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The impression I get, as a consumer, is that I can no longer trust official statements from the likes of Google, Amazon, etc since they could have been legally

The impression I get, as a consumer, is that I can no longer trust official statements from the likes of Google, Amazon, etc since they could have been legally gagged from telling the truth. I've lost confidence in US tech companies, because they could be forced to act without being allowed to disclose it or reasonably fight it. To date I still don't believe what Google/Amazon are saying. It all feels like weasel words. Like when Obama stated that the NSA "cannot" listen to your calls. He meant that they cannot by law, rather than cannot because they dont have access. The way he phrased it though meant that 80% of people listening would've thought it was the latter definition. And to have the National Intelligence guy on record lie to Congress? Who is controlling whom here? It really does feel like the US government has lost control of its intelligence services. Now don't mind me, I'm busy trying to find somewhere on the map I can relocate my services to.

jellicle 13y ago
> He meant that they cannot by law, rather than cannot because they dont have access. Really what he meant is that the NSA can't target their listening at you, but they certainly can listen to your calls accidentally or in a mission targeted at some other person or targeted at you if they don't know for a fact that you're a U.S. person, and once they do listen to your calls, they certainly can forward that information to any appropriate law enforcement agency to take action against you, and they certainly can use that information to get a warrant to legalize targeting you if need be. So really what he meant is that yes, the NSA can listen to your calls, "legally", in almost all circumstances. By taking care not to initially link up phone numbers and names/addresses, they can maintain that they didn't know you were a U.S. person for as long as they need to. If you didn't understand that from his use of the word "cannot", well, I guess that's just your poor listening skills at fault.

jellicle 13y ago

> He meant that they cannot by law, rather than cannot because they dont have access. Really what he meant is that the NSA can't target their listening at you, but they certainly can listen to your calls accidentally or in a mission targeted at some other person or targeted at you if they don't know for a fact that you're a U.S. person, and once they do listen to your calls, they certainly can forward that information to any appropriate law enforcement agency to take action against you, and they certainly can use that information to get a warrant to legalize targeting you if need be. So really what he meant is that yes, the NSA can listen to your calls, "legally", in almost all circumstances. By taking care not to initially link up phone numbers and names/addresses, they can maintain that they didn't know you were a U.S. person for as long as they need to. If you didn't understand that from his use of the word "cannot", well, I guess that's just your poor listening skills at fault.