Our daily compendium on the world of spooks, political users and abusers, and corporateers who emulate them begins with this from the Electronic Frontier Foundation:
Polls Continue to Show Majority of Americans Against NSA Spying
From Techdirt, contempt of Congress or contempt for Congress?:
Former CIA Director Morell Skips Surveillance Review Board Meeting; Pats Self On Back For Not ‘Distracting’ Congress From Shutdown
from the taking-one-for-the-team dept
The Verge offers a non-surprise:
Obama’s surveillance review panel is the latest government shutdown casualty
While Techdirt covers a plea to the absentees:
Technologists To NSA Review Group: Don’t Forget About The Interests Of Non-US Persons
from the because-that-matters-too dept
From TechCrunch, an observation:
The NSA Oversight Farce
A pattern has become clear, regarding the surveillance activities of both the United States and the United Kingdom, most especially when it comes to their keeping tabs on their own citizenry: Clarity with the opacity of wet mud.
While the McClatchy Washington Bureau offers some minor hopes:
Congress now is expected to revise NSA, FISA court operations
From disinformation, hit “Search”:
NSA Tracks Google Ads to Find Tor Users
And from a Wired piece by Bruce Schneier, one of the world’s leading computer security experts, commending what he calls the “air gap”:
Want to Evade NSA Spying? Don’t Connect to the Internet
Writing at his own blog [Schneier on Security], he describes some of the techniques employed by the spooks
How the NSA Attacks Tor/Firefox Users With QUANTUM and FOXACID
From RT, they’re under every rock [and listening to everyh line]:
Canadian spy agency ‘dissected’ Brazilian Energy Ministry
Canada, as well as the US, infiltrated and spied on the Brazilian Energy Ministry, a new leak by Edward Snowden has revealed. The leaked documents show how the data gleaned through espionage was shared with international spy network the ‘Five Eyes.’
More from the CBC:
Brazil spying allegations elicit no comment from Canada
Canadian officials refuse to say whether they listened in on Brazil’s Mines and Energy Ministry
And from The Guardian, ignorant in Old Blighty:
Cabinet was told nothing about GCHQ spying programmes, says Chris Huhne
Ex-minister says he was in ‘utter ignorance’ of Prism and Tempora and calls for tighter oversight of security services
From the World Socialist Web Site, like we said, under every rock:
German state intelligence agency spies on journalists
The intelligence agency of the state of Lower Saxony has for years been illegally spying on journalists involved in researching and publishing information about extreme right-wing circles.
And from To Vima, another rock in Athens, other ears?:
Government and Opposition clash over telephone surveillance
Tsipras allegedly claimed at Parliamentary Group Assembly that SYRIZA’s telephone lines were monitored
From EUbusiness, a tale of inaction:
Despite data privacy scandal, no deal yet on new EU laws
EU justice ministers meeting for the first time since revelations of US spying on Europeans, agreed on Monday that new data protection laws were needed but disagreed on how to proceed.
From U.S.News & World Report, the daily d’uh:
Governments Worldwide Increase Online Surveillance, Report Shows
U.S. drops from second to fourth place in global Internet freedom ranking
The Guardian covers another opportunity for spookless profit. . .or is it?:
Australia’s Fastmail secure email service claims it is ‘NSA proof’
The email provider joins a growing number of communications firms claiming to be out of reach of US intelligence agencies
And from Al Jazeera English, Hope™-less:
Human rights groups say Obama has failed on Guantanamo
Groups criticize president for failing to follow through on commitments to close controversial prison
The Daily Dot brings us a reminder of the ubiquity of of corporate iniquity:
How apps capture your kids’ data—without you even knowing
And The Verge reports latter-day legal blackmail:
Google, payment providers take action against firms profiting from mug shots
While CNN’s iReport reminds us that whistleblowers oftenpay a price:
Whistleblower Terminated from Northwestern for Revealing Human Experimentation:Top Secret Writers
Why would a bright and promising cardiologist be fired from the University hospital that she had practiced at since 2000? Apparently, protecting her patients is grounds for dismissal. At least, that is the case at Northwestern University in Illinois.