The NSA has minimization rules: One Snowden document discusses the NSA minimization procedures. US National Security Agency (8 Jan 2007), “Minimization procedures used by the National Security Agency in connection with acquisitions of foreign intelligence information pursuant to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, as amended,” http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/jun/20/exhibit-b-nsa-procedures-document.
The NSA does a lot of playing around: Jennifer Granick (25 Aug 2014), “Intercept reporting raises broader metadata minimization question,” Just Security, http://justsecurity.org/14327/intercept-reporting-raises-broader-metadata-minimization-question. Marcy Wheeler (26 Aug 2014), “SPCMA and ICREACH,” Empty Wheel, http://www.emptywheel.net/2014/08/26/spcma-and-icreach.
A 2014 analysis: Barton Gellman, Julie Tate, and Ashkan Soltani (5 Jul 2014), “In NSA-intercepted data, those not targeted far outnumber the foreigners who are,” Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-nsa-intercepted-data-those-not-targeted-far-outnumber-the-foreigners-who-are/2014/07/05/8139adf8-045a-11e4-8572-4b1b969b6322_story.html.
tightly connected with the NSA: Nadia Kayyali (21 May 2014), “How the NSA is transforming law enforcement,” Gizmodo, http://gizmodo.com/how-the-nsa-is-transforming-law-enforcement-1579438984.
We know there is considerable sharing: Ryan Gallagher (25 Aug 2014), “The surveillance engine: How the NSA built its own secret Google,” Intercept, https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/08/25/icreach-nsa-cia-secret-google-crisscross-proton.
initial legal basis: The most significant expansion of the NSA’s authority occurred in 2005, under the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act. Some of the provisions have been struck down as unconstitutional.
because Smith shared those phone numbers: John Villasenor (30 Dec 2013), “What you need to know about the third-party doctrine,” Atlantic, http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/12/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-third-party-doctrine/282721.
a tool called an IMSI-catcher: IMSI is International Mobile Subscriber Identity, which is the unique serial number your cell phone broadcasts so that the cellular system knows where you are.
the code name StingRay: AmberJack is another. “Stingray” is now used as a generic term for IMSI-catchers.
collect identification and location: Joel Hruska (17 Jun 2014), “Stingray, the fake cell phone tower cops and carriers use to track your every move,” Extreme Tech, http://www.extremetech.com/mobile/184597-stingray-the-fake-cell-phone-tower-cops-and-providers-use-to-track-your-every-move.
The FBI is so scared: Lauren Walker (23 Sep 2014), “New documents reveal information about police cellphone tracking devices,” Newsweek, http://www.newsweek.com/new-documents-reveal-information-about-police-cell-phone-tracking-devices-272746.
instructs them to lie: Kim Zetter (19 Jun 2014), “Emails show feds asking Florida cops to deceive judges,” Wired, http://www.wired.com/2014/06/feds-told-cops-to-deceive-courts-about-stingray.
federal marshals seized the documents: Nathan Freed Wessler (3 Jun 2014), “U.S. Marshals seize local cops’ cell phone tracking files in extraordinary attempt to keep information from public,” Free Future, https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security-technology-and-liberty/us-marshals-seize-local-cops-cell-phone-tracking-files. Kim Zetter (3 Jun 2014), “U.S. Marshals seize cops’ spying records to keep them from the ACLU,” Wired, http://www.wired.com/2014/06/feds-seize-stingray-documents.
The National Counterterrorism Center: National Counterterrorism Center (2007), “Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE),” https://web.archive.org/web/20140712154829/http://www.nctc.gov/docs/Tide_Fact_Sheet.pdf. Richard A. Best Jr. (19 Dec 2011), “The National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC): Responsibilities and potential congressional concerns,” Congressional Research Service, http://fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/R41022.pdf. Matt Sledge (16 Feb 2013), “National Counterterrorism Center’s ‘terrorist information’ rules outlined in document,” Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/15/national-counterterrorism-center-nctc-terrorist-information_n_2697190.html.
a huge database of US citizens: Karen DeYoung (25 Mar 2007), “Terror database has quadrupled in four years,” Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/24/AR2007032400944.html.
where the various watch lists: Julia Angwin (13 Dec 2013), “U.S. terrorism agency to tap a vast database of citizens,” Wall Street Journal, http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324478304578171623040640006.
procedures for getting on these lists: Jeremy Scahill and Ryan Devereaux (5 Aug 2014), “Watch commander: Barack Obama’s secret terrorist-tracking system, by the numbers,” Intercept, https://firstlook.org/theintercept/article/2014/08/05/watch-commander.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was on this list: Eric Schmitt and Michael S. Schmidt (24 Apr 2013), “2 U.S. agencies added Boston bomb suspect to watch lists,” New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/us/tamerlan-tsarnaev-bomb-suspect-was-on-watch-lists.html.
