Holder Can’t Even Count How Often DOJ Spies on Journalists « Antiwar.com Blog

Via NPR, Holder said yesterday in a news conference that he’s not sure how many times he’s signed off on Justice Department requests to spy on journalists:

“I’m not sure how many of those cases…I have actually signed off on,” Holder said. “I take them very seriously. I know that I have refused to sign a few [and] pushed a few back for modifications.

Could he give a ballpark? Could he even vaguely reassure reporters that it is a very rare occurrence? No, all he can manage to say is there he has nixed “a few” efforts to spy on journalists.

Government Funded Phone App Tracks “Vaccine Refusers”

beatyourselfup:

A new phone application called Vaccine Refuseddeveloped by the University of Iowa tracks – just as the name implies – vaccine refusals. [1]

The application is intended to be used by health professionals to report the location of the refusal, the vaccine refused, and patient demographics. The output of the data, which is supposedly anonymous and stored securely at the University of Iowa, provides a heat map of the refusals.

I’m going to show you how the government will likely use this information – and it isn’t pretty. Let me tell you more.

Application is Government Funded

To understand the importance of this particular application, we need to know how it is being funded and who is leading the research. This will give us a clue as to how the data will likely be used.

The research for the phone application is led by Dr. Philip Polgreen, Director of Infectious Disease Society of America’s Emerging Infections Network. [2]

Why is this significant?

According to the IDSA’s website, “In 1995, the CDC [Centers for Disease Control] granted a Cooperative Agreement Program award to the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) to develop a provider-based emerging infections sentinel network: the Emerging Infections Network (IDSA EIN).” [3]

The project’s main University of Iowa page clearly states the research is funded by the National Institutes of Health and by a contract from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [4]

So now we know the lead researcher for the phone application has direct ties to the Centers for Disease Control as well receiving funds for the research.

Here’s the important point…

Vaccine Refused Application is Technology Black Boxing

This is your typical “black boxing” effort in developing tracking technology. By this I mean very simply, two separate technologies are being developed and will be combined to form a system at a later date.

An analogy would be the designing of a car. The engine, steering, and breaking system are all developed separately but then combined in the manufacturing process to make a car.

Much in the same way, an application tracking vaccine refusals may seem harmless on the surface. However, the Centers for Disease Control are collecting other data.

In a recent article, I wrote about how the CDC collects information on who vaccinates their children and who does not. They also know how many children have opted out of being vaccinated. [5]

If you didn’t know, the Centers for Disease Control has been quietly rolling out a nationwide program called the Immunization Information Systems (IIS), registering your vaccine information (and if you refuse or not) into databases. [6]

But what would happen if data from the phone application was combined or analyzed with vaccine registry information?

The Correlation of Data

Here’s what you need to know.

The government (along with corporations) collects, correlates, and tracks data about you. I highly recommend a very informational article written by Information Security expert Bruce Schneier.

He writes, “Governments are happy to use the data corporations collect – occasionally demanding that they collect more and save it longer – to spy on us. And corporations are happy to buy data from governments. Together the powerful spy on the powerless, and they’re not going to give up their positions of power, despite what the people want.” [7]

The CDC’s Immunization Information System already tracks your vaccine refusals. If you recall from the last article, a small amount of the data collected included: the patient’s name, birth date, mother’s name, home address and phone number, and vaccine provider.

How easy would it be to correlate any “refuser” data and make a map out of it with home addresses? It seems theVaccine Refused application can accomplish this task quiet easily.

Researchers at the University of Iowa say the data collected by the application is secure and anonymous. You and I should know better; this could be changed with the stroke of the pen.

Heck, the CDC is paying for the research. Are you sure there isn’t a hidden agenda?

Conclusion

George Washington can be quoted as saying, “Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

What happens if we take the intention of the Vaccine Refused phone application and Immunization Information System to its conclusion? Will these technologies be used to track you down and forcibly vaccinate you and your children?

It sure seems that way to me.

U.S. gives big, secret push to Internet surveillance

Justice Department agreed to issue ‘2511 letters’ immunizing AT&T and other companies participating in a cybersecurity program from criminal prosecution under the Wiretap Act, according to new documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center. Read this article by Declan McCullagh on CNET News.

More Holes in the Fourth Amendment by Andrew P. Napolitano

Here they go again. The Obama administration has asked its allies in Congress to introduce legislation that would permit the feds to continue their march through the Fourth Amendment when it comes to obtaining private information about all of us.

