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Personally, the skeptic in me believes if the NSA is losing interest in a major data collection program like this, then they are deflecting the narrative from f
by ddelt 7y ago
Personally, the skeptic in me believes if the NSA is losing interest in a major data collection program like this, then they are deflecting the narrative from focusing on an even more impressive and accurate data collection program that they have developed and are ready to deploy out into the world. I’m putting on my tinfoil hat at this point, but every day I read HN I’m surprised at what is capable, given the right technology, money, and time.
- fooey 7y agoI think it's more likely that most everyone the NSA would be interested in snooping on is aware they're snooping and has changed how they communicate and moved to encryption. The signal to noise ratio has to be completely ridiculous, to the point that it's no longer a justifiable effort.
- closeparen 7y agoMiranda warnings have been pop culture for decades, yet criminals keep confessing in interview rooms. Threats to public safety tend not to be firing on all cylinders, thankfully.
- culturestate 7y agoFor some reason, it’s often the people who should shut up the most who just can’t shut up. The ability to stop yourself from talking is an underrated skill.
- qubex 7y agoLooks nervously in the general direction of the current President.
- wallace_f 7y agoI don't think it's that simple. Intimidation and coercion are powerful motivators. The Innocence Project found 25% of people proven innocent, by DNA evidence, actually provided confessions or self-incriminating statements. I worry about what other behind-the-door tactics are used. Some might even be official abuses of power, such as gag orders, which are already being used for what the WSJ called "political persecutions in Wisconsin,"(1) it wouldn't surprise me. >Threats to public safety This is what I'm worried about here. 0-https://www.innocencecanada.com/causes-of-wrongful-convictions/ https://www.innocencecanada.com/causes-of-wrongful-convictio... 1-https://www.nationalreview.com/2015/04/wisonsins-shame-i-thought-it-was-home-invasion-david-french/ https://www.nationalreview.com/2015/04/wisonsins-shame-i-tho...
- cosmodisk 7y agoGet an average person into a room, interrogate for hour or days,if necessary, and ultimately, the vast majority would confess to anything just for the sake of ending it. There are many tricks in a hat to do so+ decades of experience within police and other institutions.
- davvolun 7y agoI think you're talking about a different class of problems, though. The NSA is going to be focused on larger, sophisticated groups; Chinese government intrusions, multi-state-sponsored terrorism, coordinated Russian attempts to influence U.S. elections. Not the type of thing that's going to get caught in a police interview.
- closeparen 7y agoOf course there are some sophisticated adversaries who were probably too smart to use phones even before Snowden, but I’ll venture a guess that the typical terrorism conspiracy is closer in sophistication to a street gang than to the KGB. At least, if there were a clear link between a terrorist plot and and institution full of taxpayer-funded career spooks, it would not be terrorism, just war.
- Tsubasachan 7y agoEncryption is nice but don't forget that every American university or company has been infiltrated by the NSA.
- killjoywashere 7y agoAnd the Chinese, and the Russians, probably some Iranians in there too.
- tssva 7y agoYou left out the Israelis who have had an extensive espionage operation in the US for decades.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- devoply 7y agoYeah pretty much or they are getting so much data from FAANG that they don't know what to do with this is totally useless and superfluous.
- wil421 7y agoI think you mean GAF (reversed spelling). What is Netflix going to give the NSA? Looks like Osama bin Laden loves House of Cards. What about Amazon? The terrorists use AWS and ordered a bunch of pressure cookers?
- DSingularity 7y agoAWS runs half the net..
- tomc1985 7y agoSome useful data that might be subpoenad from a Netflix account: * subscriber IP address (for an idea of target whereabouts) * subscriber playback equipment (for confirming target) * times of account usage (for determining daily routine or pattern analysis, or just confirming that they're home or sth) * identity info on account or subaccounts (for identifying target or possible friends/family members) * favorite shows (for chumming up to target to get them to talk/start conversation with)
- wil421 7y agoI’m assuming by subpoena you mean a warrant. Not sure the feds would try and compel some terrorist to be a witness or give some evidence of something. A cellphone would give you so much more information.
- tomc1985 7y agoFair enough, I'm not a legal expert. Yes, a cellphone also gives that info but an investigator may not always have a cellphone as a lead
- 7y ago
- nestorD 7y agoAccording to Wikipedia, PRISM (the collection of internet communication) is "the number one source of raw intelligence used for NSA analytic reports". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_(surveillance_program) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_(surveillance_program)
- mariefred 7y agoBased on documents from 2011-13, a lot could have changed since then
- glaurung_ 7y agoI rather doubt that internet communication has become less important since 2013.
- DenseComet 7y agoOn the contrary, its grown even more important, but encryption has also grown immensely in popularity.
- DarkCrusader2 7y agoWhat is most interesting to me is that we are talking about this in open now, we have accepted that this is the new normal.
- ngold 7y agoI decided to watch the x files this evening after not watching it since it was on regular television. And my god, the entire show is adorable. Scullys entire character is "the goverment would never do that. It would be illegal." The American dream we all had at one point is staggering. And sad how much we have lost. Rose colored glasses aside, if the same show aired today, it would not last a season, since it would be considered to naive to take seriously.