I hate to repeat a post, but the latest NSA revelations are more profound than I can describe

[jeff47]

39. It's always fun when people read things that aren't actually there

No better way to mindlessly attack than to go charging after something that isn't there.

So, where in my post do I say "it's not the NSA's fault?" The word "fault" does not appear in the post at all. And until this story came out, the vast majority of people assumed that Google didn't bother shipping their data unnecessarily over the transatlantic or transpacific links. And they still may not - there is not enough information in this story to indicate if they're sending everyone's data, or only some data.

Alternatively, you could actually read my post and notice that I am claiming the NSA can do anything outside the US. How, specifically, is that excusing the NSA?

Have you ever heard of a concept called backup?

Because the US is so tiny that you can't back up the data while keeping it in the US. Why, an earthquake in California would clearly annihilate Google's data center in New Jersey. And the fiberoptic links across the oceans have way more bandwidth than the links within the US.

Oh, "what if the US is destroyed"? Well, I don't think US-based Google would really give a damn about having backups when they're fighting for survival like the rest of us.

Have you ever heard of people traveling overseas before and accessing their data?

No reason to send the data before it's requested from overseas. If I'm not in London, there's no reason to send my data to London.

Have you ever heard of the idea of distributing connection points so that in the event one goes down another can take over for it?

If you were talking about the Bay Area and Chicago, this could be relevant. But there's a transoceanic link involved in these transfers. You aren't going to route all the data from the US, across the Atlantic to London, then back to the US. You're going to have multiple US datacenters.