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If the NSA were only "acquir[ing] the mobile phone records of Yemen" and nothing else, Edward Snowden would not have risked everything by leaking thousands of d
by declan 13y ago
If the NSA were only "acquir[ing] the mobile phone records of Yemen" and nothing else, Edward Snowden would not have risked everything by leaking thousands of documents and we would not be having this discussion today.
Put another way, if you're characterizing the debate as merely about "acquir[ing] the mobile phone records of Yemen," you haven't been following the debate.
- twoodfin 13y agoSchneier is suggesting reforms we should initiate based on the Snowden revelations. One of those proposed reforms is, apparently, the elimination of bulk foreign data collection by any intelligence agency. I think that's an unreasonable limitation for the reasons I articulated. I'm not sure what about that claim indicates I'm not following the debate.
- declan 13y agoYou are correct that Bruce mentioned, in passing, that it may not be a good idea for the NSA to collect "data on foreign citizens indiscriminately." It's of course possible and perhaps reasonable to argue that Yemen has a far higher percentage of AQ leaders than, say, Canada, so vacuuming up all of Yemen's phone records is not "indiscriminate." But the point I was making is that it's especially alarming when the NSA's giant electronic ear is turned inward, and the spy agency uses these vast powers granted for overseas surveillance for domestic surveillance. The Yemeni government can't order the NSA to hand over information gathered on Yemeni citizens. The U.S. government, on the other hand, can order the NSA to hand over information gathered on U.S. citizens. That is what a good portion -- certainly not all, but a good portion -- of the NSA debate is about. (Also see: "DEA use of NSA intercepts for domestic criminal prosecutions.")