surveillance

How Ordinary Americans are Surveilled Locally and Nationally, and What Can Be Done About It

http://uprisingradio.org/home/2012/10/25/how-ordinary-americans-are-surveilled-locally-and-nationally-and-what-can-be-done...

How Ordinary Americans are Surveilled Locally and Nationally, and What Can Be Done About It
Posted By admin On October 25, 2012 @ 10:05 am In Feature Stories | 2 Comments

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While the issue of civil liberties was a hot topic under President George W. Bush’s tenure, particularly over the creation of the Homeland Security Department and the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act, little is heard in the public discourse these days about on-going infringements of people’s rights. President Obama’s administration has largely continued, and in some arenas, expanded on the Bush-era intrusion into Americans’ lives via warrantless wiretapping and other secret initiatives of the National Security Agency, as well as through so-called “fusion centers” scattered throughout the country.

Glenn Greenwald: How America's Surveillance State Breeds Conformity and Fear

http://www.alternet.org/story/156170/glenn_greenwald%3A_how_america%27s_surveillance_state_breeds_conformity_and_fear?akid...

Once the government is able to monitor everything we do and say, we will be unable to fight back.
July 4, 2012 |

Editor's note: The following is a transcript of a speech delivered by Glenn Greenwald at this month's Socialism 2012 conference, on the massive growth of government and corporate surveillance and their chilling effects on Americans' rights.

Last year was my maiden trip to the Socialism 2012 world. I started off by standing up and saying -- I was actually surprised by this, pleasantly surprised, because I didn’t know what to expect -- how amazingly inspirational I actually found this conference to be. The energy of activism and the sophisticated level of the conversation and the commitment that people displayed and the diversity of the attendees, really is unlike any other conference. And so when I was asked back this year, I was super excited to come back and accept. Not only because of that, but also because the conference organizers asked if I could speak about challenging the Surveillance State.

The reason that I was so eager to come and do that is because I really think that this topic is central to all of the other activism that’s being discussed here this weekend.

The Surveillance State hovers over any attacks that meaningfully challenge state-appropriated power. It doesn’t just hover over it. It impedes it, it deters it and kills it. That’s its intent. It does that by design.

And so, understanding what the Surveillance State, how it operates -- most importantly, figuring out how to challenge it and undermine it, and subvert it -- really is, I think, an absolute prerequisite to any sort of meaningful activism, to developing strategies and tactics for how to challenge state and corporate power.

Abby Martin of Media Roots on Citizen Journalism at SFSU

Abby Martin, Founder of Media Roots, speaks about citizen journalism at San Francisco State University on March 13, 2012 for the 'Media Literacy: Corporate Propaganda & Advocating Independent Journalism' Project Censored event.

http://www.twitter.com/abbymartin
http://www.mediaroots.org

Media Roots Radio- US Imperialism, War Updates, Spying, Fear & Self-Censorship, Building Communities

 

Media Roots Radio- US Imperialism, Spying, Self-Censorship, Building Communities by Media Roots

MEDIA ROOTS- This discussion covers US imperialism: wars, costs, media and government propaganda; the culture of self-censorship and the erosion of privacy in the US; information as power and how communication is an important tool to strengthen and build communities.

Sprint manager: ‘Half’ of all police surveillance includes text messaging

http://rawstory.com/2009/12/sprint-manager-half-police-surveillance-requests-include-text-messaging/
Sprint manager: ‘Half’ of all police surveillance includes text messaging

By Stephen C. Webster
Saturday, December 5th, 2009 -- 3:37 pm
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According to a graduate student's research into the spying policies of major U.S. telecommunications companies, at a recent security conference a Sprint surveillance manager told a group of onlookers that half of all police requests include the target's text messages.

Half of millions -- including some 8 million automated, web-based requests for GPS location, all in just over a year's time.

The revelation was made by Indiana University grad Christopher Soghoian, as part of his PhD dissertation published Dec. 1, 2009.

He attributes the stunning number to Paul Taylor, an Electronic Surveillance Manager with Sprint Nextel, who was speaking recently at the Washington, D.C. International Securities Systems conference, otherwise known as ISS World.

Mind Your Tweets: The CIA Social Networking Surveillance System by Tom Burghardt

Mind Your Tweets: The CIA Social Networking Surveillance System by Tom Burghardt

Global Research, October 27, 2009
Antifascist Calling... - 2009-10-24

That social networking sites and applications such as Facebook, Twitter and their competitors can facilitate communication and information sharing amongst diverse groups and individuals is by now a cliché.

It should come as no surprise then, that the secret state and the capitalist grifters whom they serve, have zeroed-in on the explosive growth of these technologies. One can be certain however, securocrats aren't tweeting their restaurant preferences or finalizing plans for after work drinks.

No, researchers on both sides of the Atlantic are busy as proverbial bees building a "total information" surveillance system, one that will, so they hope, provide police and security agencies with what they euphemistically call "actionable intelligence."

Build the Perfect Panopticon, Win Fabulous Prizes!

Report: UK police categorize political activists as ‘domestic extremists’

http://rawstory.com/2009/10/report-uk-police-categorize-political-activists-domestic-extremists/
Report: UK police categorize political activists as ‘domestic extremists’

By Stephen C. Webster
Sunday, October 25th, 2009 -- 8:55 pm
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British police inspectors have been building a massive, secret database containing personal information on thousands of otherwise innocent political activists, an investigative report revealed Sunday.