News to Me: NSA Data Center Front And Center In Debate Over Liberty, Security And Privacy

n-morgan:



Posted on April 13, 2013



041213_fxr_data_640



Of course there are state secrets that need to be kept, but anymore you wonder how much we can trust them.


Check it out:

Twenty-five miles due south of Salt Lake City, a massive construction project is nearing completion. The heavily secured site belongs to the National Security Agency.

“The spy center” — that’s what some of the locals like Jasmine Widmer, who works at Bluffdale’s sandwich shop, told our Fox News team as part of an eight month investigation into data collection and privacy rights that will be broadcast Sunday at 9 p.m. ET called “Fox News Reporting: Your Secrets Out.”

The NSA says the Utah Data Center is a facility for the intelligence community that will have a major focus on cyber security. The agency will neither confirm nor deny specifics. Some published reports suggest it could hold 5 zettabytes of data. (Just one zettabyte is the equivalent of about 62 billion stacked iPhones 5′s– that stretches past the moon.




Continue Reading on www.foxnews.com …

Your Webcam May Be Spying On You

Finally a well written and detailed expose on the vulnerabilities of laptop webcams! I’ve had a strong hunch for a long time that spying on laptop users is not only an easy feet, but commonplace. Of course, my biggest enemy is the state, mainly because with the amount of resources they wield, even daunting tasks can usually be overcome. But by the looks of it, spying on laptop users isn’t daunting at all.

This means your privacy is under threat from non state-affiliated criminals as well. Unfortunately, the article doesn’t end as well as it starts. It gives us the same typical hullabaloo we always get; use anti-virus software, don’t visit “dangerous” sites, don’t click random links, and don’t pirate movies. Basically, don’t have any fun and always live a life of fear on the internet. On, and rely on some corporation to protect you!

My strategy is completely different and never gets the mention it deserves. First and foremost, use linux! Windows and Mac’s aren’t safe.

Furthermore, use desktops over laptops. One of the aspects I love about my desktop is that the only microphone or webcam it has are ones I voluntarily attached to it. This means I’m never in doubt about whether or not my images or sounds are being recorded without my knowledge. They simply aren’t plugged in if not in use. Naturally, people aren’t going to stop using laptops, but I imagine there has to be laptops for sale for the security minded, i.e. ones that do not come with webcams and microphones pre-installed. If not, then all I can do is stress using Linux again.

Users can also cover their webcams with pieces of paper. And don’t worry about looking like a paranoid weirdo. I’ve seen other people do that and I think it is a good trend to propagate.

Domestic Spying Targets Americans Nationwide

A Senate investigation last year found that an intelligence sharing program, called fusion centers, led by the Department of Homeland Security wasted billions of dollars and infringed on Americans’ civil liberties. The investigation, the AP also reported, was “a scathing evaluation of what the Department of Homeland Security has held up as a crown jewel of its security efforts.”

“The subcommittee investigation could identify no reporting which uncovered a terrorist threat, nor could it identify a contribution such fusion center reporting made to disrupt an active terrorist plot,” the report said.

“When fusion centers did address terrorism, they sometimes did so in ways that infringed on civil liberties,” the AP reports. “The centers have made headlines for circulating information about Ron Paul supporters, the ACLU, activists on both sides of the abortion debate, war protesters and advocates of gun rights.”

Some of these intelligence centers even investigated Muslim-American community groups and their book recommendations. No evidence of criminal activity was ever found, but the government did store the information, which it is prohibited from doing for First Amendment activities.

Again, this is just another example. National Security Agency whistleblower William Binney has said that the US government is secretly gathering information “about virtually every US citizen in the country,” in “a very dangerous process” that violates Americans’ privacy.

Similarly, investigative journalist James Bamford wrote in Wired in March that “the NSA has turned its surveillance apparatus on the US and its citizens. It has established listening posts throughout the nation to collect and sift through billions of email messages and phone calls, whether they originate within the country or overseas.”

One anonymous official familiar with the NSA’s surveillance program told Bamford, “Everybody’s a target; everybody with communication is a target.”

In an interview with Current TV in May, another NSA whistleblower, Thomas Drake, made similar claims of the capability and intent of the NSA’s surveillance activities. “The vast capability of the NSA was increasingly being turned inside the US,” he said, “to surveil networks, emails, phone calls, etc.”

“The United States of America was turned into the equivalent of a foreign nation for the purposes of dragnet electronic surveillance,” Drake added.

