Light Reading for Coffee Break: Data collected about you

There was a big spike in readership, recently, I wonder what the entry was about?  I should look but do not really care.

What is the point? The Yahoos, the original ones, have taken over. They have won. It is only reasonable to admit that and prepare. The conscious need to find a redoubt or leave. The diaspora of rational Americans is reaching down to the middle class. Unlike the Jews of the 1930s, we are not stuck in our lost land; however, being stupid keeps people in serfdom.

This morning I heard a blip of a news report, as I never listen carefully to the voice of Big Brothers, but this stood out.  It seems 36%, if I caught it correctly, could have been 32%, of those polled could not name the three branches of our government.  

You should write this down and next to it:  "I pay for public schools." Put it on your refrigerator . 

The subversives scam the marks and use their money to fund the next scam. People still vote for school boards, the most important of elections, without any thought at all and very, very few vote. The most common prior career for school principals in America is gym teacher.  We get what we deserve and that is the rule of the least common denominator, a math term you may not know, if you went to public school

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 19% of Likely U.S. Voters think most high school graduates today have the skills needed to enter the workforce, down from February’s high of 25%  REPORT

What is the point of arguments concerning the imbalance, when one third of the people have no idea one was supposed to exist?  People actually think Obama makes laws. Can't do it from the links.

NYC, the axis of arrogant stupidity, loved their former mayor, the one who announced it was illegal to sell a 17 ounce cup of  coke. A 64 ounce bottle was legal, of course.  The comic opera council voted to support this bizarre notion. The media repeated the sadness of diabetes, the reason why a city decided to control its citizens. Eventually, the law was overturned, but the mentally ill have learned that if they keep doing the same thing, eventually some court will let them win.

NYC is out to make electric cigarettes illegal even though the items were invented to help people stop smoking. Why? They look like cigarettes. We have finally achieved full dominance of form over substance.  Legislatures are irrelevant.

The new Marxist Mayor cannot obtain a security clearance sufficient to be briefed about active terrorist plots against the city.  No problem, Congress saved us. It agreed with our Indonesian Sunni president to fund Sunni terrorists who agree to fight ISIS Sunni terrorists. Let see, the friend of my enemy who is fighting my shiite enemy is my friend. I think that's it. Most of the world, I suspect, no longer laughs at the retarded giant we have become; they are preparing themselves for the worst and watching for us blundering around.

The statist mindset, now called liberalism, a word that means the opposite of a classic liberalism, is a mental disease. It is more than being lazy or having a submissive psyche. These liberal are not so large a percentage of the population; however,  they control the low information voters with welfare and the like, as well as people who graduated from public school. The low information drones vote for the sensitive dictators. The media has become a Marxist propaganda department. Select companies and large banks become powerful thanks to government largesse (i.e. your taxes.)  Things are too far gone to unwind. Our systems are too complex and we are becoming to ignorant to know a fifth grade break down of out government. When things unravel, it could be ugly.

The death knell is to come, put off by world chaos that we fuel, and the money looking for safety in the USD, as well as the Federal Reserve working long hours to protect the banks exposed to the coming "interesting" times. It is to come. I would advised you to look at the consumer price index, but since the Clinton years, gasoline and food are not included, so the government can have the media tell us the CPI is flat. You know your dollar is devalued daily; common sense is a good thing. Buy junk silver, if you have no idea what to do.

Below is an excerpt regarding a 2006 flappe where Amazon released over 600,000 profiles. That is way back in Internet time. Keep that in mind, then  multiply the result by a million or so when thinking of the NSA. There are still idiots who say, "Duh, I have nothing to hide…." but they sure do and the feds have access to all this data. You do not want to upset Big Brother.

I got this item, below, from my search engine ixquick; it is from a promotional item. As a result, I have turned off my acceptance of cookies until I am asked for one. I found it interesting NSA people use TOR, a browser dedicated to privacy; on the other hand, if you search for it, that inquiry is immediately flagged by the NSA. This is a good recommendation. 

This blog required a Google cookie, now that I pay attention I will deal with this, so I can imagine finding a new home in the future. Google is no friend of personal freedom and they are proud of telling us that: we are not where people find information - we tell them what they should know. 

