Whistleblower Binney says the NSA has dossiers on nearly every US citizen

[dkf]

At the Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) conference, NSA whistleblower William Binney revealed more about how censorship and monitoring are alive and well in the USA.
By Ms. Smith on Sun, 07/15/12 - 1:39pm.


This weekend in New York City was a three-day hackers' conference called HOPE Number 9 which is only held every two years; HOPE stands for "Hackers on Planet Earth" and there's always a lot of great info that comes out of it.

One of the quotes floating around in regard to #HOPE9 came from Founder and CEO of Pallorium Inc's Steven Rambam as "Rambam's first law: All databases will eventually be used for unintended purposes." This is the same man who spoke at the 2008 HOPE about "Privacy is dead - Get over it." In regard to this year, you will probably find private investigator Rambam's newest revelations coming soon to 2600. Surveillance is one of those purposes that databases may be used for and NSA whistleblower William Binney knows plenty about domestic spying.

Binney was at HOPE and while his entire keynote is not yet posted, journalist Geoff Shively and Livestreamer Tim Pool had an opportunity to speak with Binney about NSA spying. As you may recall, after covering the NATO protests, Pool and Shively were two of the journalists harassed by Chicago cops. In the short video interview, Binney explained a bit more about the NSA spying on Americans:

"Domestically, they're pulling together all the data about virtually every U.S. citizen in the country and assembling that information, building communities that you have relationships with, and knowledge about you; what your activities are; what you're doing. So the government is accumulating that kind of information about every individual person and it's a very dangerous process." He estimated that one telecom alone was sending the government an "average of 320 million logs every day since 2001."

http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/hope-9-whistleblower-binney-says-nsa-has-dossiers-nearly-every-us-citizen

[Pretzel_Warrior]

1. thank god! I forgot my old girlfriend's number. I can ask them

it's nice to know the U.S. government has enough time and resources to put together over 300 million specific dossiers but can't figure out how to monitor their own NSA contractors while on the job.

[dkf]

2. They may know how to accumulate and organize but they haven't perfected the pre-crime part of it.

Yet.

[silvershadow]

15. Minority Report Live? nt

[dkf]

19. Real Time Regional Gateway, or RTRG

NSA stumbled in a number of its data-collection and management efforts, particularly a program called Trailblazer, but it began to gain traction with another program, which became known as Real Time Regional Gateway, or RTRG, former officials said.

Initially deployed in Iraq, the program's focus moved to Afghanistan in 2010, where it assembled and analyzed all the data over a 30-day period on transactions that intelligence officials could get their hands on: phone conversations, military events, road-traffic patterns, public opinion—even the price of potatoes, former officials said. Changes in prices of commodities at markets proved to be an indicator of potential for conflict, they said.

The in-country intelligence was paired with larger computer networks capable melding cellphone data with information collected from sensors on drones and other sources, said former officials and defense contractors. Some of these drones use high-power cameras to scan large tracts of earth to look for changes that could indicate the locations of improvised explosive devices.

Analysts discovered that the system's analysis improved when more information was added, so they moved to merge 90-day batches of data. The result, said a former U.S. official, was an ability to predict attacks 60% to 70% of the time.

"It's the ultimate correlation tool," a former U.S. counterterrorism official said. "It is literally being able to predict the future."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323495604578535290627442964.html

[Arctic Dave]

56. And the nail hits the head right there.

This has nothing to do with "catching terrorist', it is about trying to predict unrest by the masses (you and me).

It is far to big to spot a single element (Boston bomber) but it can spot a "movement" such as Occupy.

This has always been about the 1% controlling the rest of the world's population.

