6 ms·

Probably because Snowden is a VIP who has people looking for him (US government, for example). A live stream would be a liability, kind of a breadcrumb trail, p

Probably because Snowden is a VIP who has people looking for him (US government, for example). A live stream would be a liability, kind of a breadcrumb trail, potentially exposing his current location.

hsnewman 7y ago
He's in Russia.
roywiggins 7y ago
Unless he's worried about a drone strike while in his Moscow apartment, I can't see there'd be a problem.
- arkitaip 7y ago
  Yeah, it's not like CIA agents would kidnap him or something. Would never happen, right? https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/08/beyond-torture-the-other-shameful-thing-the-cia-is-trying-to-suppress/375706/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/08/beyond-...
  - roywiggins 7y ago
    While I'm sure the they would love to get their hands on him, pulling off a kidnapping from under the noses of several Russian intelligence agencies in the heart of their domain seems like a stretch, even for the CIA.
- ctrl-j 7y ago
  I mean.. if I were him I'd be doing my best to not let the CIA and NSA know where my Moscow apartment was located...
  - roywiggins 7y ago
    Kim Philby lived in Moscow for decades, I don't think he went to any great lengths to dodge his former MI6 colleagues. I would bet the US government knows exactly where Snowden is living. It won't be that hard: he'll be surrounded by secret police keeping tabs.
londons_explore 7y ago
Doesn't need to be live to reveal location. 2 loudspeakers playing pseudorandom white noise, inaudable from a few hundred yards away, would probably still leak any location in the city, as long as the stream isn't too aggressively compressed. Correlating with a known signal over hundreds of thousands of audio samples has a massive snr gain...
- lifeisstillgood 7y ago
  Sorry, is this like Liam Neeson - drop a handgrenade in one part of town then another and Liam (or rather is listening to Snowden microphones) can work out where he is? Can that possibly work IRL?
  - otakucode 7y ago
    I believe he is implying the NSA or other entity using the microphone input from cellphones (or maybe the microphones placed around many major cities on utility poles?) to do the locating. I think it would probably be theoretically possible, but I don't recall anything in the leaks about them ever researching that sort of capability.
    - fit2rule 7y ago
      They can just listen to the 50hz ground hum in the signal coming from his audio equipment and determine which relay stations are providing that power ..
      - brokenmachine 7y ago
        ?how? 50Hz is 50Hz everywhere.
        Ao7bei3s 7y ago
        It's never exactly 50 Hz, as the frequency is affected by load and generators can't compensate this perfectly. So record it in many locations, then correlate the signal extracted from audio/video against the database. Main article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_network_frequency_analysis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_network_frequency_a...
duxup 7y ago
I have my doubts that his location is that much of a mystery that is needed to be protected.
est31 7y ago
If the US government really wanted Snowden dead, they could get him dead. They very likely know where he lives. They are the most sophisticated intelligence collection entity in the world, after all. Snowden is not protected by secrecy, he is protected by the fact that he lives in Russia and killing him would be a provocation to Russia, possibly resulting in the assasination of people that Russia dislikes who are under US protection. Also I guess because they want to put Snowden before a court of some sort, even if it's an unfair trial. Now, why does he apply counterintelligence measures? Why doesn't he share his location on twitter all the time? My theory is that it's some kind of rule of the intelligence community: if you would be too open, you would basically insult the rules this world is playing by. It would be like dancing in the crosshair at the korean border. Nobody wants to be insulted.
- otakucode 7y ago
  >They are the most sophisticated intelligence collection entity in the world, after all. Who were caught completely off guard by the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the USSR, the Arab Spring, and basically every single geopolitical event in history. I wouldn't invest too much in their abilities.
  - celticninja 7y ago
    Every single one is a bit harsh. There is also survivor bias here, a bit like MiB, when nothing happens no one knows. Not to say they are that good but unlimited resources is difficult to best, even if they are rubbish in general.
  - new_realist 7y ago
    Intelligence gathering is not the same as predicting the future, no more than a thermometer can tell you whether it will rain on your wedding day. Data gathering is relatively easy, forecasting is hard.
    - dTal 7y ago
      Your analogy is poor; a barometer will indeed tell you it will rain on your wedding day, at least 12 hours in advance. Forecasting is easy, if your collect the right data.
DoubleCribble 7y ago
They know _exactly_ where he is. Putin keeps him protected for shits & giggles.

