Immunity for telecommunications companies who illegally assisted the Bush Administration in collecting data on US citizens has passed the US Senate.

Senator Obama voted to uphold the law and deny immunity for unscrupulous corporations.

Senator Clinton did not believe that our civil rights, or the standing law of the land was worth the trouble of voting.

In a previous post I described my attempt to share my concerns with a fellow Maine Democratic Party member about Hillary Clinton's stance - or lack thereof - on the issue of warrantless wiretaps.

We know telecommunications companies have been illegally forwarding records of our phone calls, emails, and web traffic to government agencies without judicial oversight. We do not know where this information is stored, how long it will be stored for, or who has access to it. Unfortunately, our government has a very poor record of safeguarding our personal data. Ask a veteran. Won't someone please get me off the AARP mailing list?

So, I'd like to say I told you so to the little old lady in the red hat. We have Senator Clinton to thank - at least in part - for what may happen should our identities and personal information be stolen, sold, leaked, or lost from this corporate-government information sharing database. I wish you the best of luck reclaiming your identity, repairing your credit, getting off a no-fly list, or re-entering the country after a holiday abroad unmolested by over-zealous border security agents.

Cheers!

Labels: 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, tia, warrantless wiretaps

Yeah sure...sign me up for this! Are they insane?

From the page: "Microsoft submitted a patent application in the US for a "unique monitoring system" that could link workers to their computers. Wireless sensors could read "heart rate, galvanic skin response, EMG, brain signals, respiration rate, body temperature, movement facial movements, facial expressions and blood pressure", the application states.

The system could also "automatically detect frustration or stress in the user†and "offer and provide assistance accordingly". Physical changes to an employee would be matched to an individual psychological profile based on a worker's weight, age and health. If the system picked up an increase in heart rate or facial expressions suggestive of stress or frustration, it would tell management that he needed help."

Labels: biometrics, Cybersecurity, technology, tia

Senators Biden and Feingold will join Chris Dodd in opposing legislation which grants retroactive immunity to telecommunications corporations for their role in illegally collecting data on American citizens. Meanwhile President Bush, devoted his Saturday morning radio address to the important topic of fishing(mp3). I shit you not.

Now I'm not going to knock federal protections for stripped bass and red drum populations. I mean, I for one can think of no better sphere in which to exert the power and authority of the Oval Office in a time of war. It's not as if your Administration illegally conspired with telecommunications companies to acquire telephone, email, and web traffic data pertaining to every American citizen to include members of Congress, the judiciary, and officials of state and local governments. And hell, even if you did authorize such activity, I'm sure that that information isn't being abused, lost, or sold to the highest bidder or anything. That'd just be silly.

Please, sir. Please tell me you're not really going fishing.

Labels: fisa, George W. Bush, patriot act, tia, warrantless wiretaps

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001 the US intelligence community acted with broad support from the Bush Administration to collect data on virtually every email, phone call, and web visit originating or terminating within the borders of the United States of America.

To this end, clandestine intelligence gathering operations are conducted against the citizens of the United States. Facilities and equipment were permanently placed to collect this data without warrants from a secret intelligence court as mandated by the 1978 Foreign Service Intelligence Act. However, in most cases, telecom companies voluntarily aided data collection on their own clients without proof or accusation of wrong-doing. Qwest Communications was the only company to deny these requests. (The CEO of Qwest is currently on trial for insider trading, and maintains that his dealings were influenced by intelligence community meddling.)

As news of these operations were leaked to the media by telecom whistle blowers, calls to revise FISA grew. The argument was that the 1978 law was out of date, and incapable of providing the intelligence community with the tools necessary to protect national security in the Internet age.

A bill sponsored by Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia) seeks to reform FISA, but has an added provision supported by the Bush Administration which would grant retroactive immunity to telecom companies that helped the government illegally spy on Americans. President Bush has stated that he will veto any national surveillance bill that does not contain such provisions.

