Thread: NSA hands Israel intelligence data on 'US persons'

NSA hands Israel intelligence data on 'US persons'

Whistleblower Edward Snowden leaks a new document that outlines the NSA's widespread sharing of raw metadata with Israeli security agencies.

by Dara Kerr
September 11, 2013 7:00 PM PDT




(Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET)

Another shoe has dropped in the National Security Agency's covert mass surveillance program.
Whistleblower Edward Snowden has provided The Guardian with a document that outlines the NSA's widespread sharing of "US persons" cellular and e-mail metadata with Israel. According to The Guardian, "US persons" include US citizens, permanent residents, and anyone located in the US at the time of data interception.
The classified document, called the "Memorandum of Understanding," shows that the NSA has been providing Israeli intelligence agencies with reams of raw intelligence data, such as transcripts, phone records, and digital network information, since 2009.
The memorandum does not place any legal limits on Israel's use of the US data. It does say that any data on US government officials must be "destroyed upon recognition" -- but, no such controls are in place for data on US citizens.
The NSA and the Obama administration have repeatedly said that the government does not "target" US citizens, but various other leaked documents and reports have suggested otherwise. Documents revealed in August showed that the NSA created a "secret backdoor" to search its massive databases for U.S. citizens' confidential phone calls and e-mail messages without a warrant.



While the memorandum says that Israel must handle the data in accordance with US law, it appears that there are no governing bodies or laws to ensure those procedures are followed. For its part, the NSA has defended itself regarding its data sharing with Israel.
"The fact that intelligence services work together under specific and regulated conditions mutually strengthens the security of both nations," a NSA spokesperson told The Guardian. "NSA cannot, however, use these relationships to circumvent US legal restrictions. Whenever we share intelligence information, we comply with all applicable rules, including the rules to protect US person information."



Dara Kerr Dara Kerr, a freelance journalist based in the Bay Area, is fascinated by robots, supercomputers and Internet memes. When not writing about technology and modernity, she likes to travel to far-off countries.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-576...tag=CAD2e9d5b9

Johns Hopkins apologizes for yanking prof's NSA blog

After a professor's blog post was censored based on claims it linked to classified government documents, the university says it reacted "too quickly" on "inadequate" and "incorrect information."

by Dara Kerr
September 10, 2013 5:40 PM PDT




(Credit: CBS) Johns Hopkins University is now aiming to prove it made a mistake in trying to censor a professor's blog post about the National Security Agency. After a back-and-forth on Monday, the dean of the university's Whiting School of Engineering wrote an apologetic letter to the professor.
"I write to apologize for any difficulty I caused you yesterday over the post on your blog. I realize now that I acted too quickly, on the basis of inadequate and -- as it turns out -- incorrect information," Dean Andrew Douglas wrote. "I requested that you take down the post without adequately checking that information and without first providing you with an opportunity to correct it."
The whole debacle began after major news stories spread across the Web on Thursday detailing claims that the NSA has been setting up a clandestine program to break digital encryptions for everything from users' smartphones to everyday e-mails to medical records.
Professor Matthew Green, who is a well-known cryptographer and research professor at Johns Hopkins, penned a blog post about the NSA's alleged capabilities to defeat encryption on that same day -- it was published both on his personal Google Blogger site and the university's mirror site. On Monday, Green was asked by Hopkins to take down the mirror site's post because it allegedly linked to classified NSA documents.
However, hours later, when the school realized Green was just linking to news articles -- he was allowed to reinstate the blog post. Green's post was strongly worded as he wrote, "the NSA has been doing some very bad things" and speculated that the government agency is indeed working to weaken or break digital encryptions.
Douglas wrote in his letter that he respect's Green's work in the field of information security and he did not mean to "undeservedly undercut" Green's reputation as a scholar and scientist.
"As an academic and as a member of the faculty at Johns Hopkins for 30 years, I am wholly supportive of academic freedom and keenly aware of its centrality to our enterprise," Douglas wrote. "I am also aware of the contributions you are making to your field of information security and of the relevance of your comments to the important public debate that is now under way."


For his part, Green seems satisfied with the apology. He tweeted earlier today, "I just received a very kind formal apology from the Interim Dean of JHU Whiting School of Engineering." Green also wrote a new blog post about the NSA, the Edward Snowden document leaks, and what he feels the country needs to do to fix the problem.
"The NSA has made a terrible set of mistakes. These range from policy decisions to technical direction, all the way to matter of their own internal security. I believe there may have been a time when these mistakes could have been mitigated or avoided, but that time has passed..." Green wrote. "Downplaying the extent of the damage, or trying to restrict access to (formerly) classified documents does nobody any good. It's time to start fixing things."
(Via The Wall Street Journal)



Dara Kerr Dara Kerr, a freelance journalist based in the Bay Area, is fascinated by robots, supercomputers and Internet memes. When not writing about technology and modernity, she likes to travel to far-off countries.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-576...tag=CAD2e9d5b9

The Founders wanted checks and balances. IMO this would be a good time to renew our commitment to protecting our own people from the excesses of unchecked power.
************************************************** ******
Americans first in this magnificent country

American jobs for American workers

Fair trade, not free trade

Originally Posted by vistalad

The Founders wanted checks and balances. IMO this would be a good time to renew our commitment to protecting our own people from the excesses of unchecked power.
************************************************** ******
Americans first in this magnificent country

American jobs for American workers

Fair trade, not free trade

How about first business at hand being to get rid of the useless politicians we already have .. Me thinks the rest would follow in order as you say.