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Given the timing of when this happened, I am impressed by the scope and scale of it. If these were truly private individuals and not related to the 3 letter age

Given the timing of when this happened, I am impressed by the scope and scale of it. If these were truly private individuals and not related to the 3 letter agencies, then one can only imagine what must take place in the world of today.

fragmede 5y ago
Room 614A is a bit dated by this point, but hopefully gives you some idea. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A
- nyjah 5y ago
  Room 641A. Thank you for sharing the link/story, absolutely fascinating. "641A is a bit dated", has anything more recent come to light?
  - bostik 5y ago
    Snowden revelations? At least room 614A was about traffic going through a specific network point. Whereas the more modern "full take" has been about grabbing traffic from pretty much everywhere.
  - aaaaaaaaata 5y ago
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance_disclosures_%282013%E2%80%93present%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance_disclosures...
beardog 5y ago
To start, all tele communication providers have to have easy wiretaps built into their systems: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Assistance_for_Law_Enforcement_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Assistance_for_...
- Johnythree 5y ago
  Yes, dating back to the earliest phone systems it was necessary for the operators to listen to a phone line to see if it was busy before connecting (especially in an emergency). And this carried through to the step-by-step switching systems where there was an extra level in each selector bank to allow the technicians to check the status of a line before working on it. It was only necessary for the tech on the test desk to dial a number to be able to monitor it. And of course this monitoring system was "unofficially" connected country wide to the spooks office. And with modern computerised exchanges, this facility is just a few extra lines of code in the software.
Spooky23 5y ago
NYC was a crazy place with the aftermath of prohibition. My grandfather owned a bar and was getting shaken down by a sales tax guy, who got paid off to keep the local gangsters aware of the bar’s revenue, etc. A couple of cops busted the crooked tax guy, and ended up thrown through a plate glass window for their troubles. In short, if anything, “three letter agencies” worked in these shadows at that time unless there was some big operation with hundreds of agents engaged.

fragmede 5y ago

Room 614A is a bit dated by this point, but hopefully gives you some idea. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A

nyjah 5y ago
Room 641A. Thank you for sharing the link/story, absolutely fascinating. "641A is a bit dated", has anything more recent come to light?
- bostik 5y ago
  Snowden revelations? At least room 614A was about traffic going through a specific network point. Whereas the more modern "full take" has been about grabbing traffic from pretty much everywhere.
- aaaaaaaaata 5y ago
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance_disclosures_%282013%E2%80%93present%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance_disclosures...

beardog 5y ago

To start, all tele communication providers have to have easy wiretaps built into their systems: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Assistance_for_Law_Enforcement_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Assistance_for_...

Johnythree 5y ago
Yes, dating back to the earliest phone systems it was necessary for the operators to listen to a phone line to see if it was busy before connecting (especially in an emergency). And this carried through to the step-by-step switching systems where there was an extra level in each selector bank to allow the technicians to check the status of a line before working on it. It was only necessary for the tech on the test desk to dial a number to be able to monitor it. And of course this monitoring system was "unofficially" connected country wide to the spooks office. And with modern computerised exchanges, this facility is just a few extra lines of code in the software.

Spooky23 5y ago

NYC was a crazy place with the aftermath of prohibition. My grandfather owned a bar and was getting shaken down by a sales tax guy, who got paid off to keep the local gangsters aware of the bar’s revenue, etc. A couple of cops busted the crooked tax guy, and ended up thrown through a plate glass window for their troubles. In short, if anything, “three letter agencies” worked in these shadows at that time unless there was some big operation with hundreds of agents engaged.