5 ms·

Snowden’s Box – The human network behind the leak

110 points by seagullz 10y ago

jugbee 10y ago
I pity Dale when NSA reads the article. Telling everyone that you have the whole snowden material? Mate, that's irresposible and stupid
- zeroer 10y ago
  You're right. "We brought the material down. Now it’s hidden somewhere else — off Dale’s property in a location known only to him." Good lord.
  - wheelerwj 10y ago
    "Yet we hang on to such items." Jesus, as if its some sort of folksy thing you're going to pull out and show your grand kids one day.
    - scribu 10y ago
      You scoff, but I'd wager that a USB stick would count as folksy in 50 years.
      - wheelerwj 10y ago
        well in 50 years they can speak about it that way. besides, im talking about the content.
- mirimir 10y ago
  Well, IANAL, but I believe that it's actually not illegal for him to possess it. And what would be the gain in harassing him? I'm sure that the NSA has by now figured out what he took.
queeerkopf 10y ago
For those who'd rather have the article displayed as a single page: http://harpers.org/archive/2017/05/snowdens-box/?single=1 http://harpers.org/archive/2017/05/snowdens-box/?single=1
rdl 10y ago
I don't understand why the files didn't get encrypted and then massively uploaded, like the wikileaks insurance files. That turns it into a problem of securely archiving a 256bit string and escrowing it or doing some k of n thing such that it gets released if Poitras/Snowden/etc. go missing, ensuring they don't go missing. That's a much simpler problem than dealing with 8GB+ of data. (And it only really works if you either publicize this or let NSA and any other potential adversary know about it; and you then end up with the "anyone who wants to cause trouble for NSA knocks off enough people to trigger the insurance file" problem if it's public...)
- zeroer 10y ago
  Maybe if your fear is that the NSA tapped the entire Internet, you might think they can trace the origin location of such a large upload.
- mirimir 10y ago
  How do we know that they're not online somewhere?
mirimir 10y ago
I'm gobsmacked by that choice of return address. From "B Manning"? Only one digit off from his real address? Maybe it was a test. Let's say that he in fact mailed the package anonymously. So interception would arguably have told him that he was under observation. But still, using "B Manning" seems like a confounder, even if a small one. I'm guessing that he used different return addresses for the other two boxes. Controls for the test, as it were.
panarky 10y ago
The institutions and endeavors we regard as ironclad — from parenting to politics — are actually held together with chewing gum and duct tape. Nothing truly works, at least not for long, or not in the way it’s supposed to. This reality is terrifying, because it exposes the precariousness of the existing order. But it’s also liberating, because it encourages the individual to act, to defy the ominous mythology of competence and control.
- cyphunk 10y ago
  It's called the "social contract". It would be more concerning if it wasn't this way.

110 points by seagullz 10y ago

I pity Dale when NSA reads the article. Telling everyone that you have the whole snowden material? Mate, that's irresposible and stupid

zeroer 10y ago
You're right. "We brought the material down. Now it’s hidden somewhere else — off Dale’s property in a location known only to him." Good lord.
- wheelerwj 10y ago
  "Yet we hang on to such items." Jesus, as if its some sort of folksy thing you're going to pull out and show your grand kids one day.
  - scribu 10y ago
    You scoff, but I'd wager that a USB stick would count as folksy in 50 years.
    - wheelerwj 10y ago
      well in 50 years they can speak about it that way. besides, im talking about the content.
mirimir 10y ago
Well, IANAL, but I believe that it's actually not illegal for him to possess it. And what would be the gain in harassing him? I'm sure that the NSA has by now figured out what he took.

queeerkopf 10y ago

For those who'd rather have the article displayed as a single page: http://harpers.org/archive/2017/05/snowdens-box/?single=1 http://harpers.org/archive/2017/05/snowdens-box/?single=1

rdl 10y ago

I don't understand why the files didn't get encrypted and then massively uploaded, like the wikileaks insurance files. That turns it into a problem of securely archiving a 256bit string and escrowing it or doing some k of n thing such that it gets released if Poitras/Snowden/etc. go missing, ensuring they don't go missing. That's a much simpler problem than dealing with 8GB+ of data. (And it only really works if you either publicize this or let NSA and any other potential adversary know about it; and you then end up with the "anyone who wants to cause trouble for NSA knocks off enough people to trigger the insurance file" problem if it's public...)

zeroer 10y ago
Maybe if your fear is that the NSA tapped the entire Internet, you might think they can trace the origin location of such a large upload.
mirimir 10y ago
How do we know that they're not online somewhere?

mirimir 10y ago

I'm gobsmacked by that choice of return address. From "B Manning"? Only one digit off from his real address? Maybe it was a test. Let's say that he in fact mailed the package anonymously. So interception would arguably have told him that he was under observation. But still, using "B Manning" seems like a confounder, even if a small one. I'm guessing that he used different return addresses for the other two boxes. Controls for the test, as it were.

panarky 10y ago

The institutions and endeavors we regard as ironclad — from parenting to politics — are actually held together with chewing gum and duct tape. Nothing truly works, at least not for long, or not in the way it’s supposed to. This reality is terrifying, because it exposes the precariousness of the existing order. But it’s also liberating, because it encourages the individual to act, to defy the ominous mythology of competence and control.

cyphunk 10y ago
It's called the "social contract". It would be more concerning if it wasn't this way.