Judging from what in depth investigative reporting and high-profile whistleblowers have revealed, the excessive domestic spying yields very little in the way of disrupting terrorist plots or anything of the sort. Yet, they continue – and even expand, making the whole enterprise seem much more like a domestic tool of subjugation than a heartfelt attempt at “keeping us safe.”

anarcho-queer: anarcho-queer: Obama And ISP’s To Launch Largest Digital Spying Scheme In History (Must Read) If you download potentially copyrighted software, videos or music, your Internet service provider (ISP) has been watching, and they’re coming for you. Specifically, they’re coming for you on July 1st. That’s the date when the nation’s largest ISPs will all voluntarily implement a new anti-piracy plan that will engage network operators in the largest digital spying scheme in history, and see some users’ bandwidth completely cut off until they sign an agreement saying they will not download copyrighted materials. Word of the start date has been largely kept secret since ISPs announced their plans last June. The deal was brokered by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and coordinated by the Obama Administration. The same groups have weighed in heavily on controversial Internet policies around the world, with similar facilitation by the Obama’s Administration’s State Department. The July 1 date was revealed by the RIAA’s CEO and top lobbyist, Cary Sherman, during a publishers’ conference on Wednesday in New York, according to technology publication CNet. The content industries calls this scheme a “graduated response” plan, which will see Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and others spying on users’ Internet activities and watching for potential copyright infringement. Users who are “caught” infringing on a creator’s protected work can then be interrupted with a notice that piracy is forbidden by law and carries penalties of up to $150,000 per infringement, requiring the user to click through saying they understand the consequences before bandwidth is restored, and they could still be subject to copyright infringement lawsuits. Read More Update: Last week, the companies listed above have implemented the new policy.  Comcast revealed yesterday how they will deal with customers who receive multiple warnings under the newly launched “six-strikes” anti-piracy system. After four alerts the ISP will “hijack” web-browsers of suspected serial pirates with a persistent pop-up notification, making it impossible to browse the Internet. The pop-up will disappear after the customer “resolves the issue” with a Customer Security Assurance professional. Comcast can be asked to hand over IP-addresses of persistent infringers, and the ISP acknowledges that copyright holders can then obtain a subpoena to reveal the personal details of the account holder for legal action. Source
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anarcho-queer:

anarcho-queer:

Obama And ISP’s To Launch Largest Digital Spying Scheme In History (Must Read)

If you download potentially copyrighted software, videos or music, your Internet service provider (ISP) has been watching, and they’re coming for you.

Specifically, they’re coming for you on July 1st.

That’s the date when the nation’s largest ISPs will all voluntarily implement a new anti-piracy plan that will engage network operators in the largest digital spying scheme in history, and see some users’ bandwidth completely cut off until they sign an agreement saying they will not download copyrighted materials.

Word of the start date has been largely kept secret since ISPs announced their plans last June. The deal was brokered by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and coordinated by the Obama Administration. The same groups have weighed in heavily on controversial Internet policies around the world, with similar facilitation by the Obama’s Administration’s State Department.

The July 1 date was revealed by the RIAA’s CEO and top lobbyist, Cary Sherman, during a publishers’ conference on Wednesday in New York, according to technology publication CNet.

The content industries calls this scheme a “graduated response” plan, which will see Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and others spying on users’ Internet activities and watching for potential copyright infringement. Users who are “caught” infringing on a creator’s protected work can then be interrupted with a notice that piracy is forbidden by law and carries penalties of up to $150,000 per infringement, requiring the user to click through saying they understand the consequences before bandwidth is restored, and they could still be subject to copyright infringement lawsuits.

Read More

Update: Last week, the companies listed above have implemented the new policy. 

Comcast revealed yesterday how they will deal with customers who receive multiple warnings under the newly launched “six-strikes” anti-piracy system. After four alerts the ISP will “hijack” web-browsers of suspected serial pirates with a persistent pop-up notification, making it impossible to browse the Internet. The pop-up will disappear after the customer “resolves the issue” with a Customer Security Assurance professional.

Comcast can be asked to hand over IP-addresses of persistent infringers, and the ISP acknowledges that copyright holders can then obtain a subpoena to reveal the personal details of the account holder for legal action.

Source

(via rollership)

Infowars: Video: DHS-Funded Drone Spies On Private Gun Sale

infowarsdotcom:

Promotional material for Shadowhawk depicts firearm transaction as criminal activity

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com 
February 25, 2013

The promotional video for a surveillance drone now being purchased by law enforcement bodies across the country with the aid of DHS funding shows a UAV spying on a private gun sale, falsely depicting the scenario as a criminal activity.

