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We take for gospel that the NSA is spying on everyone in the world via every hardware device that has been created in the USA because of a few powerpoint slides

We take for gospel that the NSA is spying on everyone in the world via every hardware device that has been created in the USA because of a few powerpoint slides. Interesting.

drcode 13y ago
What should we be using for our information, instead? Clapper's testimony to congress?
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
TrevorJ 13y ago
This is a vast oversimplification of the facts.
- res0nat0r 13y ago
  So is the parent comment. A few PowerPoint slides doesn't warrant any ridiculous comments about the NSA backdooring your phone. It would be great if HN could stop with the NSA is everywhere-all-the-time-in-everything meme for a while, it would make reading the comments here much more relevant.
  - brymaster 13y ago
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6364315 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6364315
baddox 13y ago
It might be slightly more comforting if anyone, including the NSA, was denying it.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
jlgreco 13y ago
You are still going with that "it's just a powerpoint, it means nothing" line? I thought we dispensed with that notion months ago.
- res0nat0r 13y ago
  Yes. There is zero evidence of any type of NSA backdooring your iPhone nonsense. It would be great to read HN (where I thought we were more technically inclined than the rest of the net) for a day without unfounded nonsensical claims.
  - jlgreco 13y ago
    Yes, it is simply inconceivable that hard evidence of the activities of a spy agency might not be forthcoming... We are dealing with the realm of speculation, but it is not speculation fueled by some sort of tinfoil hatted lunacy. With the role that smartphones fill in peoples' lives today, you are just going to have to come to grips with the fact that, going forward, some people are going to consider the privacy of new devices to be very relevant, and well worth discussing. Don't be surprised when people error on the side of caution. You want to talk about battery life and color? Well I want to talk about display DPI and privacy. Learn to cope.
  - smtddr 13y ago
    This isn't just some random tinfoilhat idea that came out of nowhere. Remember CarrierIQ on Android? The NSA is real, the tinfoil-hats have been validated whether you believe it or not. From the NSA's point of view, having everyone's fingerprint on file would be fantastic and we know they have the power to force Apple to cooperate. In fact, I'm just assuming that's what will happen so now I'll be careful about borrowing anyone's iPhone. Everything about tech is going to be cross-examined with potential(read: definite future) data gathering usage by the NSA.
  - nilliams 13y ago
    Backdooring iPhones does sound fantasical but that is not the only means your fingerprint data could conceivably make its way beyond your iPhone. I like that my fingerprint data is on precisely no computer anywhere. You don't have to be a massive conspiracy theory nut to feel slightly uneasy recording your fingerprint on anything.
wintersFright 13y ago
Did you see this recent news? http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/privacy-scandal-nsa-can-spy-on-smart-phone-data-a-920971.html http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/privacy-scandal-ns... It isn't just one slide pack. Glen greenwald et all were given 50000 documents
samstave 13y ago
When the NSA themselves is calling Apple "Big Brother" and the consumers "Zombies" -- then its damn hard to not be pretty worried about their capabilities. http://www.businessinsider.com/nsa-iphone-slides-in-der-spiegel-2013-9 http://www.businessinsider.com/nsa-iphone-slides-in-der-spie... (Sorry for the BI link, but the relevant slides are shown immediately)
brymaster 13y ago
Wow. Sounds like somebody isn't paying enough attention. > In one case, after the government learned that a foreign intelligence target had ordered new computer hardware, the American manufacturer agreed to insert a back door into the product before it was shipped, someone familiar with the request told The Times. > At Microsoft, as The Guardian has reported, the N.S.A. worked with company officials to get pre-encryption access to Microsoft’s most popular services, including Outlook e-mail, Skype Internet phone calls and chats, and SkyDrive, the company’s cloud storage service. Please do your duty as a human being and read more. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/us/nsa-foils-much-internet-encryption.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/us/nsa-foils-much-internet...
- twoodfin 13y ago
  Note that neither of your quotes even begin to imply that the NSA is spying on "everyone". They obviously have broad powers to spy on individuals through a variety of channels, which isn't, or shouldn't be, news.

