Archive for the 'Dictatorship' Category
Secret Military Contractors Will Soon Mine Your Tweets
February 13th, 2014Via: DefenseOne: The Army wants a contractor to conduct detailed social media data mining to “identify violent extremist influences” around the world that could affect the European Command, responsible for operations in Europe as well as Iceland, Israel, Greenland and Russia. Though the project is classified Secret, an Army contract shop in Europe posted a […]
Connecticut: Thousands Flout Gun Registration Law
February 13th, 2014Via: The Courant: Everyone knew there would be some gun owners flouting the law that legislators hurriedly passed last April, requiring residents to register all military-style rifles with state police by Dec. 31. But few thought the figures would be this bad. By the end of 2013, state police had received 47,916 applications for assault […]
You Know Who Else Collected Metadata? The Stasi.
February 13th, 2014Via: ProPublica: The East German secret police, known as the Stasi, were an infamously intrusive secret police force. They amassed dossiers on about one quarter of the population of the country during the Communist regime. But their spycraft — while incredibly invasive — was also technologically primitive by today’s standards. While researching my book Dragnet […]
Woman Added to No-Fly List Because FBI Agent Checked Wrong Boxes on Form
February 11th, 2014Ten years of legal battles later… Via: Wired: The government contested a former Stanford University student’s assertion that she was wrongly placed on a no-fly list for seven years in court despite knowing an FBI official put her on the list by mistake because he checked the “wrong boxes” on a form, a federal judge […]
Google to Run and Renovate U.S. Government Airfield
February 11th, 2014Via: AP: The U.S. government has picked a Google subsidiary to run and renovate a federal airfield that is frequently used for the personal flights of the Internet company’s billionaire executives. The decision announced Monday clears the way for Google’s Planetary Ventures LLC to take over management of the 1,000-acre Moffett Federal Airfield, a former […]
The Terrifying Surveillance Case of Brandon Mayfield
February 9th, 2014Via: Al Jazeera: During a live Web chat in late January, National Security Agency whistle-blower Edward Snowden explained one of the least discussed dangers of bulk collection. By indiscriminately sweeping up the call records and the international communications of Americans, the government has the ability to engage in retroactive investigation, or mining the historical data […]
NDR Interview with Edward Snowden
February 8th, 2014Via: NDR: One of the major programmes that faces abuse in the National Security Agency is what’s called “XKeyscore”. It’s a front end search engine that allows them to look through all of the records they collect worldwide every day. What could you do if you would sit so to speak in their place with […]
DEA Tactic More Secret Than “Parallel Construction”
February 5th, 2014Via: MuckRock: To reiterate, the DEA redacted the name of a method its trainers and legal auditors deemed not only constitutional but also palatable to the public. As its position on the list suggests, this shielded tactic is “tips and leads paradigm” that is the “primary methodology for protecting [intelligence community] information that is shared […]
Scalia to Law Students: “You Are Kidding Yourself” If You Think That Internment Camps in U.S. Are a Thing of the Past
February 4th, 2014Via: AP: “Well, of course, Korematsu was wrong. And I think we have repudiated in a later case. But you are kidding yourself if you think the same thing will not happen again,” Scalia told students and faculty during a lunchtime question-and-answer session. Scalia cited a Latin expression meaning “In times of war, the laws […]
Chaos Computer Club Files Criminal Complaint Against the German Government
February 4th, 2014Via: Chaos Computer Club: On Monday, the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) and the International League for Human Rights (ILMR), have filed a criminal complaint with the Federal Prosecutor General’s office. The complaint is directed against the German federal government, the presidents of the German secret services, namely Bundesnachrichtendienst, Militärischer Abschirmdienst, Bundesamt für Verfassungschutz, and others. […]
