Top-Secret Document Reveals NSA Spied On Porn Habits As Part Of Plan To Discredit 'Radicalizers'

[MineralMan]

34. I have no idea, actually.

Between Google and people's predilection for posting every thought that comes into their heads on social media, I suppose that somewhere, enough information is available to satisfy any agency, if they had any reason to dig into it. We appear to worry about privacy, but don't behave as though we gave it any thought at all.

The NSA's mission is international and there is a prohibition against using its technology to collect information domestically. The FBI is under no such constraint. We focus on the NSA because Snowden has released a bunch of classified information regarding the NSA's activities. Mostly, though, we don't read that information carefully, so there are lots of misconceptions about it.

The FBI is the agency with a mission inside the United States. We have no idea what they're up to, because there is no Snowden for the FBI. What do they have, in terms of surveillance on people in the United States? We don't know.

The two agencies, along with the CIA, and even more crucial, the DIA, are highly competitive and guard their mission carefully. They're all competing for money, and are very intent on making sure that other agencies aren't encroaching on their little bailiwicks. That has been so since WWII ended, and continues to be so.

In the meantime, corporate surveillance and data storage has actually become the real intruder on our privacy. It's economically useful to know what individuals are up to on the Internet. Very useful. There are no prohibitions on this, and people willingly give up their privacy to gain access to the services corporations provide. So, collection of data is ongoing and pervasive by corporate interests. And here's the kicker:

All it takes is a court order and that data collected is available to government agencies. This is the real issue that nobody is talking about. Let's take DU as an example. People post all sorts of stuff on DU. It's all stored publicly, and can be searched and viewed by anybody with a device that can access the Internet, including government agencies, if they choose to look at it.

People think they are anonymous on DU. They are incorrect. Even if a bit of Internet sleuthing couldn't reveal who a DU screen name actually is, which it usually can, a simple court order to the owners of the website will result in the handing over of whatever information is available about that person. That's pretty much limited to a valid email address, of course, but another court order to the email provider will provide more information.

Bottom line is that everything we do on the Internet is stored, archived, tracked, and cataloged. Government agencies can demand that that information be turned over to them by getting a court order. That is the real hole in privacy, not NSA or FBI collection of metadata about communications between individuals. If the government wants to know if an individual is checking out porn, they can get that information from the corporations who are tracking whatever people do on the Internet.

I make a habit of reading TOS and Privacy Statements of services I use on the Internet. It's a matter of curiosity for me. If you do the same, you will see that every one of those statements includes language saying that your information will be delivered to government agencies if a proper court order demands it. Every one of them. Go have a look for yourself, and you'll see that I'm correct.