[Benton D Struckcheon]

69. The price of potatoes. Ah yes.

One of my mother-in-law's fave lines from some documentary she saw on traders: "Buy potatoes."
Traders have always known that sharply rising prices are an indicator of trouble looming. Back in 2007 and 2008 commodity prices were spiking all over; Mexicans were rioting over corn prices, and this was linked to oil prices, as US corn was being used for ethanol in increasing amounts because of spiking oil prices. There were shortages of rice in Asia, and there were disturbances over that over there.
And then came the 2008 crisis, and all these prices collapsed.
The mess now unfolding in Egypt is something the smarter writers I follow in the financial press have been looking for for a while. Egypt has simply been unable to feed its people since they overthrew Mubarak; this caused a collapse in tourism, one of the mainstays of their economy, the central bank used up most of its dollar reserves trying to keep them fed since the revolution, but they've run out of that, and so the effect of this has been large numbers of people suffering malnourishment. From that it was pretty simple to figure out the discontent would sooner or later land in the streets.
So, the NSA and the rest of the US intelligence community has finally figured out what the finance folks have known for a long time. Maybe they should pick up a copy of The Financial Times every once in a while. As for all this being somehow sinister, nah. More like common sense and a bit of logical thinking. It's not exactly a secret.

[leveymg]

82. It's also the ultimate targeting and counterinsurgency killing machine.

Easily adaptable for domestic "law and order."

[CrispyQ]

35. That may be their ultimate goal, but for now,

they are satisfied to have mountains of data on all of us, so in the future when it all starts to go to shit, they can build cases against those who won't go quietly into fascism. They'll have piles of data that they can take out of context & twist to make it sound however they want. Throw in a neighbor's testimony that you were acting weird for several months or a boss who overheard you vent some frustrations in the break room & they will have an air tight case against you in their kangaroo court.

We are learning just what a sick, twisted, cesspool of a society we live in.

[colorado_ufo]

16. Right - and they also still can't figure out

how to handle the backlog of veterans' claims or coordination of benefits.

Now we know where the government is actually spending our tax dollars, and it isn't to make our day-to-day lives better.

[dkf]

20. Saves money when you can't pay the benefits.

[colorado_ufo]

21. Yeah . . . and there's that . . .

[KittyWampus]

72. well, just drag your feet on apying veterans claims/benefits and a good number will die off

Surveillance= black hole for our taxpayer dollars to get sucked into by the billions.

Or trillions.

[Eleanors38]

22. Hell, these bastards can't figure out if a.warm body

is in the limited confines of a head of state's airplane.

[KansDem]

27. I think you're on to something!

A massive computer dating service!

I can finally put to rest my old pick-up lines*

It boggles my mind when I think of how many "perfect matches" there are out there waiting for me!

________
*[font size="1"]My two favorite: "Hey, baby! I know what I like and I like what I see!" and "You and me...we go out...we have good time!" Feel free to use them: they never really worked for me.

[HardTimes99]

43. OT, but your post and the humorous replies to it reminded me of Jim Croce

for some reason;

"Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels)"

Operator, well could you help me place this call
See, the number on the match book is old and faded
She's living in L.A
With my best old ex-friend Ray
A guy she said she knew well and sometimes hated

But isn't that the way they say it goes
Well let's forget all that
And give me the number if you can find it
So I can call just to tell 'em I'm fine, and to show
I've overcome the blow
I've learned to take it well
I only wish my words
Could just convince myself
That it just wasn't real
But that's not the way it feels

Operator, well could you help me place this call
'Cause I can't read the number that you just gave me
There's something in my eyes
You know it happens every time
I think about the love that I thought would save me

But isn't that the way they say it goes
Well let's forget all that
And give me the number if you can find it
So I can call just to tell 'em I'm fine, and to show
I've overcome the blow
I've learned to take it well
I only wish my words
Could just convince myself
That it just wasn't real
But that's not the way it feels
No, no, no, no
That's not the way it feels

Operator, well let's forget about this call
There's no one there I really wanted to talk to
Thank you for your time
Ah, you've been so much more then kind
You can keep the dime

But isn't that the way they say it goes
Well let's forget all that
And give me the number if you can find it
So I can call just to tell 'em I'm fine, and to show
I've overcome the blow
I've learned to take it well
I only wish my words
Could just convince myself
That it just wasn't real
But that's not the way it feels.

Song makes me weep each time I hear it. "I think about the love that I thought would save me." That's humanity in a single line.

[magellan]

3. Imagine what prospective employers could do with that info

Or current employers.

Or cops.

Or courts.