Enjoy:

Based on the number of local searches, AOL user 1515830 appears to be a resident of Ohio's Mahoning County. On March 1, user 1515830 was trying to find the amount of calories in chai tea and bananas. But on March 9, the searches took a darker turn: 

chai tea calories 
calories in bananas 
aftermath of incest 
how to tell your family you're a victim of incest 
pottery barn 
curtains 
surgical help for depression 
oakland raiders comforter set 
can you adopt after a suicide attempt 
who is not allowed to adopt 
i hate men 
medication to enhance female desire 
jobs in denver colorado 
teaching positions in denver colorado how long will the swelling last after my tummy tuck 
divorce laws in ohio 
free remote keyloggers 
baked macaroni and cheese with sour cream 
how to deal with anger 
teaching jobs with the denver school system 
marriage counseling tips 
anti psychotic drugs

Revenge is a common theme, though of course it's impossible to guess whether an AOL user has criminal intent or is in the middle of writing a true-crime novel. In the case of AOL user 17556639, the jury's still out: 

how to kill your wife 
pictures of dead people
photo of dead people
car crash photo

Some AOL users seem to be worried that an abusive partner in a relationship may come back to hurt them. This person, AOL user 005315, searched for information about prison inmates, gang members, sociopaths in relationships, and women who were murdered in southern California last year: 

resources for utility bill paying assistance in southern california
section 8 housing southern california
los angeles county ca. gang member pictures
orange county california jails inmate information
fractured ankle
letters and responses written by women to emotionally
abusive partners
men that use emotional and physical abandonment to control their partner
warning signs of a mans infidelity or sexual addiction
the sociopathic relationship
southern california newspaper stories about woman murdered by boyfriend in pomona december2005
names of females murdered or found dead in pomona california in 2005
characteristics of a sociopath in a relationship
a person that shows lack of empathy
help in writing a letter to a abusive narcissistic ex boyfriend 
how to hurt the narcissistic man
retaliating against the narcisisstic man

CONTINUED: Lovelorn and desperate…
Page 1 | 2 | 3

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Lavabit, NSA, Snowden and NSA spying on all of us

Interview by a dope of Levnison, at South by SouthWest, who shut down his Lavabit rather than permit the NSA to peruse "encrypted" email in the server because he was ordered to provide them with the encryption key. He gave them an 11 page typed version of the key which provided time to erase the data base.

He is working on client side encryption, these days. Talks about effectiveness of Snowden.

I only hope viewers understand the magnitude of what was discussed. Understand the assuredness that the feds tear up your privacy. When he offered up the key on paper, the feds announced they would fine him $5,000 per day because he did not provide an electronic key.


http://techcrunch.com/video/lavabit-founder-talks-snowden-and-dark-mails-release/518156992/

Twitter: Monitored By Government

From BBC. 

Your tax dollars at work.

US Secret Service seeks Twitter sarcasm detector

The Secret Service wants its own automated system of social media monitoring

Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

• Q&A: Prism and privacy
• How much do the spooks know?
• Why it pays to complain via Twitter

The US Secret Service is seeking a Twitter sarcasm detector.

The agency has put out a work tender looking for a software system to analyse social media data.

The software should have, among other things, the "ability to detect sarcasm and false positives".

A spokesman for the service said it currently used the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Twitter analytics and needed its own, adding: "We aren't looking solely to detect sarcasm."

The Washington Post quoted Ed Donovan as saying: 

"Our objective is to automate our social media monitoring process. Twitter is what we analyse.
"This is real-time stream analysis. The ability to detect sarcasm and false positives is just one of 16 or 18 things we are looking at."

Prism controversy

The tender was put out earlier this week on the US government's Federal Business Opportunities website.

It sets out the objectives of automating social media monitoring and "synthesising large sets of social media data".

Specific requirements include "audience and geographic segmentation" and analysing "sentiment and trend".

The software also has to have "compatibility with Internet Explorer 8". The browser was released more than five years ago.

The agency does not detail the purpose of the analysis but does set out its mission, which includes "preserving the integrity of the economy and protecting national leaders and visiting heads of state and government"....

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Notice there is no hesitancy to state that Twitter in being monitored for 16 to 18 "things." I wonder, can  a private company monitor Twitter?  If it is technically possible, would it be a crime?  If so,is the Treasury Department above the law?

Most importantly, how do we tolerate fascism?  Please, don't get me wrong, this is not saracasm.

Dangerous Fascist: Sen. Markey of Massachusetts

From Onenewsnow.com:

Did you hear yesterday's Obama lie?  Well, I am referring to just one.

He says that all that information the NSA records and stores is not used.  It is for use later, when a target is suspected. This is the latest mind-numbing lefty babble. They never seem to understand some day their infrastructure will fall into the hands of a right wing administration.