hsnewman 7y ago

He's in Russia.

roywiggins 7y ago

Unless he's worried about a drone strike while in his Moscow apartment, I can't see there'd be a problem.

arkitaip 7y ago
Yeah, it's not like CIA agents would kidnap him or something. Would never happen, right? https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/08/beyond-torture-the-other-shameful-thing-the-cia-is-trying-to-suppress/375706/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/08/beyond-...
- roywiggins 7y ago
  While I'm sure the they would love to get their hands on him, pulling off a kidnapping from under the noses of several Russian intelligence agencies in the heart of their domain seems like a stretch, even for the CIA.
ctrl-j 7y ago
I mean.. if I were him I'd be doing my best to not let the CIA and NSA know where my Moscow apartment was located...
- roywiggins 7y ago
  Kim Philby lived in Moscow for decades, I don't think he went to any great lengths to dodge his former MI6 colleagues. I would bet the US government knows exactly where Snowden is living. It won't be that hard: he'll be surrounded by secret police keeping tabs.

londons_explore 7y ago

Doesn't need to be live to reveal location. 2 loudspeakers playing pseudorandom white noise, inaudable from a few hundred yards away, would probably still leak any location in the city, as long as the stream isn't too aggressively compressed. Correlating with a known signal over hundreds of thousands of audio samples has a massive snr gain...

lifeisstillgood 7y ago
Sorry, is this like Liam Neeson - drop a handgrenade in one part of town then another and Liam (or rather is listening to Snowden microphones) can work out where he is? Can that possibly work IRL?
- otakucode 7y ago
  I believe he is implying the NSA or other entity using the microphone input from cellphones (or maybe the microphones placed around many major cities on utility poles?) to do the locating. I think it would probably be theoretically possible, but I don't recall anything in the leaks about them ever researching that sort of capability.
  - fit2rule 7y ago
    They can just listen to the 50hz ground hum in the signal coming from his audio equipment and determine which relay stations are providing that power ..
    - brokenmachine 7y ago
      ?how? 50Hz is 50Hz everywhere.
      - Ao7bei3s 7y ago
        It's never exactly 50 Hz, as the frequency is affected by load and generators can't compensate this perfectly. So record it in many locations, then correlate the signal extracted from audio/video against the database. Main article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_network_frequency_analysis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_network_frequency_a...

duxup 7y ago

I have my doubts that his location is that much of a mystery that is needed to be protected.

est31 7y ago

If the US government really wanted Snowden dead, they could get him dead. They very likely know where he lives. They are the most sophisticated intelligence collection entity in the world, after all. Snowden is not protected by secrecy, he is protected by the fact that he lives in Russia and killing him would be a provocation to Russia, possibly resulting in the assasination of people that Russia dislikes who are under US protection. Also I guess because they want to put Snowden before a court of some sort, even if it's an unfair trial. Now, why does he apply counterintelligence measures? Why doesn't he share his location on twitter all the time? My theory is that it's some kind of rule of the intelligence community: if you would be too open, you would basically insult the rules this world is playing by. It would be like dancing in the crosshair at the korean border. Nobody wants to be insulted.

otakucode 7y ago
>They are the most sophisticated intelligence collection entity in the world, after all. Who were caught completely off guard by the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the USSR, the Arab Spring, and basically every single geopolitical event in history. I wouldn't invest too much in their abilities.
- celticninja 7y ago
  Every single one is a bit harsh. There is also survivor bias here, a bit like MiB, when nothing happens no one knows. Not to say they are that good but unlimited resources is difficult to best, even if they are rubbish in general.
- new_realist 7y ago
  Intelligence gathering is not the same as predicting the future, no more than a thermometer can tell you whether it will rain on your wedding day. Data gathering is relatively easy, forecasting is hard.
  - dTal 7y ago
    Your analogy is poor; a barometer will indeed tell you it will rain on your wedding day, at least 12 hours in advance. Forecasting is easy, if your collect the right data.

DoubleCribble 7y ago

They know _exactly_ where he is. Putin keeps him protected for shits & giggles.