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eridani

(51,907 posts)
Fri May 8, 2015, 04:16 AM May 2015

Snowden Docs: NSA Tech Lets Government Generate Transcripts of Private Calls

Just metadata my ass! Not that metadata is harmless--if they know you called a suicide hotline, do you think that they have no clue what you talked about?

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/30045-snowden-docs-nsa-tech-lets-government-generate-transcripts-of-private-call

A new article by The Intercept details how the National Security Agency is converting people’s private phone conversations into searchable text. According to documents released by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, the agency can now automatically recognize spoken words by generating rough transcripts and phonetic representations that are easily stored and combed for information. The top-secret documents show NSA analysts congratulated themselves on developing what they called "Google for Voice" nearly a decade ago. It remains unclear how widely the spy agency uses its speech-to-text capabilities to transcribe and index U.S. citizens’ verbal conversations. The documents suggest the NSA has frequently used the technology to intercept phone calls — particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as Mexico — and to monitor international news. We are joined by Dan Froomkin, staff reporter at The Intercept.

29 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Snowden Docs: NSA Tech Lets Government Generate Transcripts of Private Calls (Original Post) eridani May 2015 OP
Metadata is just the tip of the iceberg for these criminals. woo me with science May 2015 #1
Line switched. Need the Metadata to index the transcript. Downwinder May 2015 #3
Agreed cantbeserious May 2015 #2
Snowden stonecutter357 May 2015 #4
The Age of Privacy is Dead and Gone.........!!!!!nt Cryptoad May 2015 #5
But voice to text isnt new so why the big deal exactly over this *confused* cstanleytech May 2015 #6
'Big Deal' is because 'Big Brother' Octafish May 2015 #9
Turns out that Snowden cares more about our freedoms malaise May 2015 #7
Those who build surveillance machines woo me with science May 2015 #8
+1,000 malaise May 2015 #15
+1000 nt Mojorabbit May 2015 #22
Why would we ever believe the NSA? Enthusiast May 2015 #10
Nope. Still not a whistle blower! Bonobo May 2015 #11
But he left... sendero May 2015 #12
I understood this to be the case all along reddread May 2015 #13
Which only goes to prove how corrupt our society is because this means that by now, Baitball Blogger May 2015 #14
"It remains unclear how widely..." randome May 2015 #16
Silly me. How could I not have realized-- eridani May 2015 #17
All I'm saying is that this does not point to anything illegal. randome May 2015 #20
and even if it did reddread May 2015 #28
Actually, it's probably done for non-US persons without a warrant, because you don't need one jeff47 May 2015 #18
Yes, Dragon Naturally Speaking is an utterly new, NSA-only technology. jeff47 May 2015 #19
I'm sure it's just transcribing the metadata anyway, right? frylock May 2015 #25
You do realize there are other people on the planet, right? jeff47 May 2015 #26
I guess they missed the part where Snowy said in the VICE interview they aren't recording all calls snooper2 May 2015 #21
CIA moonlights in corporate world Octafish May 2015 #23
Another important post. woo me with science May 2015 #27
Of course they are. This is the country that spawned J. Edgar Hoover. McCamy Taylor May 2015 #24
Huge K & R !!! - Thank You !!! WillyT May 2015 #29

woo me with science

(32,139 posts)
1. Metadata is just the tip of the iceberg for these criminals.
Fri May 8, 2015, 04:22 AM
May 2015


Metadata is just the tip of the iceberg for these criminals.

The Creepy, Long-Standing Practice of Undersea Cable Tapping
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023277224








malaise

(267,788 posts)
7. Turns out that Snowden cares more about our freedoms
Fri May 8, 2015, 07:07 AM
May 2015

than some folks who post here.

He was right - it is illegal.

woo me with science

(32,139 posts)
8. Those who build surveillance machines
Fri May 8, 2015, 07:11 AM
May 2015


also build propaganda machines.





Obama taps "cognitive infiltrator" Cass Sunstein for Committee to create "trust" in NSA:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023512796

Editor of major German newspaper says he planted stories for CIA
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026163872

Salon: Obama confidant’s spine-chilling proposal: Cass Sunstein wants the government to "cognitively infiltrate" anti-government groups
http://www.salon.com/2010/01/15/sunstein_2/

The US government's online campaigns of disinformation, manipulation, and smear.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024560097

Snowden: ‘Training Guide’ for GCHQ, NSA Agents Infiltrating and Disrupting Alternative Media Online
http://21stcenturywire.com/2014/02/25/snowden-training-guide-for-gchq-nsa-agents-infiltrating-and-disrupting-alternative-media-online/

The influx of corporate propaganda-spouting posters is blatant and unnatural.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3189367

U.S. Repeals Propaganda Ban, Spreads Government-Made News To Americans
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023262111

The goal of the propaganda assaults across the internet is not to convince anyone of anything.*
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023359801

The government figured out sockpuppet management but not "persona management."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023358242

The Gentleman's Guide To Forum Spies (spooks, feds, etc.)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4159454

Seventeen techniques for truth suppression.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4249741

Just do some Googling on astroturfing - big organizations have some sophisticated tools.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=1208351





 

reddread

(6,896 posts)
13. I understood this to be the case all along
Fri May 8, 2015, 07:53 AM
May 2015

not because Joe Scarborough told me, but because the technology existed and the storage benefits alone were obvious.
I never even considered the searchability aspect. Meanwhile a whole lot of "metadata" malarkey was floated.

just because the nationalized, militarized media doesnt tell you something is so,
only means they dont want you to know.
surely those people who hew to "accepted sources" know what they are doing?
dont be the chump of these information criminals.
think for your self.