However, “because bills are supposed to have unanimous consent in the Senate before going forward...One Senator can make it very difficult to bring a bill to the floor by objecting...” That one Senator is Chris Dodd (D-Conn, Presidential Candidate 2008).

Please support Senator Dodd with a kind word, a message of support, or even a campaign donation to help show the Democratic Party in this country that Americans will not stand for indiscriminate attacks on our Bill of Rights.

One final word on the bill currently before the Senate, the one sponsored by Jay Rockefeller...Here's a glimpse of Senator Rockefeller's campaign contributors.Maybe it's time for the gentleman from West Virgina to go home.

Labels: 9/11, Chris Dodd, fisa, George W. Bush, Jay Rockefeller, technology, tia, warrantless wiretaps

"I'm not doing anything wrong, so let them monitor whatever they want," is a commonly heard mantra of Americans willing to forfeit their right to privacy for the perception of security. I heard it myself just yesterday when a politically minded grandmother called into a show on a major network regarding the crimes committed by the FBI.

If you encounter such an argument around the water cooler or at the dinner table, here are a few gems you can bust out to force some critical thinking on the part of your mark (Warning: Cognitive dissonance resulting from these tactics can produce unpredictable responses in some citizens who are already scared, manipulated, and entranced).

Set the stage by discussing the nature data-mining. Avoid the term "data-mining" because the word data scares people. It's techno-babbly jargon. Use terms like dragnet, it's folksy. Ask your mark if they're a criminal; this will get their attention immediately. Naturally they'll say "No." Then ask if anyone they communicate with via phone or email has ever committed a crime. Typically the truth will be yes, but your mark will say no as the scenarios start playing through their mind (you've just planted a seed...watch it grow). Now ask if any of the friends or family of people they communicate with have ever committed a crime. Hopefully the mark will start to see the problems with wide spectrum data collection. Use props if necessary - salt and pepper shakers work.

Here's a helpful tidbit if you're by a computer:

It's an analysis of the sexual relationships of a high school. Nearly everyone is connected. If this were an investigation of criminal or terrorist activity, everyone in the network would be put to the question. It's neither fair, nor just, but that's what we're buying into if we support unchecked powers of surveillance and data collection. In such an environment everyone is guilty.

Another important point to make clear is the aspect of time. Once data is collected, it doesn't go away...ever. If you haven't spoken to someone in ten years, and suddenly they re-enter your life, can you be sure they haven't engaged in some questionable activities that would draw the attention of investigators?

Finally, what does being investigated by the feds mean anyway? Why should anyone be concerned if they haven't done anything wrong? Guilt by association. Does your mark work with children? Do they work at a company with state or federal contracts? Do they themselves work with other people's sensitive information: financial, medical, educational records? When the FBI or another agency pulls you in for an "interview" consider yourself flagged. That promotion you were counting on? A choice transfer? A move to a more desirable shift? You might not get thrown into a gulag, but your life will be impacted just the same.

Write to your Senators and Representatives and respectfully request that Congress ask for the resignation of Robert S. Mueller and Alberto Gonzales (They've offered their resignations before, why not now?). The law has been broken under their watch. They have abused their authority and squandered public trust...again. It's time for them to step down.

UPDATE: Full DOJ OIG report (pdf, 36MB).
UPDATE: Senator Schumer (D-NY) Calls For Gonzales to Step Down
UPDATE: New York Times editorial blasts Gonzales

Labels: Alberto Gonzales, Charles Schumer, doj, fisa, nsa, patriot act, Robert S. Mueller, technology, tia, warrantless wiretaps

Last week the New York Times and others reported that the Bush Administration outsourced a portion of its anti-terror data mining operation to a Belgium-based banking consortium. The target: U.S. citizens and our financial transactions.

The response to this invasion of privacy - which I'm gonna go ahead and say is in violation of our rights to remain "secure in [our] persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures..." - has been fierce. But not from those in opposition to this high crime.

