PRISM: NSA getting everything, not just phone data

[VMI77]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/ju ... s-nsa-data

The National Security Agency has obtained direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and other US internet giants, according to a top secret document obtained by the Guardian.

The NSA access is part of a previously undisclosed program called PRISM, which allows officials to collect material including search history, the content of emails, file transfers and live chats, the document says.

When the FAA was first enacted, defenders of the statute argued that a significant check on abuse would be the NSA's inability to obtain electronic communications without the consent of the telecom and internet companies that control the data. But the PRISM program renders that consent unnecessary, as it allows the agency to directly and unilaterally seize the communications off the companies' servers.

But, yeah, they're not looking at Americans.....

[RoyGBiv]

But if you've got nothing to hide, then why be upset? /sarcasm

[Wes]

The actions of the major government bureaus under this administration never fail to amaze me.

[Kadelic]

I'm sure Obama and Holder just heard about it last night, so at least they're not involved. And thank goodness, what would we do if they were?

[mamabearCali]

I am angry, very very angry with the gov't.

Not the kind of angry that you smash your favorite vase on the wall and scream at your husband (not that I think that is acceptable behavior at all). It is more like I found my child in a most grievous deliberate, dangerous disobedience that puts us all in terrible danger. It is a quiet purposeful anger, they type of anger where I don't just swat the child, but I consider the punishment that is to be given. This gov't has deliberately and flagrantly defied the limits that we the people put on it. People need to start going to jail for these things.

NSA, since I know you read these things. "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." This is the supreme law of the United States and you are violating it in a most flagrant and grievous manner.

[SherwoodForest]

I think I will start providing Face Book "post scripts" to the National Security Agency - an agency BTW that I was once assigned to while in the Air Force.

It is time to start calling in "pest control".

[suthdj]

I think it is time for a letter writing campaign.... again. I won't blame this on Obummer as Bush started this with the Patriot act. My mama always said "it is better to be irritated then irritated on". Now it seems I got both.

[The Annoyed Man]

I am angry, very very angry with the gov't.

Not the kind of angry that you smash your favorite vase on the wall and scream at your husband (not that I think that is acceptable behavior at all). It is more like I found my child in a most grievous deliberate, dangerous disobedience that puts us all in terrible danger. It is a quiet purposeful anger, they type of anger where I don't just swat the child, but I consider the punishment that is to be given. This gov't has deliberately and flagrantly defied the limits that we the people put on it. People need to start going to jail for these things.

NSA, since I know you read these things. "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." This is the supreme law of the United States and you are violating it in a most flagrant and grievous manner.

I think in another post I called you "my sister from another mister," and I agree with everything you've said here (NSA, I hope you're listening and have a copy of the Constitution nearby), but consider this: This action comes from the same government that fulfilled an IRS search warrant against an insurance company employee, and while they were taking HIS computer record, they also filched the healthcare records of 60,000 people who were not named in the warrant, just because they could, and on the principle that its easier to apologize than it is to get permission. To date, there have been no apologies to any of those 60,000 people, and the IRS still has those illegally gotten records.

And this is in addition to the other IRS scandal that is in the press; and the AP spying scandal; and the Benghazi "abandon your warfighters on the battlefield" scandal, and Eric Holder's gun-running scheme, and the refusal to enforce federal immigration law.....which is an illegal abdication of responsibility, and ......and .....and ..... etc., etc., ad nauseum.

They do this because they have no shame, and absolutely no moral backbone. None. You and I both know WHO is Large and In Charge, and I've read the last chapters of the Owner's Manual. We win. But the road between then and now is perilous and it is going to continually get worse, not better. So I pray that you and your hubby are girding yourselves against what is to come. God bless you sister for your commitment to this cause.

[philip964]

I read about all this and it did not upset me. Not sure why. I think it was I figured they were already doing all this anyway.

So to me, it was no real surprise.

I was more upset about taking the guns away after Sandy Hook.

Didn't we have threads in the past, where if you used certain words, you would get a knock at the door.

The IRS and EPA retribution bothered me more too.

Maybe I am getting numb to the fact that the government is getting way to powerful. Maybe I am sort of relieved, as Churchill was after he heard the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. I know the war is now won. The next election will be won by conservatives and libertarians.

Its a shame, I remember when the Democrats were the big supporters of the Constitution and freedom. They have lost their way.

The king has no clothes, and everyone knows it now. I can sleep easy like Churchill.