They aren't gathering that information for our protection. You don't build correlation databases on everyone -- their phone calls, emails, jobs, salaries, medical history, political persuasion, online activity, credit card purchases, etc -- unless you intend to use it or sell it for use.

Frightening example of such abuse here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023178493

[dkf]

4. Scary. I already assume people unhappy about Snowden won't be up for a Federal job.

[Downwinder]

13. If it is indexed, it is taken out of context.

[The Straight Story]

24. Not only would some here back employers doing that, some would cheer them on

Just look at employers who want to test you for smoking or chewing tobacco. "I don't like what other people do so I am ok with an employer testing what you do on your time"....seen it time and again.

Pretty soon we will be ok with them checking to see if you drink, how often you eat fast food, how often you go the doctor, your exercise routine, and some places might even find a way to see if you ever had an abortion.....

Got to keep the slaves fit for their masters. And don't rise up, cause then some will find a way to demonize you and deflect from the issue in hopes that people won't believe you because you are not perfect (and they will have access to all the data to show you are not....)

[Tx4obama]

5. Binney left the NSA in 2001

A 'dossier' on nearly every US citizen is LAUGHABLE.

Binney left the NSA in 2001 - UNDER BUSH - that was 12 years ago.

William Binney: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Binney_%28U.S._intelligence_official%29


Sounds to me that he has confused what the government did under Bush with what the online companies do to target online shoppers.

[dkf]

7. It's ridiculous that you think it's laughable.

Capabilities have only grown.

[KharmaTrain]

14. Psssst...

...did ya know the government has records on millions of Americans...what they earn, where they earn their money from, where it's kept and this information is updated each year? I know it's true...I read it on the innertoobs.

But then it's a paulbot wet dream to destroy the IRS and replace it with a regressive "flat tax"...they almost thought they had a real "scandal" with the mighty Issa investigation, when that fell flat ain't it something that Mr. Snowden became the next Paul Revere, MLK and now I've read he's even James Brady...

Cheers...

[Nanjing to Seoul]

17. And Obama continued the policy of spying on us that Bush started.

Please put down the kool aid. . .it's hurting your brain.

The US Government has done this for years. They did it to Phil Ochs, John Lennon and Muhammed Ali. They did such a bad job, they misspelled Ochs's name Oakes.

[dixiegrrrrl]

30. Thank god Obama has not continued any of the illegal and unconstutional things Bush did!

whew!

[leveymg]

83. As he explains in his New Yorker profile by Mayer, he continues to talk to active NSA employees

Last edited Sat Jul 6, 2013, 01:06 PM - Edit history (1)

and he designed the profiling system of the Thin Thread program that metasticized into Bush's Stellar Wind, and then Prism.

He knows what he's talking about. You apparently don't.

[VanillaRhapsody]

6. I was trying to tell someone this earlier

The Internet IS NOT private......even if the NSA is not directly creating these relational databases of information on all of us. ....corporationss ARE doing it....and will continue to do it. Even IF you can stop the NSA or the CIA or the FBI from using the Internet.....these dossiers are still being compiled. The information still exists....and they have created the tools to mine that data.

[dkf]

8. Yet google only gets it if you are using google.

The Government can assemble it all.

[VanillaRhapsody]

9. Not just the govt

corporations have created tools just as powerful and want that information on you as much if not more.....even if you could legislate the govt completely off the internet...the information persists....and that vacuum will be filled.

[magellan]

10. It isn't just internet activity

And while corporations may use the information they gather to refuse you a job on medical or financial grounds -- which is no less a despicable use of personal data -- they aren't likely to do something like this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023178493

[VanillaRhapsody]

11. ??? The private contractors?

[magellan]

12. What about them? n/t

[VanillaRhapsody]

31. trying to understand your point with that post.

I don't think contractors like Snowden....SHOULD have access....they should be govt employees.

[magellan]

32. You said the internet isn't private

I was just saying that not all the info they get about us comes from the Internet.

And I agree with you, if that was your point: people like Snowden should definitely be government employees, not employees of private contractors. Although from the sound of the amount of oversight and lack of results for all the info they hoover up, I don't think any entity should be collecting all that info on each of us.