The Germans registered their guns in the early 1920s upon assurances of the government that their data would be secret only to have the list wind up in the hand of the National Socialists in 1933. Hitler's first act was to confiscate the guns. I won't bother explaining why that was necessary for an evil state to kill people. Those who do not understand, never will.

If a bill such as the one below were passed, it is time to find a new homeland. Seriously. Don't close the door on the way out, I will be right behind. Pay attention to the 1930s when Jews who could left Germany. Oh, forgot, it can never happen, here because we have guns and freedom.

Send this around and those in MA ought to pay attention to the viruses they elect. The bill below expresses exactly what the fascists want. it is classic Orwellian. The bill is a trial balloon, I suspect, as the House would never pass it, in order to see what the reaction is, so I suggest you give one. The bill is for home consumption, as well, considering the coming election.

This is the sad aspect. Markey is pandering to voters who will vote for their own slavery.  They will, too.

Politics-govt

Dems want to mine for 'hate speech'

Chad Groening   (OneNewsNow.com) Friday, May 02, 2014

A pro-family organization is warning that "hate crime"-related legislation introduced on Capitol Hill could potentially squash free speech and create a "thought-controlled society."

 

In mid-April, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Massachusetts) introduced a bill authorizing the government to monitor and analyze speech online, on television, and over the radio, with the aim of classifying it as hate speech under the government's own vague guidelines and then possibly charging the "offenders" with a hate crime.
The Hate Crime Reporting Act of 2014 (S. 2219) would create a comprehensive report of Internet and other telecommunications speech regarding gender, race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. It would also create recommendations to address such crimes.
If S. 2219 becomes law, it would be "a really big step toward a police state," says Patrick Vaughan, general counsel for the American Family Association.
"What they propose to do is capture and monitor everything that's said on broadcast or everything that's said on the Internet; they're going to grab it all," the attorney describes. "Then they're going to analyze it to see if there might be something going on that would lead to a crime in the future."

Markey's fellow New York Democrat, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, has introduced a companion bill in the House (H.R. 3878). Jeffries says such legislation is necessary to "comprehensively evaluate the scope of criminal and hateful activity on the Internet that occurs outside of the zone of First Amendment protection."...

NSA: Hits Keep Comin'

Mystic: records all phone calls from foreign nation (according to what Snowden knows)

Criminal Act In Most Nations

The Edward Snowden leaks keep coming, this time with the accusation that an NSA program called MYSTIC culls 100 percent of an unnamed nation’s phone calls, which can then be retrieved any time during the course of 30 days.

Such a program would be a first time that an entire nation’s phone calls were netted by an NSA program, National Journal reported.

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SEE ALSO: Snowden: NSA uses fake Facebook to hack into users’ computers

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An NSA spokesman contacted National Journal and asserted that “all of NSA’s operations must be strictly conducted under the rule of law,” while also acknowledging that individuals “have legitimate privacy interests in the handling of their personal information.”

MYSTIC and its “retrospective retrieval” capabilities has been in existence since 2009, with one unnamed official telling The Washington Post that the program’s “RETRO” system operated like a “time machine […] into the past.”

Quantumhand: Invasion of Privacy/Theft By Spoofing Facebook

Cybercrime

News of MYSTIC comes just one week after NSA leaker Edward Snowden alleged that the spy agency also uses fake Facebook pages to trick individuals into giving up information. The program, called QUANTUMHAND, transmits malicious data packets that fool the target’s computer into thinking they are legitimately from Facebook, enabling the NSA to access the target’s computer and the data from its hard drive.

Facebook denied having any knowledge of the NSA program to National Journal  [From Washington Times.]

Of course, Facebook also is a friend of the state.  The fascist answer to any complaints, here, is the this information is secret because it is sensitive by the NSA in its mission to protect the people. Personally, I feel great warmth knowing the Facebook is a major source of monitoring everyone.

FOGGYBOTTOM records logs of Internet browsing histories and collects login details and passwords used to access websites and email accounts

From Abovetopsecret.com, we learn of a few of dozens of programs:

One implant, codenamed UNITEDRAKE, can be used with a variety of “plug-ins” that enable the agency to gain total control of an infected computer. An implant plug-in named CAPTIVATEDAUDIENCE, for example, is used to take over a targeted computer’s microphone and record conversations taking place near the device. Another, GUMFISH, can covertly take over a computer’s webcam and snap photographs. FOGGYBOTTOM records logs of Internet browsing histories and collects login details and passwords used to access websites and email accounts. GROK is used to log keystrokes. And SALVAGERABBIT exfiltrates data from removable flash drives that connect to an infected computer.

