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>>rules are in place as to what's OK in spying/sabotage I don't know, I guess I would assume that anything goes in most situations. Having paid attention to w
by wavefunction 11y ago
>>rules are in place as to what's OK in spying/sabotage
I don't know, I guess I would assume that anything goes in most situations. Having paid attention to what's been done in the past...
- andreyf 11y agoWell, I guess it depends on the country, but I don't imagine a US president could order the NSA to spy on an German ex-lover just because he's curious what she's up to.
- chinathrow 11y agoYet they do scoop up the full take on what they can get on cables. And yes, a US president could order exactly that. NSA is mil and POTUS is the head of the military.
- andreyf 11y agoYes, he could order the NSA to do it in the same sense that he could order her assassinated by the CIA. I don't think anyone would fulfill those orders, though.
- chinathrow 11y agoGosh do you realize that "German ex-lover" is well within what has been signed to order?
- andreyf 11y agoSigned to order? I would be pretty surprised if there were organizational approval and justification for someone spying on an ex-lover. If you're talking about people violating organizational rules and abusing the tools provided to them to do their jobs, that's an issue that absolutely needs to be addressed, but it doesn't mean we should remove all situations where we trust anyone with power. People with power they might abuse are literally everywhere - sysadmins at telecom and tech companies have even more power than NSA agents to go through your personal affairs unnoticed (and probably go through fewer background checks). On-the-street LE officers have even more power than that by some measure, because they can physically detain and harm you with the tools provided to them by the state. Of course abuse is an issue that needs to be addressed, but taking away power for anyone that might abuse it is simply not a feasible answer at this point.
- chinathrow 11y agoUnder what rock have you been? Seriously, use google and read up on LOVEINT and what has been reported about it thanks to the Snowden docs. Also while you are at it, please read up who authorized the full take (which includes said ex-lover...).