DHS-Funded Drone Spies On Private Gun Sale

It is important to emphasize that private firearms sales without background checks are not illegal under current law in the United States, although gun control advocates are feverishly trying to change that with new legislation. The government claims that 40 per cent of all gun sales are conducted without background checks.

The clip is part of promo material for the Shadowhawk drone, a 50lb mini helicopter that can be fitted with an XREP taser with the ability to fire four barbed electrodes that can be shot to a distance of 100 feet, delivering “neuromuscular incapacitation” to the victim. The drone can travel at a top speed of 70MPH and can operate for 3.5 hours over land and sea. The drone, which is manufactured by Vanguard Defense Industries, can also be armed with 12-gauge shotguns and grenade launchers.

The company’s website notes that drones fitted with weapons are currently, “Not available to law enforcement,” although drone industry lobbyists are pushing for that to be changed.

The footage shows two men driving to meet clandestinely in a remote area, before they exit their vehicles and proceed to conduct a transaction for a handgun and a semi-automatic rifle, before driving off at high speed.

During the commentary over the clip, which features dramatic music, role players run the license plates of both vehicles before describing the transaction as the spy drone hovers above.

Throughout the clip, the private sale of firearms is demonized by clearly being associated with illegal and clandestine activity, despite the fact that it is completely lawful to sell firearms privately with no paperwork or background checks, including at gun shows.

After being used against Somali pirates and insurgents in Afghanistan, the Department of Homeland Security approved the drone for use on domestic soil in 2011, prompting the Sheriff’s Office of Montgomery County, Texas to purchase one for a cool $500,000 dollars, aided by a $250,000 DHS grant.

The fact that Homeland Security is approving and funding drones that are being sold on the basis that they can spy on gun owners is somewhat disturbing given that the federal agency has committed to purchasing around 2 billion rounds of ammunition over the course of the last year alone, which many see as a sign of preparations for civil unrest. The DHS also bought 7,000 fully automatic assault rifles last year, labeling them “personal defense weapons”.

As we reported last week, a DHS contractor had to apologize after producing shooting targets that depicted American gun owners, pregnant women and children as “non-traditional threats,” prompting outage.

Watch a news report about the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office purchase of the Shadowhawk drone below.

DHS-Funded Taser Drone Launched in Texas

*********************

Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a host for Infowars Nightly News.

Big Brother is Watching

themikebilly:

VIDEO: Senator Mike Lee on FISA: “We can’t abandon constitutional rights for temporary security”

5 Unbelievably Creepy Surveillance Tactics

leftish:

They could be ripped from the plot of a sci-fi movie.

Since the erosion of Americans’ civil liberties depends on high levels of public apathy, some of the most dangerous privacy breaches take place incrementally and under the radar; if it invites comparisons to Blade Runner or Orwell, then someone in the PR department didn’t do their job. Meanwhile, some of the biggest threats to privacy, like insecure online data or iPhone GPS tracking, are physically unobtrusive and therefore easily ignored. And it’ll be at least a year or two until the sky is overrun by spy drones. 

So when a method of surveillance literally resembles a prop or plot point in a sci-fi movie, it helps to reveal just how widespread and sophisticated commercial and government monitoring has become.  Here are five recent developments that seem almost unreal in their dystopian creepiness. 

1. Buses and street cars that can hear what you say .

Read more…

tw3news: U.S. Terrorism Agency to Tap a Vast Database of Citizens Top U.S. intelligence officials gathered in the White House Situation Room in March to debate a controversial proposal. Counterterrorism officials wanted to create a government dragnet, sweeping up millions of records about U.S. citizens—even people suspected of no crime. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324478304578171623040640006.html
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tw3news:

U.S. Terrorism Agency to Tap a Vast Database of Citizens

Top U.S. intelligence officials gathered in the White House Situation Room in March to debate a controversial proposal. Counterterrorism officials wanted to create a government dragnet, sweeping up millions of records about U.S. citizens—even people suspected of no crime.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324478304578171623040640006.html

FBI Plans Nationwide Face-Recognition Trials In 2012

From Slashdot:

hessian writes with this excerpt: “The FBI by mid-January will activate a nationwide facial recognition service in select states that will allow local police to identify unknown subjects in photos, bureau officials told Nextgov. The federal government is embarking on a multiyear, $1 billion dollar overhaul of the FBI’s existing fingerprint database to more quickly and accurately identify suspects, partly through applying other biometric markers, such as iris scans and voice recordings.” Enhanced by Zemanta