I am sure there are people figuring out how to create a new net or systems not readily observable by B Brother. For those interested, security is a great area for a new business.

Edward Snowden

11/04/2013

• PrintStatement From Edward Snowde

The German magazine Der Spiegel published a statement Sunday from Edward Snowden that it translated from English to German. Snowden has provided the ACLU with the original English text:

"In a very short period, the world has learned that some intelligence services operate unaccountable and occasionally criminal dragnet surveillance programs. While the NSA and GCHQ appear to be the worst offenders, we must remember that mass surveillance is a global problem and needs global solutions. Such programs are not just a threat to privacy, but to free expression and open societies. We must not allow the existence of spying technology to determine political policy; we have a moral duty to ensure our law and values constrain surveillance programs and protect basic human rights.

"Society can only understand and control these problems through robust, open, and informed debate. In the beginning, a few governments, embarrassed by the revelation of their mass surveillance systems, engaged in an unprecedented campaign of persecution to suppress that debate by intimidating journalists and criminalizing truth-telling. At that time, the public had no ability to measure the benefit of these revelations, and deferred to the judgment of government regarding the wisdom of this decision, but today it is clear that this was a mistake, and such action does not serve the public interest. The fruits of the debate they sought to avoid are now being enjoyed in countries around the world, and the beneficiary of this new public knowledge is society.

"Individuals have a civic responsibility to fight the suppression of information regarding matters of critical public importance. Telling the truth is not a crime."

==

The above piece is found on the ACLU page. These days, their mission is relatively tolerable. They do not like a police state.  Here is another article that warns of local police:

Capability is Driving Policy, Not Just at the NSA But Also in Police Departments
The local police are tied into Homeland Security which is buying them war-fighing equipment, communications capability, all those cameras in your face. You local police department, with a high proportion of people who were not college material, is now part of the HS network. Talk to a local officer about the nature of our republic; then, talk about the importance of following orders.

This is stuff that would have made Stalin very happy.  If the switch is thrown, we are a massive internment camp. 

----------------

In recent news the Obama cabal said that with respect to Mr. Snowden there will be no  forgiveness. They meant by them.  So what?  Who wants to be in the good graces of tyrants other than victims who have abandoned hope?

I do not look at mass media in the U.S. so I was wondering, has this release been covered?  I am sure it will be by the world press.

The awareness level of the world, not so much in the U.S., has been increasing rapidly, probably thanks to the Internet. The lone voices warning us of secrecy and tyranny had been marginalized. Snowden may be the catalyst for a movement toward individual liberty. He is a very bright insider who had a moral and Constitutional sense of honor. His world-wide whistle blowing is far more effective than slobs camping out in a park  whining about "1 percenters" which, apparently, give license to rape.  

In many ways, they are correct in their emotional state of mind, but you cannot rationally ally yourself with rabble. Also, you could not keep up with them as the crew in NY, at least, were pretty darn close to being from 1%er families.

Snowden, Liars, Hegel, Substance

I have long understood the volume of data in our lives overwhelms the ability to discern substantive information, even among those who pay attention to words and logic.  I suppose this is at the heart of

the theme of this blog.

Hegel spoke of the inverse ration between quality and quantity.  We are so deep in quantity, today, that few of us remember the old days when quality was discernible.

For example, we are daily inundated with lies from the government - all levels, all parties.  Not spin, rather in-your-face lies and the average person, including those in important positions, do not even pay much attention, let alone storm Washington, D.C. The media never questions press releases.  All is a spin to control the people. Yes, including Fox.

Nixon lied about covering up Watergate and the Republicans demanded his resignation. Bush I was crucified for promising, "No new taxes." Bush II was excoriated for saying the mission in Iraq was finished (one phase, actually, was.) Now, the current administration lies about everything, all-the-time, including the nationality of its leader. The attorney general stares down the cowardly Congress with obvious lies. Any rational republic would impeach him for lying.  (PS, for those who missed it, Obama is still an Indonesian and Brit who was required to reject joint citizenship upon maturity to remain an American, and has not.  Unless, that is a secret.)

The Executive officials lie to Congress, to the camera, to foreign leaders.  Congress lies to the people. We have been programmed to ignore it and scandal is treated like a sporting contest, not a moral outrage. It is as if the game is to see if you can actually get the opponent in some board game.  The media, in all its guises, acts like a troupe of cheerleaders.