[VanillaRhapsody]

33. they dont have to "hoover".

that's the point. All they have to do is datamine. The corporations are doing the storing. The govt is storing the queries to those databases.

[magellan]

38. Then the FISA court order telling Verizon to hand over all its metadata to the NSA

...is wrong?

[VanillaRhapsody]

39. That's metadata....thats not actually listening in is it?

You need new laws that specifically say they cannot collect metadata. Which is data about data. It's a grey area they are exploiting.

[magellan]

41. Yes, it's metadata -- that the NSA is hoovering up.

It's not being stored by Verizon or any of the other telcos for the NSA to query. It's being outright handed over to the NSA.

[VanillaRhapsody]

42. they are storing the queries Of Verizon's data...

and YES Verizon IS storing that data....cause that data is valuable to them!

[magellan]

48. Yes, I know. The telcos kind of need that info to bill their customers.

You said "The corporations are doing the storing. The govt is storing the queries to those databases."

That's wrong. The government is taking a copy of all the metadata and storing it as well, as laid out in the FISA court order.

[VanillaRhapsody]

50. and that is thusfar not illegal.

But for this to change....someone has to show that it HAS been used to spy on someone specifically.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

60. No, Verizon isn't storing all content

If you know the difference between syslog and packet captures, you'll understand what I mean. In order to store all content, VzB would need to have huge storage systems--like the ones NSA has.

[VanillaRhapsody]

44. As a matter of fact....

they are also selling their data...

Read the contracts you are signing.....

Even if you post pictures on the Internet....companies then own the rights to it for example. Think about that....

[magellan]

45. Um, I do read the contracts I sign

Nowhere in them does it state "metadata and other tangible things will be turned over to the US government".

[VanillaRhapsody]

46. Oh YES it does...

[VanillaRhapsody]

47. The User Agreements you are signing......

are the contracts I am talking about. Thats like saying we are not signing things away with these Arbitration Agreements we are all signing now!

[magellan]

49. I don't use Verizon

So maybe you'd be so kind as to show me where in its Privacy Policy it says it's going to hand over all of a customer's metadata (and more) to the government.

https://www22.verizon.com/about/privacy/

[VanillaRhapsody]

51. Where does it say they are NOT doing it?

[magellan]

55. Cute.

It's a privacy policy. Legal eagles write that shit. If it's not obvious or clear or laid out straight, then they're LYING BY OMISSION to their customers about everything that's being done with their call and internet information.

[VanillaRhapsody]

57. Not if the Govt gives them a warrant for it....

"Third Party".....

[magellan]

62. A warrant that covers every customer of every Telco in the country

That seems legit to you? Don't bother answering; I suspect you're just fine with it.

[VanillaRhapsody]

63. then you have a problem with the court

I didn't say I was fine with it....I am just telling you the truth.

[magellan]

65. I know the truth, thank you.

And you seem to be defending the indefensible.

[VanillaRhapsody]

66. no not defending....

telling you that UNLESS they provide specifics.....there will be no change to the FISA Courts. Why are you in denial of that fact?

[magellan]

73. Oh, is that your point?

It's the first time you've said so.

I'm not in denial of that fact either. Actually, I doubt there will be any change to the power of the secret FISA court AT ALL.

[VanillaRhapsody]

75. the technology exists....

"The Dude Abides"....

[VanillaRhapsody]

52. Oh really...

Information Collected When You Use Verizon Products and Services:
We collect information about your use of our products, services and sites. Information such as call records, websites visited, wireless location, application and feature usage, network traffic data, product and device-specific information, service options you choose, mobile and device numbers, video streaming and video packages and usage, movie rental and purchase data, and other similar information may be used for billing purposes, to deliver and maintain products and services, or to help you with service-related issues or questions. In addition, subject to any legal restrictions that may apply, this information may be used for other purposes such as providing you with information about product or service enhancements, determining your eligibility for new products and services, and marketing to you based on your use of your products and services. This information may also be used to: (1) manage and protect our networks, services and users from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful uses; and (2) subject to consent practices described in this policy, help us improve our services, research and develop new products, and offer promotions and other services. This type of information may be aggregated or anonymized for business and marketing uses by us or by third parties.

