Surveillance

The FBI’s Facial Recognition Database Combines Lo-Res Photos With Zero Civil Liberties Considerations

Another FOIA lawsuit brought against the government by the EFF has resulted in the release of previously withheld documents. The papers cut loose this time detail the FBI’s facial recognition database and other parts of its “Next Generation Identification…

Dissent

Rep. Peter King sees Red over Pulitzers Honoring Snowden, Journalists covering NSA

Juan Cole

Rep. Peter King has made it clear that he will stop at nothing to attack anyone who thinks Ed Snowden did something useful. He was one of the first to call for the reporters who revealed the NSA’s surveillance to be prosecuted and has no qualms about…

Domestic Surveillance

Screenwriters On Total Info Awareness in “Capn America 2”: “The Whole Society is Corrupt”

Juan Cole

(By Scott Huver) BAM! POW! ZAP!: The ‘Winter Soldier’ Screenwriters Dish About Their Story Decisions and Cap’s Future (via Fandango Movie Blog) By: Scott Huver on April 11, 2014 at 3:01PM If you’ve seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier, prepare yourself for a SPOILER-LOADED look at the creative decisions and tempting sequel possibilities faced by screenwriters […]

Central Intelligence Agency

Top 6 Pulitzer Prize “Traitors” in American Journalism

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The Pulitzer Prize committee’s opinion that Edward Snowden is a public servant rather than a traitor or criminal, as evidenced in its award to The Guardian and The Washington Post for their reporting from his trove of government documents, is a scandal on the American Right. But it is not a new […]

Constitution

Dropbox putting NSA Spying advocate Condi Rice on its board Shocks Privacy Advocates

Juan Cole

YESTERDAY’S ANNOUNCEMENT that former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has joined the board of Dropbox has set tongues a-wagging in the IT sector. The company said Ms Rice be involved in securing a foothold in international territories, particularly…

Domestic Surveillance

The Limitations of Washington’s Proposed NSA Surveillance Reforms

Juan Cole

(By Kara Brandeisky for ProPublica) Ten months after Edward Snowden’s first disclosures, three main legislative proposals have emerged for surveillance reform: one from President Obama, one from the House Intelligence Committee, and one proposal favored by civil libertarians. All the plans purport to end the bulk phone records collection program, but there are big differences […]

Domestic Surveillance

Invasion of the Corporate Data Snatchers: The Internet of Things

contributors

(By Catherine Crump and Matthew Harwood) Estimates vary, but by 2020 there could be over 30 billion devices connected to the Internet. Once dumb, they will have smartened up thanks to sensors and other technologies embedded in them and, thanks to your machines, your life will quite literally have gone online. The implications are revolutionary. […]

censorship

Rep. Mike Rogers Says Snowden’s To Blame For Russia’s Aggressive Actions Against Ukraine

Juan Cole

Mike Rogers is still willing to spread his stupidity to any new outlet that will have him. Despite the NSA and FBI being unable to find any evidence that Snowden colluded with Russian intelligence, Rogers continues to insist the former analyst is a…

Dissent

Jimmy Carter: I send Landmail because of NSA Surveillance “Abuse”

Juan Cole

NBC’s Meet the Press interviewed former president Jimmy Carter on Sunday, and he complained that the National Security Agency probably has him under electronic surveillance. He said that when he communicates with a foreign head of state, he sends an old-fashioned landmail letter! If a distinguished former president feels this way, imagine ordinary citizens. Related […]