Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Snowden’s Leaks Forced the DEA To End Its Own Mass Surveillance Program
By exposing the NSAs spying programs, fugitive leaker Edward Snowden forced the Justice Department to shut down a separate phone-surveillance operation.2:13 PM ET
By Dustin Volz
National Journal
It has been a pretty good week for Edward Snowden.
The polarizing leaker of government secrets rocketed back into public awareness, thanks to an interview with viral-hit-maker and comedian-with-a-conscience John Oliver. Then Snowden enthusiasts installed a bust of him in a Brooklyn parkwhich was later replaced with a hologram of his likeness. And actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt is traipsing around Washington, D.C., filming scenes as Snowden for the Oliver Stone movie about the fugitive slated for release later this year.
But likely nothing will bring the former National Security Agency contractor as much satisfaction as finding out this week that his 2013 disclosures appear to have prompted the Justice Department to pull the plug on a secret mass-surveillance programone he isnt even responsible for exposing.
USA Today reported on Tuesday that a Justice Department program had, from 1992 to 2013, collected records of Americans international phone calls. Described as a blueprint for the NSAs controversial dragnet, the program, housed within the Drug Enforcement Administration, amassed logs of virtually all telephone calls from the USA to as many as 116 countries linked to drug trafficking, according to the paper. Those countries included U.S. neighbors Canada and Mexico, as well as parts of Europe and nearly all of central and South America.
The DEA surveillance net was remarkably similar to the NSA program. It collected in bulk the phone metadatathat is, the numbers, time-stamps, and duration of a call but not its contentof all U.S. calls placed to targeted foreign countries. Unlike the NSA, the DEA dragnet did not include wholly domestic calls, but it did appear to lack a number of internal safeguards or judicial oversight.
more...
http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2015/04/snowdens-leaks-forced-dea-end-its-own-mass-surveillance-program/109618/
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
4 replies, 1092 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (13)
ReplyReply to this post
4 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Snowden’s Leaks Forced the DEA To End Its Own Mass Surveillance Program (Original Post)
Purveyor
Apr 2015
OP
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)1. k & r. Thanks for posting. nm
Purveyor
(29,876 posts)4. Oh it is my pleasure, my pleasure indeed! Godspeed to Edward Snowden.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)2. Good on you, Snowden.
The ripples for transparent democracy keep spreading from your splash.
You did good!
KoKo
(84,711 posts)3. Recommend...