Baitball Blogger

(46,570 posts)
14. Which only goes to prove how corrupt our society is because this means that by now,
Fri May 8, 2015, 08:19 AM
May 2015

the NSA has accumulated enough information on our crooked politicians and lawyers to actually clean house. The fact that they haven't suggests that the present system, or status quo, cannot function without them.

 

randome

(34,845 posts)
16. "It remains unclear how widely..."
Fri May 8, 2015, 09:05 AM
May 2015

In other words, this is most likely done for legitimate terrorist targets with a warrant. I despise articles like this that bury pertinent information in a sea of hyperbole hoping that no one questions what is written.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]No squirrels were harmed in the making of this post. Yet.[/center][/font][hr]

eridani

(51,907 posts)
17. Silly me. How could I not have realized--
Fri May 8, 2015, 10:24 AM
May 2015

--that our superiors want only the best for us. And all that stuff about drones taking out wedding parties is a myth too. Everyone knows that drones only hit terrorists.

 

randome

(34,845 posts)
20. All I'm saying is that this does not point to anything illegal.
Fri May 8, 2015, 11:41 AM
May 2015

And as jeff47 points out, it's probably directed at non-US individuals, who are not protected by our laws and never have been.

A shame the article couldn't be bothered to point that out.

Guess what? Wiretaps are sometimes authorized, too! And no one cares unless evidence of illegality is shown. This article does not even hint at illegality. It simply skirts the issue entirely, leaving readers to decide on their own. That's not an unbiased journalistic effort.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]No squirrels were harmed in the making of this post. Yet.[/center][/font][hr]

 

reddread

(6,896 posts)
28. and even if it did
Fri May 8, 2015, 09:14 PM
May 2015

and they cared enough to do something about it, they would just retroactively legalize their crimes.
it is simply a quantum physics illusion that FISA was ever necessary, that habeas ever existed, or that torture is an issue.
thanks for splainin it so clearly.

jeff47

(26,549 posts)
18. Actually, it's probably done for non-US persons without a warrant, because you don't need one
Fri May 8, 2015, 11:38 AM
May 2015

for non-US persons.

After all, if you look at the actual documents Snowden leaked, only one of them collects on US persons - the phone metadata program. Non-US persons don't have any Constitutional rights.

But you get a lot more clicks when you leave that tidbit out and make text-to-speech sound like it's amazing new technology.

jeff47

(26,549 posts)
19. Yes, Dragon Naturally Speaking is an utterly new, NSA-only technology.
Fri May 8, 2015, 11:41 AM
May 2015


There's enough in what Snowden actually leaked to have a good conversation. But you get more clicks by dialing the "sinister" up to 11.

jeff47

(26,549 posts)
26. You do realize there are other people on the planet, right?
Fri May 8, 2015, 02:44 PM
May 2015

Quite a few of them, in fact!

And it turns out, the vast majority don't have any rights under the US Constitution. So it's perfectly legal for the NSA to record everything said on the phone in Russia.

Snowden's actual leaks talk about technologies we can employ, and listed the rules under which the NSA employed them. Those rules included "no-US persons" except for the metadata program. Snowden also failed to leak anything showing those rules were being ignored. He has claimed they were ignored, but couldn't back that up despite the fact he's leaking lots of other information.

But that doesn't get as many clicks. So stories heavily imply they're snooping on everyone in the US, which gets repeated as fact.

 

snooper2

(30,151 posts)
21. I guess they missed the part where Snowy said in the VICE interview they aren't recording all calls
Fri May 8, 2015, 11:43 AM
May 2015

which would be nearly fucking impossible...

Snowy where are you!

Octafish

(55,745 posts)
23. CIA moonlights in corporate world
Fri May 8, 2015, 01:53 PM
May 2015

By EAMON JAVERS
Politico | 2/1/10 12:57 AM EST

In the midst of two wars and the fight against Al Qaeda, the CIA is offering operatives a chance to peddle their expertise to private companies on the side — a policy that gives financial firms and hedge funds access to the nation’s top-level intelligence talent, POLITICO has learned.

In one case, these active-duty officers moonlighted at a hedge-fund consulting firm that wanted to tap their expertise in “deception detection,” the highly specialized art of telling when executives may be lying based on clues in a conversation.

The never-before-revealed policy comes to light as the CIA and other intelligence agencies are once again under fire for failing to “connect the dots,” this time in the Christmas Day bombing plot on Northwest Flight 253.

SNIP...

But the close ties between active-duty and retired CIA officers at one consulting company show the degree to which CIA-style intelligence gathering techniques have been employed by hedge funds and financial institutions in the global economy.

The firm is called Business Intelligence Advisors, and it is based in Boston. BIA was founded and is staffed by a number of retired CIA officers, and it specializes in the arcane field of “deception detection.” BIA’s clients have included Goldman Sachs and the enormous hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors, according to spokesmen for both firms.

CONTINUED...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/32290.html#ixzz0eIFPhHBh

Who says you can't make money while "minding" the People's business?

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