[magellan]

54. Still not seeing where it says they'll be handing all my metadata over to the gov't. n/t

[VanillaRhapsody]

58. It says they can pretty much do whatever they want with it....

[VanillaRhapsody]

61. here you go part II

Please note that Verizon is not responsible for information, content, applications or services provided by others. Before you access, use, link to or download a service or application on your computer or wireless device, you should review the associated terms of service and privacy policy. Personal information you submit in those contexts may be read, collected or used by the service or application provider and others associated with these forums in a manner different from that described here.

[magellan]

64. That does NOT mention the government

And for obvious reason. People would be put off at once if they knew the government would have access to every phone call, email, browser history and internet search they made using the telco's service. Otherwise there wouldn't have been a stampede from Google over to non-sharing search engines like DuckDuckGo.

[VanillaRhapsody]

67. Doesn't mention ANYONE specifically does it?

[magellan]

71. Where passing people's personal data to the US Government is concerned, it should

We all have an understanding these days that businesses buy and sell our information for marketing and so forth. Most don't like it but tolerate it. I think you'll find that they have NO understanding that the government is included in the data-sharing, and would DEFINITELY not like that.

[VanillaRhapsody]

74. I am not OK with business's doing it.

That's my point....even if you get the NSA to stop doing it....other even more nefarious groups will and are going to.

[magellan]

76. I consider the NSA to be more nefarious

They're doing blanket collections of ALL of our data. To run queries on and make correlations and build dossiers on each of us.

Think what those will be worth to employers, corporations, courts, etc.

And here's a rw think tank using some of that information to publicly "shame" Moral Monday Protesters who've been arrested -- look at all the details they're exposing:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023178493

The chilling effect of having all our information in government hands concerns me much more than corporations...which is bad enough.

[VanillaRhapsody]

77. So you think there is nothing more nefarious than the NSA????

Oh boy....you have a lot of catching up to do...

[magellan]

78. More nefarious than CORPORATIONS having that data

...which I said was bad enough.

I've been around a while, on this earth and here at DU. You think you can teach me something I don't know? Please, proceed.

[VanillaRhapsody]

79. You do understand that there are other spying organizations in the world right?

You do understand there are also elements of organized crime right? You do understand that they too can get access to the same tools to datamine.

[magellan]

80. ...

Yeeeessssss......

What's that got to do with the price of tea in China? We're talking about OUR country, OUR laws, OUR rights and liberties, and whether OUR government respects those things.

[Nanjing to Seoul]

18. I wonder what they say about me? I became an expat in 2008.

And have only been back for 12 days once in 2011.

I see the US Government still does what J. Edgar Hoover did. Sickening. And it's all classified. . .and most things are classified not because they are politically sensitive, but because they are politically embarrassing.

[Eleanors38]

23. "It's not about being paranoid:" That qualifier is creeping into more discussions.

We create a most demeaning intellectual slur, yet increasingly have to inoculate against it.

[hobbit709]

25. Then they can add this to mine

FUCK YOU BASTARDS AND THE HORSE YOU RODE IN ON!

[Maat]

26. Woohoo!

You said it!

(Uh-oh, that probably went into our files. HeeHee.)

[raouldukelives]

28. "Oh yeah? Well don't get so distressed. Did I happen to mention that I'm impressed?" nt

[Kahuna]

29. I doubt that. nt

[nashville_brook]

34. k and r

[alcibiades_mystery]

36. So exciting...I wonder what mine says!

Oh, yes, here it is:

"Nothing to fear from this one. Authoritarian/totalitarian personality. Carries water for Emperor Obama on message boards. Speaks to his mother once a week by telephone. Takes kids to various activities. Complains about overbooking kids activities. Can't drive a stick. Spends too much on bar tabs at academic conferences."

[Savannahmann]

37. Sure

They punch a name into the computer, and whatever the system has cross referenced is linked to the name, and all information is right there. If you've donated to a group then you might be flagged with a code, probably done automatically. When Bush was in office, those of us who sent money to the ACLU, or ACORN were probably marked as subversive. Now, it's the Tea Party, or Patriot, or whatever the term is this week. Perhaps 3% is going to be making a comeback. Who knows how the sort and organize the data?