Indeed the most vehement response has come from the Administration and its functionaries. The President himself has called the disclosure of this illegal program to the American people "disgraceful." Vice president Cheney has deflected criticism by stating that this fast and loose interpretation of the Constitution is "absolutely essential" to America's success in the war on terror. Others have gone further.

Peter King (R-NY), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, who called for individuals in the media responsible for implicating White House adviser Karl Rove in the Valarie Plame scandal "be shot," has requested the New York Times be investigated by the Department of Justice for treason under the Espionage Act of 1917.

I get the whole "protect America at any cost" argument, but this Administration is riding rough-shod over the Constitution; the only thing that separates the American democratic experiment from an American despotism.

Phone records, Internet histories, financial data, driving records, tax filings, and other data collected and indexed by our government may never be used against us, but no Administration - least of all this one - can guarantee that.

If we are to continue to maintain that ours is a nation of law, logic, and justice these transgressions must be investigated and, if found to have merit, punished. Any other course of action calls into question the status of the Constitution itself as the inviolable foundation of the American way of life.

It's either time to stop taking our rights as Americans seriously, or its time to start.

Labels: Peter King, tia, warrantless wiretaps

A couple of weeks ago, I received a letter from my bank. Like most letters from banks it was not a good letter. It said:

We have been notified that a large merchant may have inadvertently made your confidential card number and card information available to others due to a security breach.

Naturally they did not identify this merchant so I have no way of avoiding them in the future. Nor did they tell me how many "others" this information was suspected of being shared with.

This came on the tails of a major banking information theft, so I was hardly surprised to have fallen victim myself. In that incident over 200,000 accounts were compromised.

But this did surprise me:

The Veterans Affairs Department announced today that a computer containing personal, identifying data for as many as 26 million American veterans has been stolen from a VA employee's home. ~ Government Computer News

Twenty-six million?

And this administration wants us to trust that they can secure records of our phone calls and Internet browsing? They can not. The only way to secure this data is to not collect it in the first place. To believe otherwise is not only foolish, it is dangerous.

General Michael Hayden does not understand this concept. The only thing he understands is the SIGINT credo: "In God we trust. Everyone else, we monitor." Knowledge is power in his world, and might makes right.

Labels: General Michael Hayden, Information Security, tia

WASHINGTON, May 18 Gen. Michael V. Hayden sought on Thursday to distance himself from the Pentagon and its role in prewar intelligence on Iraq, in an appearance that put him on track to win swift confirmation as the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency. ~ NYT

There's nothing to stand in the way of this confirmation now.

Given that the NSA has been collecting data on phone calls and web traffic for at least a couple of years now it's probably safe to say that no single member of Congress would dare speak out against this nomination. Not in an election year.

Journalists have been gelded as well. If monitoring them wasn't enough to shut them up, Alberto Gonzales is now considering prosecution.

If our government abuses its power, we have no way of knowing. Well, almost no way. After all, information wants to be free.

Labels: Alberto Gonzales, cia, General Michael Hayden, media, nsa, tia

Capabilities of the equipment housed in the NSA's "secret room" in AT&T's San Francisco switching office have been the center of public debate since the disclosure last week of the existence of an NSA program capable of universal network surveillance.

Mainstream news coverage of this program has been concerned with the legality of monitoring phone statistics. However, the media has largely ignored the fact that in addition to phone calls, the NSA is also tracking the virtual movement of innocent Americans across the network.

Steve Bannerman, marketing vice president of Narus, the company that provides the hardware for the NSA's San Francisco operation had this to say:

"Anything that comes through (an IP network), we can record...We can reconstruct all of their e-mails along with attachments, see what web pages they clicked on, we can reconstruct their VOIP calls."

This is going to get worse before it gets better.