"The hidden apparatus has been constructed to monitor 'domestic extremists', the Guardian can reveal in the first of a three-day series into the policing of protests. Detailed information about the political activities of campaigners is being stored on a number of overlapping IT systems, even if they have not committed a crime."

The UK paper added that the term "domestic extremist" has no legal basis, but is instead intended to tar those who may have participated in something so benign as civil disobedience.

Even merely attending a protest and standing on the outskirts of the crowd can be enough to land one on the National Public Order Intelligence Unit's list of "domestic extremists."

9/11 Truth, Part 8 of 11: 9/11 Aftermath and Anthrax; Subverted Rights, Endless War, People's Victories

this one suffers from overkill and i still didn't say everything that needed to be said; let me know what i left out, how to improve, if you have ideas

9/11 Truth, Part 8 of 11: 9/11 Aftermath and Anthrax; Subverted Rights, Endless War, People's Victories
http://911reports.wordpress.com/2008/08/31/911-truth-part-8-of-11-911-aftermath-and-anthrax-subverted-rights-endless-war/

This article is an overview of some of the ways in which 9/11 and the Anthrax attacks have been used; manipulating public fears and understanding, increasing military budgets and private contracts, reducing oversight and accountability, launching imperialist wars, and implementing repressive police state measures- as well as victories for the People and the Constitution.

Post 9/11 Attacks on Freedom, People, Human Rights & Nations

Refusing to be silenced August 1, 2008

We will not be silenced . . .

http://socialistworker.org/2008/08/01/refusing-to-be-silenced

http://socialistworker.org/2008/08/01/refusing-to-be-silencedSpeech: Dave Zirin

Refusing to be silenced
August 1, 2008

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On July 24, about 100 people gathered in Baltimore for a forum to stand up against a long-term spying operation conducted by the Maryland State Police against anti-death penalty and antiwar activists.

The surveillance and infiltration of the groups took place while Republican Robert Ehrlich was governor, according to 43 pages of state police reports recently released to the ACLU. The spying continued month after month despite the fact that the state's agents never recorded a single illegal act among the groups' protest activities. This week, the current governor, Martin O'Malley, appointed a panel to review the state police surveillance operation against the anti-death penalty and antiwar movements.

Dave Zirin, a sportswriter and activist, was one of the activists named in the spying reports. At the July 24 meeting, he talked about his reactions to the spy scandal and activists' plans for "going on offense."

Google must divulge YouTube log

Excerpt posted, visit link for the rest

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7488009.stm

Google must divulge YouTube log

Google must divulge the viewing habits of every user who has ever watched any video on YouTube, a US court has ruled.

The ruling comes as part of Google's legal battle with Viacom over allegations of copyright infringement.

Digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called the ruling a "set-back to privacy rights".

The viewing log, which will be handed to Viacom, contains the log-in ID of users, the computer IP address (online identifier) and video clip details.

While the legal battle between the two firms is being contested in the US, it is thought the ruling will apply to YouTube users and their viewing habits everywhere.

Viacom, which owns MTV and Paramount Pictures, has alleged that YouTube is guilty of massive copyright infringement.

The UK's Premier League association is also seeking class action status with Viacom on the issue, alledging YouTube has been used to watch football highlights.

Senator Orrin Hatch Has "Truthers" On The Brain!

182 comments so far at ThinkProgress(sic)

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/25/hatch-compares-fisa-critics-to-those-who-wear-tin-foil-hats-and-think-911-was-an-insid...

Hatch compares FISA critics to those ‘who wear tin foil hats and think 9/11 was an inside job.’»
Speaking today on the Senate floor in favor of the Foreign Service Intelligence Act legislation, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) compared critics of the bill — which include Sens. Harry Reid (D-NV), Chris Dodd (D-CT), and Barbara Boxer (D-CA), among others — to deluded conspiracy theorists. Hatch mocked the what he called “onerous oversight provisions” included in the bill, and said those who raise the specter of unchecked executive wiretapping power “feed the delusions of those who wear tin foil hats around their house and think that 9/11 was an inside job.” Watch it:

Those “onerous” oversight provisions Hatch maligns? A ban on “reverse targeting” of Americans and a new requirement of probable cause for surveillance of Americans abroad.

Dem leadership abandons party to pass FISA revision

House votes to approve FISA revision
Dem leadership leaves its party behind in supporting compromise

By Peter Duveen

PETER'S NEW YORK, June 20, 2008--After a lively debate in which a phalanx of Democrats voiced their strong opposition, the U.S. House of Representatives today approved legislation to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA). But the Democratic leadership appeared to have left behind the majority of its party in siding with the Republicans on the compromise legislation.

Some 105 Democrats voted for the bill, outnumbered by 128 in the party who voted against it. Only one Republican voted in opposition, 188 voting for the bill, demonstrating the strong partisan nature of the legislation and the power of the Democrats to easily sink it if they had so decided.

FBI Backs Off From Secret Order for Data After Lawsuit (Internet Archive)

Was this for your info, 911veritas?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/07/AR2008050703808.html

The FBI has withdrawn a secret administrative order seeking the name, address and online activity of a patron of the Internet Archive after the San Francisco-based digital library filed suit to block the action.

It is one of only three known instances in which the FBI has backed off from such a data demand, known as a "national security letter," or NSL, which is not subject to judicial approval and whose recipient is barred from disclosing the order's existence.

NSLs are served on phone companies, Internet service providers and other electronic communications service providers, but because of the gag order provision, the public has little way to know about them. Their use soared after the September 2001 terrorist attacks, when Congress relaxed the standard for their issuance. FBI officials now issue about 50,000 such orders a year.

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