General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Guardian: "XKeyscore: NSA tool collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'" [View all]leveymg
(36,418 posts)If Snowden was given these as part of his NSA orientation earlier this year, these materials indicate that nothing really changed with the provisions of the 2008 FISA Amendment (FAA). The Agency found a bunch of easy workarounds. They certainly buttress his assertions that analysts freely and routinely access the Internet communications of US persons, including content.
It also goes a long way toward confirming what I've been saying for a long time that what NSA is essentially running is a universal profiling system that collects and datamines a wide variety of personal information across databases. The profiling system isn't just about identifying foreign terrorists, but is the successor of Bill Binney's ThinThread system that monitors the population's communications, Americans and foreigners, alike, for characteristics the system has been programmed to associate with "suspicious" activities. That is completely contrary to the 4th Amendment's protection against warrantless searches and seizures.
Sometimes, I hate being right.