Labels: fisa, Information Security, nsa, tia, warrantless wiretaps

After a few days of coverage most Americans are now aware the NSA is collecting data about their phone calls. All of them. Two polls were conducted to gauge public response to this revelation and found that most Americans, about 53%, do not believe the program invades people's privacy. Of those, 41% "feel it is a necessary tool to combat terrorism."

White House staff and supporters of the Administration crowed at this and an earlier poll which showed that 63% of Americans - who have no understanding of the Fourth Amendment - support the program. The rationale I've encountered on various boards and community sites for this view is: "I've got nothing to hide. I'm not a terrorist, so I don't care."

The media has told Americans the NSA is collecting statistics only. Phone numbers, number of calls to specific numbers, duration of calls and the like. And no doubt this is what was considered during the taking of these polls. But there's another dataset collected by the NSA via the telecom industry that has yet to be reported: IP addresses.

Does Joe-Six-Pack still not mind that the NSA is collecting a record of every website he goes to, how often, and for how long? Does Joe know how long this record will be archived? Does he care who has access to it, or are the employees of one government agency just as trustworthy as the next? Is Joe confident that this record will remain secret for as long as it's held? Does it matter if it gets released or compromised one day? Should this record be considered if Joe's company gets a government contract, or if he applies for a federal job? How about a passport? Does Joe still not care about the NSA surveillance program because he's not a terrorist?

Happy web surfing!

Labels: Information Security, nsa, tia, warrantless wiretaps

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government has abruptly ended an inquiry into the warrantless eavesdropping program because the National Security Agency refused to grant Justice Department lawyers security clearance.

On top of this, further details were was disclosed today regarding the NSA warrantless surveillance program. The agency has apparently compiled the largest database in the world to monitor the statistics of nearly every telephone in the U.S. Also known as the "we-don't-need-no-stinkin'-Fourth-Amendment" program, this activity is in effect a preemptive fishing expedition to discover probable cause. There is no way this is legal of course as at least one telecommunications company, Qwest, well knew.

In related news, 72 members of Congress filed an amicus brief in support of the ACLU's lawsuit against the program.

All we need now is for Congress to grow enough backbone to start the sweetest two word mantra of them all: "under oath."

Say it with me now. Under oath. Doesn't that feel good? Try it again. Under oath. General Hayden. Under oath. Alberto Gonzales. Under oath. John Ashcroft. Under oath. Ah...it's going to be a wonderful Summer. Under oath.

Labels: aclu, Alberto Gonzales, Congress, General Michael Hayden, John Ashcroft, nsa, tia, warrantless wiretaps

I've been seeing a lot of news about sensors lately. Some good - some bad. Our good friend the Internet enables little sensors to talk to one another. They can also talk to databases. Why should this concern anyone? Have you ever used a public restroom where you didn't have to touch anything? The toilet flushes for you, and the faucet comes to life at the wave of a hand. Progress. Take that same familiar infrared sensor and add some bells and whistles to it. A thermometer maybe. Innocuous enough sure, but that's not all you can add to it. If DARPA, the Pentagon, and the Department of Homeland Security get their way, our little sensors will be able to tell a database who drove what car how fast down what street at what time - not to mention what parking lot they pulled into.

Get those sensors out of the toilets and onto the exteriors of public buildings! It's all for security of course. Once these sensors are distributed throughout America's cities the Department of Homeland Security would like to connect them all to a "grand, centralized database." No, I am not making this up. This database would then be searched and cross-referenced until patterns matching predetermined criteria occurred. Folks, I'm a conspiracy enthusiast - not that there's anything wrong with that - so I speak from experience when I say that if you look hard enough - at a big enough set of data - the patterns WILL occur. They'll be dead wrong the vast majority of the time, but they'll be good enough for warrant totting ham-and-eggers to cover their asses with when they start arresting every poor slob who by some freak statistical anomaly happens to fit a threat-profile as defined by John Ashcroft. Better not visit those websites that sell bongs anymore. Hell, now that every blog is indexed by google, I'd better not use the WORD bong in my blog. Or bomb. Or president.