Anyway, and I hope I have been on message; below is an excerpt from the Manchester Guardian I came across on Drudge.  Yeah, yeah the paper is low-class, but it is the one who published Snowden's exhibits. The acceptable papers are part of the ruling class.  It is the easy gambit to shrug off the Guardian's reports, but that does not negate actual documents.

Read through this section which is lifted from a report about British spying:

...UK officials could also claim GCHQ "produces larger amounts of metadata than NSA". (Metadata describes basic information on who has been contacting whom, without detailing the content.) 

By May last year 300 analysts from GCHQ, and 250 from the NSA, had been assigned to sift through the flood of data 

The Americans were given guidelines for its use, but were told in legal briefings by GCHQ lawyers: "We have a light oversight regime compared with the US".
When it came to judging the necessity and proportionality of what they were allowed to look for, would-be American users were told it was "your call". 

The Guardian understands that a total of 850,000 NSA employees and US private contractors with top secret clearance had access to GCHQdatabases. 

The documents reveal that by last year GCHQ was handling 600m "telephone events" each day, had tapped more than 200 fibre-optic cables and was able to process data from at least 46 of them at a time.

The England is married to Big Brother.  They love their secrets.  In the U.S. the governments are at least being sneaky and lie to cover what they, obviously, know is an invasion of people's rights. There, the tech-spooks are illegally (is it?) taping lines.  I would expect they have collectors at nodes, but who knows.

Notice the last section:  850,000 NSA employees and agents have access to Britain's data base.  Start with that number:  850,000 people with the minimal "top secret" clearance.  There are roughly 230,000,000 adults in the U.S.!

The unofficial number of NSA employees, however, is given as 60,000!  This is an estimate based upon the alleged budget of the NSA, which, of course, is an open lie, a new form of double speak.  There is never any analysis that is finite regarding the government; one only learns to distrust anything these people claim. This is part of the disconnect the people have from their government. The remedy is, in theory, an election, but we are given McCain and Romney as an alternative!  The GOP has to go, either from within or without. Both parties want low voter interest, except for those getting free money.

The article excerpt mentions a comment that the British data, which the NSA has, now, is far more extensive than what the U.S. would allow!  This includes U.S. data ostensibly illegal for the NSA to have. On top of this, think what this means.  The spies are controlled only by what they can get away with. If one is not caught, the argument extends, then all is fair.

 The NSA recently reported only a few, certain people have the access Snowden claims to have had and they deny he had such access.  In the middle of this never-ending lying, the NSA ignores the fact that Snowden had documents. You would think a journalist may have raised that odd contradiction. So, either the talking heads at the NSA are lying, again, are incompetent beyond any comfort level, or there is a conspiracy inside the NSA to feed documents to Snowden.  All of the above are plausible.

The volume of ancillary data that floods our lives is a distraction in themselves, but in the hands of professional liars, they work magic. After mishandling a response to the Snowden release, there was a buzz about his true salary (overlooking overtime) and his education. The true believers look for any hook to hang their preconceptions and look no further. Obviously, the messenger has been killed, so there is no message.  There are no documents.

True Believers also love to claim:  So, Bush did the same thing!

Yeah, so?

Watering Big Brother's Roots

Just a note concerning your freedom and that of your children. Don't want to intrude upon important matters.

The FBI has announced, proudly, it has commenced implementation of its new facial recognition system. Terrorism...bla....bla...protection....

This comes on the heels of Homeland Security, Department of Fisheries, and Social Security buying some 1.5 billion bullets. You never know when fish and terrorists in wheel chairs will attack.

The recent announcement does not include information mentioned two years ago about the system's actual design. It is designed to capture images from social media, et al., so that it will have a massive data base of everyone, everyone being potential terrorists as they may disagree with the state. 

Therefore, in a few years, as you walk down the street you can be identified in seconds and cameras can follow you automatically. I recommend watching British TV shows (I get them on Netflix) where the TV surveillance is old hat and a recent hit show was about the extensiveness and pending danger of total surveillance. The British have complied with the institution of total surveillance. We do not pay attention which, as Terence wrote long ago, "is consent."

You can be sure that in the near future, the police will be out arresting people who wear face masking of any type, even aliens, see below. Notice the move to re ban the wearing of religious head wair in Europe. This is contrary to the open society philosophy currently polluting Europe. It is sold as blocking terrorism, all the while nations are pretending to be politically correct about Muslim practices and not profiling. Simple masks will defeat Big Brother, so you can see what will happen.