[mamabearCali]

I am angry, very very angry with the gov't.

Not the kind of angry that you smash your favorite vase on the wall and scream at your husband (not that I think that is acceptable behavior at all). It is more like I found my child in a most grievous deliberate, dangerous disobedience that puts us all in terrible danger. It is a quiet purposeful anger, they type of anger where I don't just swat the child, but I consider the punishment that is to be given. This gov't has deliberately and flagrantly defied the limits that we the people put on it. People need to start going to jail for these things.

NSA, since I know you read these things. "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." This is the supreme law of the United States and you are violating it in a most flagrant and grievous manner.

I think in another post I called you "my sister from another mister," and I agree with everything you've said here (NSA, I hope you're listening and have a copy of the Constitution nearby), but consider this: This action comes from the same government that fulfilled an IRS search warrant against an insurance company employee, and while they were taking HIS computer record, they also filched the healthcare records of 60,000 people who were not named in the warrant, just because they could, and on the principle that its easier to apologize than it is to get permission. To date, there have been no apologies to any of those 60,000 people, and the IRS still has those illegally gotten records.

And this is in addition to the other IRS scandal that is in the press; and the AP spying scandal; and the Benghazi "abandon your warfighters on the battlefield" scandal, and Eric Holder's gun-running scheme, and the refusal to enforce federal immigration law.....which is an illegal abdication of responsibility, and ......and .....and ..... etc., etc., ad nauseum.

They do this because they have no shame, and absolutely no moral backbone. None. You and I both know WHO is Large and In Charge, and I've read the last chapters of the Owner's Manual. We win. But the road between then and now is perilous and it is going to continually get worse, not better. So I pray that you and your hubby are girding yourselves against what is to come. God bless you sister for your commitment to this cause.

Thank you TAM. My husband and I are doing what we can. Sadly all these things take time and $$. Both of which I am afraid are in short supply. But we plug away at it a little more each month. Tyranny, even if it is the last ultimate one must be resisted. Right now we are still checking off boxes and making alternative plans in case big trouble appears on the horizon.

[wheelgun1958]

I won't blame this on Obummer as Bush started this with the Patriot act.

Re-authorized by MaObama. He didn't have to. The 'blame' is squarely on his shoulders.

[RottenApple]

I won't blame this on Obummer as Bush started this with the Patriot act.

Re-authorized by MaObama. He didn't have to. The 'blame' is squarely on his shoulders.

It may have started as GW's baby, but Obama willingly adopted it.

[TexasGal]

Oh, I think he is delighted with it. Delighted.
Bush reportedly used armed drones 49 times. Obama reportedly 300 and counting. And he just can't wait to put those drones over our own cities (unarmed of course--for now--unless some really bad American citizen needs killing--without due process). So easy to just reach out and touch someone. So easy to just eavesdrop on every voter. Record every private communication between friends. Perhaps observe every political rival while election plans are made. All for national security you understand. All to keep us safe so nothing to worry about. The IRS is just collecting our taxes too. Utter misunderstanding and misconception that it has been used for years under the radar to batter organizations whose politics are opposed. That was an accident. And why is Holder tolerated? Well perhaps since his wife and the First Lady are dear dear friends, it is just not a good idea to fire a guy who probably has his very own databank of secrets. The secrets of the Obama family. By now even the most dense moron must be realizing the political power Obama has amassed may have more at it's core than just a savvy political talent. How many rivals can you silence when you know everything? Already the guy who leaked the info about PRISM is being vilified by certain members of our government as a criminal who should be prosecuted. But Feinstein was very very quick to say there would be zero punishment for the reporters who printed it. They of course are only doing their jobs. God knows the White House has realized ticking off the press was a really bad move. But that's the thing about too much power. After a while you think you can do anything you want. Anything at all.

[The Annoyed Man]

"If the federal government should overpass the just bounds of its authority and make a tyrannical use of its powers, the people, whose creature it is, must appeal to the standard they have formed, and take such measures to redress the injury done to the Constitution as the exigency may suggest and prudence justify."

--Federalist No. 33, 1788

[longtooth]

"If the federal government should overpass the just bounds of its authority and make a tyrannical use of its powers, the people, whose creature it is, must appeal to the standard they have formed, and take such measures to redress the injury done to the Constitution as the exigency may suggest and prudence justify."

--Federalist No. 33, 1788

Now in Deep East Texas English that means another rebellion against a Despate king.