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces: US Department of Justice (2014), “Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces,” http://www.justice.gov/criminal/taskforces/ocdetf.html.
Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative: US Executive Office of the President (2009), “The Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative,” http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy/cybersecurity/national-initiative.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms: Robert Beckhusen (5 Apr 2013), “The ATF wants ‘massive’ online database to find out who your friends are,” Wired, http://www.wired.com/2013/04/atf-database.
Even the Pentagon has spied: Lisa Myers, Douglas Pasternak, and Rich Gardella (14 Dec 2005), “Is the Pentagon spying on Americans?” NBC News, http://www.nbcnews.com/id/10454316/ns/nbc_nightly_news_with_brian_williams-nbc_news_investigates/t/pentagon-spying-americans. Marcy Wheeler (24 Jul 2007), “Cunningham, CIFA, and Cheney, a new chronology,” Empty Wheel, http://www.emptywheel.net/2007/07/24/cunningham-cifa-and-cheney-a-new-chronology.
Naval Criminal Investigative Service: In 2014, a federal court ruled this practice illegal, and threw out a child pornography conviction based on it. Victoria Cavaliere (18 Sep 2014), “U.S. court rules Navy wrongfully monitored computers in child porn probe,” Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0HD2EU20140918.
the US has set up “fusion centers”: Robert Mueller (15 Nov 2004), “The FBI: Improving intelligence for a safer America,” address delivered to the Town Hall Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, http://www.fbi.gov/news/speeches/the-fbi-improving-intelligence-for-a-safer-america. US Department of Homeland Security (4 Sep 2012), “Fusion centers handout,” http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/Fusion%20Centers%20Handout.pdf. US House of Representatives (Jul 2013), “Majority staff report on the national network of fusion centers,” Committee on Homeland Security, http://homeland.house.gov/sites/homeland.house.gov/files/documents/CHS%20SLFC%20Report%202013%20FINAL.pdf.
local police access to: Torin Monahan (2010), “The future of security? Surveillance operations at Homeland Security fusion centers,” Social Justice 37, http://www.socialjusticejournal.org/archive/120_37_2-3/120_07Monahan.pdf.
supposed to focus on terrorism: Priscilla M. Regan, Torin Monahan, and Krista Craven (3 Dec 2013), “Constructing the suspicious: Data production, circulation, and interpretation by DHS Fusion Centers,” Administration and Society, http://aas.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/11/29/0095399713513141.abstract.
There’s minimal oversight: Michael German and Jay Stanley (Dec 2007), “What’s wrong with fusion centers?” American Civil Liberties Union, https://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/privacy/fusioncenter_20071212.pdf. Sharon Bradford Franklin et al. (6 Sep 2012), “Recommendations for fusion centers: Preserving privacy and civil liberties while protecting against crime and terrorism,” Constitution Project, http://www.constitutionproject.org/pdf/fusioncenterreport.pdf.
spied on political protesters
: Colin Moynihan (22 May 2014), “Officials cast wide net in monitoring Occupy protests,” New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/23/us/officials-cast-wide-net-in-monitoring-occupy-protests.html. Mara Verheyden-Hilliard and Carl Messineo (5 May 2014), “Out of the shadows: The hidden role of the Fusion Centers in the nationwide spying operation against the Occupy movement and peaceful protest in America,” Partnership for Civil Justice, http://www.justiceonline.org/one-nation-under-surveillance/out-of-the-shadows-pcjf-report.pdf.