So what's good about distributed sensors? Well those same data sets used by the DHS to nab would be terrorists can also be used to generate more accurate weather forecasts. They can also be used to track wildlife for behavior, population, and migration studies. And a whole slew of other nifty things. Click the links - you'll see the potential.

These sensors - and the database(s) they're connected to - will likely never be abused by the United States government to create a world-wide Total Information Awareness super-despotism, but a little insurance for us folks gathered around the bottom of the all-seeing, all-knowing pyramid of power wouldn't hurt.

I propose this: Since all of these sensors are web-enabled - make their data public domain. Deploy them, and open-up the Total Information Awareness database to the web developing public. Talk about revitalizing the economy - we'll have killer apps coming out of our asses. Not to mention the number of IT jobs that would be created to maintain such an infrastructure. If data is the new currency, and our government is creating the largest data mine ever conceived, shouldn't we have access to it? Google lets us play with their data for fun and profit. Will the United States of America?

Labels: darpa, technology, tia

USA TODAY via Drudge

White House seeks to expand DNA database

WASHINGTON DNA profiles from juvenile offenders and from adults who have been arrested but not convicted would be added to the FBI's national DNA database under a Bush administration proposal.

Sure. Why not, right? This is a good thing. Isn't it? Just think, now EVERYONE can have their very own file at the FBI.

J. Edgar Hoover + Joe McCarthy x G. W. Bush = ?

Labels: fbi, George W. Bush, patriot act, tia

Via mefi:

Ah, yes! And so it begins. Not content with using new powers of enforcement and prosecution to simply crack down on sites peddling glassware in clear violation of the War on Drugs (tm), the DOJ has also begun collecting intelligence in a new pseudo-war right here at home.

"The leading public Internet site dedicated to online copyright piracy was seized by the Justice Department today. Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff and Paul J. McNulty, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia today announced the seizure of www.iSONEWS.com (warning: read on before clicking that link) as part of a previous plea agreement entered into by a defendant convicted of violating the criminal copyright laws."

Do I sound like a broken record when I say, "But wait, it gets better”?

If you go to iSOnews.com you're likely to arrive at one of two sites. One site is a DOJ notice concerning:
1. The official seizure of the site dated February 26, 2003, and
2. The guilty plea entered by the server's owner David M. Rocci, 22, of Blacksburg, Va. to charges of conspiring to import, market and sell circumvention devices known as modification (or "mod") chips in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The other site is a mirror of the original iSOnews.com as it appeared before the announcement of this seizure.

Like the DEA case a few days ago, it is likely that visitors to this site are flagged and filed in the grand DOJ database. It is also likely that this has been the case since the date of the defendant's guilty plea: December 19, 2002.

This is the beginning of the end. Anyone possessing a large number of copies of copyrighted material will likely be targeted should these new DOJ powers withstand even a single appeal.

I guess the entertainment industries have finally found a way to end internet file trading without spending a dime.

By downloading copyrighted data, you're aiding the terrorists.

Labels: dea, doj, fisa, p2p, tia

Via NY Times (reg. req.) and CNet news:

The DEA is seeking court approval to establish honey pots for casual web surfers. That's right, if you go to a web site that's on the hit list, you'll be flagged. Welcome - one and all - to the brave new world. A bit of a stretch? Perhaps.

The CNet article by Declan McCullagh offers this to the discussion:

"Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center said redirecting Web visitors to DEA.gov raises novel legal issues. "It sounds like this is a concluded drug operation segueing into a new sting operation," he said. "In effect, the defunct Web sites become electronic flypaper for those looking for illegal drug paraphernalia, reporters covering the story, and people who have trouble spelling in Google."

That said, I hope everyone reading this will practice their typing skills. Be especially careful not to type any of those banned words in the near future.

Labels: dea, fisa, nsa, privacy, tia