Watch the entire YouTube of:

ALIEN VISITOR 

In England the rule is "do you trust Big Brother?," not "I am free." The lie is you have to put up with control to make you safe. Doubleplusgood speak. We are in the middle of this decision point and making a decision against freedom. 

The FBI reported it has 60% compliance in hooking up local police forces! We have a national police force working for the President. Did you sign up for this? Do local police have any idea they are becoming brown shirts?

So, I suggest removing photos. Leave the one in with you wearing a blue elephant hat. Or, one with a sign threatening to bomb terrorists for Christ.  

I hope you have not been putting anything substantive online, unless it is in praise of the Praetorian Guard.  Recall the recent posts about arrests by the Feds, along with local police, based upon Facebook posts. The last one arrest was dismissed after a one hour hearing, but the damage is done - people will begin to fear. The defendant was not victorious, we were all victims. 

Facebook is trolled to find key words as well as other indicia I could not even guess at. This is serious stuff for all of us, not just nut jobs.

Google hands over files of customers to the Feds upon request. That is correct, upon request. The files includes all the data they collect on you, which is everything that passes by their gates. Years ago, I was VP at First Interstate Bancard, N.A.  I got a call to deal with an FBI agent who showed up at our massively secured credit card center and asked to see someone's file.

This sent alarms among bankers. I talked with the agent in the cafeteria and said I don't think we can release information, he did not seem surprised, but I went to call the main legal office. They agreed and the agent left in a friendly manner. Today, banks give up information without a warrant, if it is not merely extracted in secret. http://money.msn.com/taxes/canada-tells-irs-to-back-off-marketwatch.aspx

People will, as it always the case, create an entire network around Big Brother thereby destroying our national community and public economy, giving rise to further "justified" state action. This is how Russia worked for a hundred years - everything was in the shadows and sometimes, someone was caught who had not paid off the police or courts. Then, the system collapsed; however, the oligarchs are back in control, as always happens without a Constitution that is protected.

We will become another Italy where voluntary tax compliance makes no sense.  You can see how their economy is doing. Italians are brilliant and hard working; their troubles have nothing to do with being without a foundation for a great nation. Socialists nations are popular with the users and the producers visit with John Galt. If you do not get that reference, I suggest you look into it.

Look for new software encrypting messages followed by the arrest of the entrepreneurs who refuse to release back doors into messages. In the meantime, people may want to invent new words. Grok?  (not a new one, actually)

Now, England is placing CCTV on private homes. I get the impression the goal is to put it in homes, exactly like in Orwell's 1-9-8-4.  See, my attempt to have the book reference undetected by the NSA.

A little excerpt from a 2008 site discussing the NSA:

...Supporters say the NSA is serving as a key bulwark against foreign terrorists and that it would be reckless to constrain the agency's mission. The NSA says it is scrupulously following all applicable laws and that it keeps Congress fully informed of its activities. 

According to current and former intelligence officials, the spy agency now monitors huge volumes of records of domestic emails and Internet searches as well as bank transfers, credit-card transactions, travel and telephone records. The NSA receives this so-called "transactional" data from other agencies or private companies, and its sophisticated software programs analyze the various transactions for suspicious patterns. Then they spit out leads to be explored by counterterrorism programs across the U.S. government, such as the NSA's own Terrorist Surveillance Program, formed to intercept phone calls and emails between the U.S. and overseas without a judge's approval when a link to al Qaeda is suspected. 

The NSA's enterprise involves a cluster of powerful intelligence-gathering programs, all of which sparked civil-liberties complaints when they came to light. They include a Federal Bureau of Investigation program to track telecommunications data once known as Carnivore, now called the Digital Collection System, and a U.S. arrangement with the world's main international banking clearinghouse to track money movements. 

The effort also ties into data from an ad-hoc collection of so-called "black programs" whose existence is undisclosed, the current and former officials say. Many of the programs in various agencies began years before the 9/11 attacks but have since been given greater reach. Among them, current and former intelligence officials say, is a longstanding Treasury Department program to collect individual financial data including wire transfers and credit-card transactions....

Of course, the laws that the NSA says it complies with are easily changed or circumvented in the dark.  Be aware that every transaction you make using a bank is collected. You Internet use is kept. Bytes are cheap, but freedom is priceless.

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