Joint Terrorism Task Forces: US Federal Bureau of Investigation (2010), “Protecting America from terrorist attack: Our Joint Terrorism Task Forces,” http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism/terrorism_jttfs. US Department of Homeland Security (19 Dec 2013), “Fusion Centers and Joint Terrorist Task Forces,” http://www.dhs.gov/fusion-centers-and-joint-terrorism-task-forces.
shrouded in extreme secrecy: American Civil Liberties Union (Sep 2013), “Unleashed and unaccountable: The FBI’s unchecked abuse of authority,” https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/unleashed-and-unaccountable-fbi-report.pdf. Roberto Scalese (10 Apr 2014), “ACLU sues FBI, US attorney for Todashev, Task Force records,” Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2014/04/10/aclu-sues-fbi-attorney-for-todashev-task-force-records/MYWzetg75Zy3DIpLB1nyrO/story.html.
investigating political activists: American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado (24 Aug 2010), “New documents confirm: FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force targets peaceful activists for harassment, political surveillance,” http://aclu-co.org/new-documents-confirm-fbis-joint-terrorism-task-force-targets-peaceful-activists-for-harassment-political-surveillance. Kevin Gosztola (4 Jul 2014), “FBI, JTTF and US Marshals are reportedly visiting political activists about thirty year-old case,” Dissenter, http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2014/07/04/fbi-jttf-us-marshals-service-are-reportedly-visiting-political-activists-about-thirty-year-old-case.
spreading anti-Islamic propaganda: Spencer Ackerman (23 Sep 2011), “New evidence of anti-Islam bias underscores deep challenges for FBI’s reform pledge,” Wired, http://www.wired.com/2011/09/fbi-islam-domination/all.
harassing innocent civilians: Adam Gabbatt (1 Aug 2013), “New York woman visited by police after researching pressure cookers online,” Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/01/new-york-police-terrorism-pressure-cooker. Carlos Miller (23 May 2014), “Terrorist Task Force cop visits man at home for photographing police buildings,” Photography Is Not a Crime, http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2014/05/23/terrorist-task-force-cop-visits-man-home-photographing-police-buildings. Steve Annear (11 Jul 2014), “ACLU files lawsuit after feds eye photographer’s ‘suspicious’ behavior,” Boston Magazine, http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2014/07/11/aclu-james-prigoff-terrorism-task-force-lawsuit.
listening posts in Oman: Duncan Campbell (3 Jun 2014), “Revealed: GCHQ’s beyond top secret Middle Eastern Internet spy base,” Register, http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/03/revealed_beyond_top_secret_british_intelligence_middleeast_internet_spy_base.
Cyprus: Nicky Hager and Stefania Maurizi (5 Nov 2013), “Cyprus: The home of British/American Internet surveillance in the Middle East,” L’Espresso, http://espresso.repubblica.it/inchieste/2013/11/04/news/the-history-of-british-intelligence-operations-in-cyprus-1.139978. Richard Norton-Taylor (28 Nov 2013), “Secret memos show efforts of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ to maintain Cyprus base,” Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/29/intelligence-mi5-mi6-gchq-cyprus-national-archives.
Germany: Sven Becker et al. (18 Jun 2014), “New NSA revelations: Inside Snowden’s Germany file,” Der Spiegel, http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/new-snowden-revelations-on-nsa-spying-in-germany-a-975441.html. Hubert Gude et al. (18 Jun 2014), “Spying together: Germany’s deep cooperation with the NSA,” Der Spiegel, http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/the-german-bnd-and-american-nsa-cooperate-more-closely-than-thought-a-975445.html.
France: Jacques Follorou and Glenn Greenwald (21 Oct 2013), “France in the NSA’s crosshair: Phone networks under surveillance,” Le Monde, http://www.lemonde.fr/technologies/article/2013/10/21/france-in-the-nsa-s-crosshair-phone-networks-under-surveillance_3499741_651865.html. Jacques Follorou and Franck Johannes (4 Jul 2013), “Revelations on the French Big Brother,” Société, http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2013/07/04/revelations-on-the-french-big-brother_3442665_3224.html.
Denmark: Ryan Gallagher (18 Jun 2014), “How secret partners expand NSA’s surveillance dragnet,” Intercept, https://firstlook.org/theintercept/article/2014/06/18/nsa-surveillance-secret-cable-partners-revealed-rampart-a.
Australia: Jason Om (30 Oct 2013), “Spy expert says Australia operating as ‘listening post’ for US agencies including the NSA,” ABC News Australia, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-30/australia-acting-as-listening-post-for-us-spy-agencies/5056534.
New Zealand: Glenn Greenwald and Ryan Gallagher (15 Sep 2014), “New Zealand launched mass surveillance project while publicly denying it,” Intercept, https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/15/new-zealand-gcsb-speargun-mass-surveillance.
probably every other country: Craig Timberg (6 Jun 2014), “Vodafone reveals that governments are collecting personal data without limits,” Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/governments-collecting-personal-data-without-limit-says-vodafone/2014/06/06/ff0cfc1a-edb4-11e3-9b2d-114aded544be_story.html.
surveillance of Indonesia: Michael R. Gordon (7 Feb 2014), “Indonesia takes aim at Australia over spying on talks,” New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/18/world/asia/indonesia-takes-aim-at-australia-over-spying-but-not-the-us.html.
