4 ms·

I'm not sure that people are getting 'used' to it. I was talking to a non-techie over the weekend, and although they were aware about Snowden's NSA revelations,

by trendia 10y ago

I'm not sure that people are getting 'used' to it. I was talking to a non-techie over the weekend, and although they were aware about Snowden's NSA revelations, they were quite perturbed to think someone could be reading their email. I don't think people have stopped caring, they just feel helpless. This means that normal people may be willing to adopt new protocols (end-to-end encryption), something they wouldn't do if they were accepting of NSA spying.

lern_too_spel 10y ago
Nothing in Snowden's leaks suggests that the government has access to your friend's email, let alone is reading it. Stop exaggerating to your non-techie friends.
- benevol 10y ago
  Next, people on HN are going to deny the holocaust. 3... 2... 1...
  - lern_too_spel 10y ago
    It sounds like you've been reading too much fake news. Can you point me to any document that suggests the NSA has his friend's emails?
- ionised 10y ago
  You must have been folowing a different leak than me.
  - lern_too_spel 10y ago
    I read the documents released by Snowden. Which leaks are you referring to? Can you point me to any document that suggests the NSA has his friend's emails?
    - dmix 10y ago
      I'll cite a single program not even leaked by Snowden which would allow any unencrypted email sent to by intercepted https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A?wprov=sfla1 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A?wprov=sfla1 Snowden leaks showed that they get billions of hits each month from the various submarine cables as well as direct access from telco backbone fiber stations in the US, Europe, Middle East, and elsewhere. > As this map shows that almost 3 billion data elements from inside the United States were captured by the NSA over a 30-day period ending in March 2013, Snowden stated that this tool was collecting more information on Americans located within the United States than on Russians in Russia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundless_Informant?wprov=sfla1 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundless_Informant?wprov=sf... In addition, the MUSCULAR program involved tapping the data links between data centers of Google and Yahoo. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUSCULAR_%28surveillance_program%29?wprov=sfla1 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUSCULAR_%28surveillance_pro... So I'd say there is an 80-90% chance the NSA has a good chunk of his friends email. Closer to 95% if he was located outside of the US. The only thing stopping them from getting the full content of each Americans (plus 3 hops) passive data collection (besides 100% of metadata they get legally) is a FISA warrant. They have no restriction for foreigners. Maybe you need to reread some of those slides because you clearly missed the big picture.
      - lern_too_spel 10y ago
        Your single source does not actually collect his friend's data. According to Snowdon's leaks, it was used to find a court-ordered monitored target's traffic leaving or entering the country. It does not actually siphon all data, including emails, to the NSA. MUSCULAR provides similar filtering capability within Google's and Yahoo's networks, though not anymore because they encrypt all traffic. Again, only metadata. And again, the email envelope collection had already been shut down prior to the leaks according to the leaked documents. According to Snowden's leaks, the NSA is not allowed to keep communications from a US citizen or anybody even living inside the US without a court order, so no, his friend's emails don't reside with the US government.

by trendia 10y ago

lern_too_spel 10y ago

Nothing in Snowden's leaks suggests that the government has access to your friend's email, let alone is reading it. Stop exaggerating to your non-techie friends.

benevol 10y ago
Next, people on HN are going to deny the holocaust. 3... 2... 1...
- lern_too_spel 10y ago
  It sounds like you've been reading too much fake news. Can you point me to any document that suggests the NSA has his friend's emails?
ionised 10y ago
You must have been folowing a different leak than me.
- lern_too_spel 10y ago
  I read the documents released by Snowden. Which leaks are you referring to? Can you point me to any document that suggests the NSA has his friend's emails?
  - dmix 10y ago
    I'll cite a single program not even leaked by Snowden which would allow any unencrypted email sent to by intercepted https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A?wprov=sfla1 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A?wprov=sfla1 Snowden leaks showed that they get billions of hits each month from the various submarine cables as well as direct access from telco backbone fiber stations in the US, Europe, Middle East, and elsewhere. > As this map shows that almost 3 billion data elements from inside the United States were captured by the NSA over a 30-day period ending in March 2013, Snowden stated that this tool was collecting more information on Americans located within the United States than on Russians in Russia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundless_Informant?wprov=sfla1 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundless_Informant?wprov=sf... In addition, the MUSCULAR program involved tapping the data links between data centers of Google and Yahoo. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUSCULAR_%28surveillance_program%29?wprov=sfla1 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUSCULAR_%28surveillance_pro... So I'd say there is an 80-90% chance the NSA has a good chunk of his friends email. Closer to 95% if he was located outside of the US. The only thing stopping them from getting the full content of each Americans (plus 3 hops) passive data collection (besides 100% of metadata they get legally) is a FISA warrant. They have no restriction for foreigners. Maybe you need to reread some of those slides because you clearly missed the big picture.
    - lern_too_spel 10y ago
      Your single source does not actually collect his friend's data. According to Snowdon's leaks, it was used to find a court-ordered monitored target's traffic leaving or entering the country. It does not actually siphon all data, including emails, to the NSA. MUSCULAR provides similar filtering capability within Google's and Yahoo's networks, though not anymore because they encrypt all traffic. Again, only metadata. And again, the email envelope collection had already been shut down prior to the leaks according to the leaked documents. According to Snowden's leaks, the NSA is not allowed to keep communications from a US citizen or anybody even living inside the US without a court order, so no, his friend's emails don't reside with the US government.