[VanillaRhapsody]

40. ding ding ding Savannahmann gets it!

[pipi_k]

53. Well, if that's the case...

then I would imagine that pretty much all of us are screwed.

Depending, of course, on whether "six degrees of separation" is also true.

We could all be potential terrorists or rabble-rousers or whatever other dangerous type of people they'd be after, by virtue of whom we've associated with who has associated with some other "person of interest".

It's like that saying goes stressing the dangers of STDs...you have had sex with the same people your partner has...in a way. And the people those people have had sex with....etc. etc.

Well, some of you who may have something to worry about can rest assured that I am a very boring person.

But some of the people I've known haven't been as unexciting, shall we say.

So we're all suspect.

Sorry about that.

[randome]

59. Binney last worked for the NSA in 2001.

If he has no evidence of his claims then he is blowing smoke and damaging his reputation.

I'm surprised so many on DU will not ask basic questions, just meekly believe the latest rumor they hear.

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]I'm always right. When I'm wrong I admit it.
So then I'm right about being wrong.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[Bluenorthwest]

84. I'm not surprised to see you post a characterization of DUers in place of

addressing the actual issue. What an overworked collection of rhetoric your posts have become. Always wagging finger and standing in judgement, rarely stating a clear opinion. It just gets so old. You have to rotate the material when you play the same room for long periods.

[Zorra]

68. Great. A group primarily comprised of militaristic RW authoritarians are collecting our information,

information they can use to make subjective judgments about us from a RW authoritarian militaristic point of view.

And they are employed by the 1% to do this.

Anyone else find this profoundly disturbing?

[KittyWampus]

70. It's a freaking gold rush into data mining & surveillance. The amount of taxpayer money going to

this boondoggle is obscene.

[DirkGently]

81. "All databases will eventually be used for unintended purposes."

Of course. A poster on this site recently compared the data collection to Chekov's rule about the rifle over the mantlepiece eventually being used to shoot someone in the play.

The question is NEVER whether power will be misused. Misuse is simply part of what happens with power.

The question therefore, is not how we limit misuse, but how we limit power.

[Octafish]

85. IBM helped organize eh, paperwork for the Holcaust.

Edwin Black chronicled the sorry role played by American information technology:

IBM and the Holocaust is the stunning story of IBM's strategic alliance with Nazi Germany -- beginning in 1933 in the first weeks that Hitler came to power and continuing well into World War II. As the Third Reich embarked upon its plan of conquest and genocide, IBM and its subsidiaries helped create enabling technologies, step-by-step, from the identification and cataloging programs of the 1930s to the selections of the 1940s.

Only after Jews were identified -- a massive and complex task that Hitler wanted done immediately -- could they be targeted for efficient asset confiscation, ghettoization, deportation, enslaved labor, and, ultimately, annihilation. It was a cross-tabulation and organizational challenge so monumental, it called for a computer. Of course, in the 1930s no computer existed.

But IBM's Hollerith punch card technology did exist. Aided by the company's custom-designed and constantly updated Hollerith systems, Hitler was able to automate his persecution of the Jews. Historians have always been amazed at the speed and accuracy with which the Nazis were able to identify and locate European Jewry. Until now, the pieces of this puzzle have never been fully assembled. The fact is, IBM technology was used to organize nearly everything in Germany and then Nazi Europe, from the identification of the Jews in censuses, registrations, and ancestral tracing programs to the running of railroads and organizing of concentration camp slave labor.

IBM and its German subsidiary custom-designed complex solutions, one by one, anticipating the Reich's needs. They did not merely sell the machines and walk away. Instead, IBM leased these machines for high fees and became the sole source of the billions of punch cards Hitler needed.

CONTINUED...

http://www.ibmandtheholocaust.com/

The CIA, for some reason, let lots and lots of the genocidal NAZIs escape justice after the war by recruiting them as agents in the Cold War against the godless communist conspiracy. Now, these NAZIs' are so embedded in American political and economic life, few know they're there and practically no one can see them, although they can certainly see us. So, that's why I'm concerned to learn NSA is spying on everyone in the USA.