Russia collects, stores, and analyzes: Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan (Fall 2013), “Russia’s surveillance state,” World Policy Journal, http://www.worldpolicy.org/journal/fall2013/Russia-surveillance. James A. Lewis (18 Apr 2014), “Reference note on Russian communications surveillance,” Center for Strategic and International Studies, http://csis.org/publication/reference-note-russian-communications-surveillance.
built right into its Internet: The latest version, SORM 3, collects bulk surveillance data from all communications systems, providing both real-time and historical access. Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan (21 Dec 2012), “In ex-Soviet states, Russian spy tech still watches you,” Wired, http://www.wired.com/2012/12/russias-hand/all.
the 2014 Sochi Olympics: Owen Matthews (12 Feb 2014), “Russia tests ‘total surveillance’ at the Sochi Olympics,” Newsweek, http://www.newsweek.com/2014/02/14/russia-tests-total-surveillance-sochi-olympics-245494.html. Joshua Kopstein (13 Feb 2014), “Sochi’s other legacy,” New Yorker, http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/sochis-other-legacy.
this data is also used against: Gus Hosein (2010), “Privacy as a political right,” Index on Censorship 39, https://www.privacyinternational.org/reports/privacy-as-a-political-right/surveillance-of-political-movements#footnote5_5pc3hb7.
China, too, attempts to monitor: James A. Lewis (2006), “The architecture of control: Internet surveillance in China,” Center for Strategic and International Studies, http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/0706_cn_surveillance_and_information_technology.pdf.
China also uses location information: Australian (4 Mar 2011), “China mobile phone tracking system attacked as ‘Big Brother’ surveillance,” Australian, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/china-mobile-phone-tracking-system-attacked-as-big-brother-surveillance/story-e6frg6so-1226015917086.
turns mobile phones on remotely: Frank Langfitt (29 Jan 2013), “In China, beware: A camera may be watching you,” NPR Morning Edition, http://www.npr.org/2013/01/29/170469038/in-china-beware-a-camera-may-be-watching-you.
monitors physical spaces: Calum MacLeod (3 Jan 2013), “China surveillance targets crime—and dissent,” USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/01/03/china-security/1802177.
Messages containing words: Vernon Silver (8 Mar 2013), “Cracking China’s Skype surveillance software,” Bloomberg Business Week, http
://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-03-08/skypes-been-hijacked-in-china-and-microsoft-is-o-dot-k-dot-with-it.
30,000 Internet police: John Markoff (1 Oct 2008), “Surveillance of Skype messages found in China,” New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/technology/internet/02skype.html.
India: John Ribeiro (13 Jan 2011), “RIM allows India access to consumer BlackBerry messaging,” CIO, http://www.cio.com/article/654438/RIM_Allows_India_Access_to_Consumer_BlackBerry_Messaging. Amol Sharma (28 Oct 2011), “RIM facility helps India in surveillance efforts,” Wall Street Journal, http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970204505304577001592335138870. First Post (31 Dec 2012), “Telecos agree to real-time intercept for Blackberry messages,” First Post, http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/telecos-agree-to-real-time-intercept-for-blackberry-messages-212476.html.
Russia: Alexei Anishchuk (25 Apr 2011), “BlackBerry firm seeks security ‘balance’ in Russia,” Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/25/us-blackberry-russia-idUSTRE73O1ZL20110425.
Saudi Arabia: Al Jazeera (4 Aug 2010), “Saudi ban on BlackBerry from Friday,” Al Jazeera, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2010/08/2010844243386999.html.
the UAE: Josh Halliday (18 Apr 2011), “UAE to tighten BlackBerry restrictions,” Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/apr/18/uae-blackberry-e-mails-secure.
Indonesia: Jakarta Post (15 Sep 2011), “Government asks RIM to open access to wiretap Blackberry users,” Jakarta Post, http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/09/15/government-asks-rim-open-access-wiretap-blackberry-users.html.
BlackBerry cut a deal with India: R. Jai Krishna (8 Aug 2012), “India sees resolution to BlackBerry dispute,” Wall Street Journal, http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390443404004577576614174157698. British Broadcasting Corporation (11 Jul 2013), “India is ‘ready to use’ Blackberry message intercept system,” BBC News, http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-23265091.
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