We take for gospel that the NSA is spying on everyone in the world via every hardware device that has been created in the USA because of a few powerpoint slides. Interesting.

drcode 13y ago

What should we be using for our information, instead? Clapper's testimony to congress?

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

TrevorJ 13y ago

This is a vast oversimplification of the facts.

res0nat0r 13y ago
So is the parent comment. A few PowerPoint slides doesn't warrant any ridiculous comments about the NSA backdooring your phone. It would be great if HN could stop with the NSA is everywhere-all-the-time-in-everything meme for a while, it would make reading the comments here much more relevant.
- brymaster 13y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6364315 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6364315

baddox 13y ago

It might be slightly more comforting if anyone, including the NSA, was denying it.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

jlgreco 13y ago

You are still going with that "it's just a powerpoint, it means nothing" line? I thought we dispensed with that notion months ago.

res0nat0r 13y ago
Yes. There is zero evidence of any type of NSA backdooring your iPhone nonsense. It would be great to read HN (where I thought we were more technically inclined than the rest of the net) for a day without unfounded nonsensical claims.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  Yes, it is simply inconceivable that hard evidence of the activities of a spy agency might not be forthcoming... We are dealing with the realm of speculation, but it is not speculation fueled by some sort of tinfoil hatted lunacy. With the role that smartphones fill in peoples' lives today, you are just going to have to come to grips with the fact that, going forward, some people are going to consider the privacy of new devices to be very relevant, and well worth discussing. Don't be surprised when people error on the side of caution. You want to talk about battery life and color? Well I want to talk about display DPI and privacy. Learn to cope.
- smtddr 13y ago
  This isn't just some random tinfoilhat idea that came out of nowhere. Remember CarrierIQ on Android? The NSA is real, the tinfoil-hats have been validated whether you believe it or not. From the NSA's point of view, having everyone's fingerprint on file would be fantastic and we know they have the power to force Apple to cooperate. In fact, I'm just assuming that's what will happen so now I'll be careful about borrowing anyone's iPhone. Everything about tech is going to be cross-examined with potential(read: definite future) data gathering usage by the NSA.
- nilliams 13y ago
  Backdooring iPhones does sound fantasical but that is not the only means your fingerprint data could conceivably make its way beyond your iPhone. I like that my fingerprint data is on precisely no computer anywhere. You don't have to be a massive conspiracy theory nut to feel slightly uneasy recording your fingerprint on anything.

wintersFright 13y ago

Did you see this recent news? http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/privacy-scandal-nsa-can-spy-on-smart-phone-data-a-920971.html http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/privacy-scandal-ns... It isn't just one slide pack. Glen greenwald et all were given 50000 documents

samstave 13y ago

When the NSA themselves is calling Apple "Big Brother" and the consumers "Zombies" -- then its damn hard to not be pretty worried about their capabilities. http://www.businessinsider.com/nsa-iphone-slides-in-der-spiegel-2013-9 http://www.businessinsider.com/nsa-iphone-slides-in-der-spie... (Sorry for the BI link, but the relevant slides are shown immediately)

brymaster 13y ago

Wow. Sounds like somebody isn't paying enough attention. > In one case, after the government learned that a foreign intelligence target had ordered new computer hardware, the American manufacturer agreed to insert a back door into the product before it was shipped, someone familiar with the request told The Times. > At Microsoft, as The Guardian has reported, the N.S.A. worked with company officials to get pre-encryption access to Microsoft’s most popular services, including Outlook e-mail, Skype Internet phone calls and chats, and SkyDrive, the company’s cloud storage service. Please do your duty as a human being and read more. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/us/nsa-foils-much-internet-encryption.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/us/nsa-foils-much-internet...

twoodfin 13y ago
Note that neither of your quotes even begin to imply that the NSA is spying on "everyone". They obviously have broad powers to spy on individuals through a variety of channels, which isn't, or shouldn't be, news.