7 ms·
This is quite scary. I know, it's not something new, but still...
by giosch 10y ago
This is quite scary. I know, it's not something new, but still...
- ceejayoz 10y agoWhy is this scary? This is what everyone's always assumed the NSA was doing. It's their explicit job - to monitor the rest of the world.
- dudul 10y agoI wonder how the US government would react if european nations were caught doing it to them (especially Considering the childish reaction after some countries decide to not get involved in the 2nd war in Irak). Note that I'm not saying they are not doing it (I actually assume everybody does it), but I don't recall seeing any formal proof.
- ceejayoz 10y agoI suspect the US catches its European allies doing this all the time. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/intel-insiders-europeans-spying-on-us-too/ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/intel-insiders-europeans-spying-...
- saryant 10y agoThe US government knows that our European allies spy on us all the time. That's been known since the founding of the nation. They don't make a stink about it because you don't rock the boat when you don't need to. Advise those with sensitive information of how to proceed and move on. Think about why French intelligence would give this to the press, rather than obviate it either technologically or diplomatically.
- pyrale 10y agoThis is scary because the direct implication of this event is a creep of power for intelligence agencies, which is not very good to have in a democratic system (because lack of oversight, accountability, significant means to alter democratic process, etc).
- dogma1138 10y agoWhy do you assume that this was done not at the direct orders of the executive branch? The director of the NSA is a general, the NSA is the only intelligence agency that is almost under the direct control of POTUS.
- pyrale 10y agoI don't see how this changes my point. A single man giving orders does not define a democracy. Democracy requires accountability and public oversight. What's the difference between an unelected man in charge and an elected one, if you can't know what they do, anyway ?
- heartbreak 10y agoThe difference is that we elected the guy doing the overseeing, Barack Obama. In fact we elected him twice. That's democracy. If we don't like what NSA is doing under the President's command, we'll elect a different president, or our elected men and women in Congress can hold the President accountable.
- pyrale 10y ago> If we don't like what NSA is doing under the President's command, [...] For that, you would need oversight, which intel shops typically don't provide. For instance, there's a history of scandals being revealed long after they were done in western democracies. There's also the matter of being able to effectively implement a political program reducing the powers of intel agencies. To my knowledge this has never happened outside of political upheavals. Even then, if you look at the Church committee report and the Snowden affair, advances seem to be quickly erased.