hero of grand scale or a traitor of the worst kind. Here's a look at some of the opinions about NSA leaker Edward Snowden :
  • John Cassidy, New Yorker : He's clearly a hero. "He has performed a great public service that more than outweighs
...

John Oliver on Host Gig: 'This Is Weird'

Host begins Daily Show stint with NSA bit

(Newser) - Last night, John Oliver took the Daily Show host's chair for the first time, and he quickly pointed out the elephant in the room. "Let's all just acknowledge for a moment that this is weird," he said. "This looks weird; it feels weird; it even...

Booz Allen: Snowden Is Fired, Didn't Make $200K

Company says NSA leaker's salary was $122K

(Newser) - If nothing else, you can certainly say it wasn't a moment too soon. Resoundingly slamming the barn door after a certain pony fled to Hong Kong, Booz Allen has fired Edward Snowden , the company announced in a one-sentence statement today. "Snowden, who had a salary at the rate...

As Snowden Vanishes, Russia Reaches Out to Him

NSA whistleblower drops out of sight in Hong Kong

(Newser) - Edward Snowden checked out of his hotel in Hong Kong yesterday and has essentially disappeared. And while he is believed to still be in the territory, Russia has suggested it might welcome the man who exposed the NSA's secret surveillance, the Wall Street Journal reports. If a request for...

Majority of Americans Support Phone Spying

56% say phone tracking is acceptable

(Newser) - For all the outcry over the NSA's phone snooping this week, the majority of Americans are A-OK with the government tracking their phone calls. That's according to a new poll by Pew Research and the Washington Post, which found 56% believe tracking calls is an acceptable way for...

If NSA Trusted This Guy, Why Should We Trust It?

Farhad Manjoo: Edward Snowden seems like poor choice for security clearance

(Newser) - Forget the constitutional questions surrounding the NSA program for a second, and ask yourself this: Can we trust our secrets in the hands of an agency that would trust the likes of Edward Snowden? Snowden "sounds like a thoughtful, patriotic young man," Farhad Manjoo allows in Slate . But...

Republicans: Snowden Is &#39;Dangerous&#39;
Republicans: Snowden Is 'Dangerous'
Jun 10, 2013 10:20 AM CDT

Republicans: Snowden Is 'Dangerous'

Self-proclaimed NSA leaker is a Ron Paul donor

(Newser) - So far there's been little official reaction to Edward Snowden's revelation , but Peter King was all too ready to come out firing. King released a statement saying the US should "prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law," the Guardian reports. "This is a...

Whistleblower's Employer Has Cozy Ties to Uncle Sam

98% of its revenue in last fiscal year came from government

(Newser) - If you haven't previously heard of Booz Allen Hamilton, the employer of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, it's not for its lack of ties with Washington, DC. Some 98% of the company's revenue in the past fiscal year came from its government contracts, and 23% of that—or...

Hong Kong a Huge Gamble for NSA Whistleblower

Beijing could veto Snowden extradition

(Newser) - While Hong Kong is undoubtedly a more pleasant place to spend time than an Ecuadorian embassy—let alone a US prison—analysts are baffled by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden 's decision to take refuge there, as are lawmakers in the largely self-governing Chinese territory. Hong Kong has an extradition...

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