PRISM

See the following -

How Hackers Beat the NSA In The ’90s and Can Do It Again

Gregory Ferenstein | TechCrunch | June 28, 2013

While the world parses the ramifications of the National Security Agency’s massive snooping operation, it’s important to remember an earlier government attempt at data collection and, more important, how a group of hackers and activists banded together to stop it. Read More »

3 NSA Veterans Speak Out On Whistle-Blower: We Told You So

Peter Eisler and Susan Page | USA Today | June 16, 2012

In a roundtable discussion, a trio of former National Security Agency whistle-blowers tell USA TODAY that Edward Snowden succeeded where they failed. Read More »

Anyone Brushing Off NSA Surveillance Because It's 'Just Metadata' Doesn't Know What Metadata Is

Mike Masnick | Techdirt | July 8, 2013

One of the key themes that has come out from the revelations concerning NSA surveillance is a bunch of defenders of the program claiming "it's just metadata." This is wrong on multiple levels. Read More »

CISPA Zombie Bill Is Back, With Fewer Privacy Concerns…Maybe?

Dana Liebelson | Mother Jones | October 21, 2013

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) says the new version of the controversial cybersecurity bill will include "tight limitation on what kind of information is shared." Read More »

Data Protection Responses To PRISM "A Smokescreen"

Simon Phipps | Computerworld | June 17, 2013

An online privacy expert has denounced European responses to US Internet surveillance and called for legal immunity in Europe for those that report its effects. [...] Read More »

DuckDuckGo Search Engine Gets Boost After PRISM Scandal

Cadie Thompson | CNBC | June 19, 2013

The 'anonymous' search engine DuckDuckGo is getting a boost off the PRISM scandal that is putting big tech companies like Google and Apple to shame. Read More »

Feds Put Heat On Web Firms For Master Encryption Keys

Declan McCullagh | CNET | July 24, 2013

Whether the FBI and NSA have the legal authority to obtain the master keys that companies use for Web encryption remains an open question, but it hasn't stopped the U.S. government from trying. Read More »

Former Microsoft Privacy Chief Says He No Longer Trusts The Company

Joel Hruska | HotHardware.com | October 1, 2013

Microsoft's onetime Chief Privacy Advisor, Caspar Bowden, has come out with a vote of no-confidence in the company's long-term privacy measures and ability or interest to secure user data in the wake of the NSA's PRISM program. From 2002 - 2011, Bowden was in charge of privacy at Microsoft, and oversaw the company's efforts in that area in more than 40 countries...In the two years since leaving Microsoft, Bowden has ceased carrying a cell phone and become a staunch open source user, claiming that he no longer trusts a program unless he can see the source. Read More »

Freedom Of Information Act Machine Fights Government Secrecy By Automating Transparency Requests

Billy Gallagher | TechCrunch | July 18, 2013

The Freedom of Information Act Machine, an open online platform that automates Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, launched on Kickstarter two days ago and has already surpassed its funding goal. At the time of publication, it had cleared $20,000 in funding from over 600 backers. Read More »

Government Privacy Board Endorses NSA's Internet Spying

Brendan Sasso | Nextgov.com | July 2, 2014

The National Security Agency's Internet surveillance programs are legal and effective, according to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, an independent watchdog agency. In a draft report, the panel expresses concern with certain elements of the NSA's massive collection of Internet data within the United States, and outlines several reforms it says would bolster privacy protections and improve transparency.

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Here's Everything Microsoft Is Letting the Government See

Philip Bump and Rebecca Greenfield | The Atlantic Wire | July 11, 2013

For the first time, The Guardian is detailing how a tech company works with the National Security Agency to share user information under the NSA's PRISM program. Unfortunately, that tech company happens to be Microsoft, the one that makes the operating system used on 92 percent of computers in the world. Read More »

How Microsoft Handed The NSA Access To Encrypted Messages

Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill, Laura Poitras, et. al. | The Guardian | July 11, 2013

Microsoft has collaborated closely with US intelligence services to allow users' communications to be intercepted, including helping the National Security Agency to circumvent the company's own encryption, according to top-secret documents [...]. Read More »

How To Break Out Of PRISM

Simon Phipps | InfoWorld | June 14, 2013

NSA scandal has exploded fears of being watched on the Internet, but a new website lists ways to escape the Panopticon Read More »

If PRISM Is Good Policy, Why Stop With Terrorism?

Derek Khanna | The Atlantic | July 4, 2013

Defenders of the program say its effectiveness excuses it -- but they ignore the Fourth Amendment. Read More »

Mass Surveillance: The Day We Fight Back

Katherine Noyes | LinuxInsider | February 10, 2014

If you wonder "why things never get any better, why no matter which 'side' you vote for, more fascist policies are enacted -- why these protests like Occupy end up being a waste," said hairyfeet, "it's really simple: There are no sides. The country is run by non-elected groups, NSA, pentagon and especially Wall Street lobbyists, which is why they can treat Wall Street like it's Las Vegas. Read More »