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NSA Recorded the CONTENT of 'EVERY SINGLE' CALL in a Foreign Country ... and Also In AMERICA?
The Washington Post reports – based upon documents leaked by Edward Snowden – that the NSA is recording “every single” phone call in one foreign country (at the request of the NSA, the Post is withholding the name of the country. However, the Post notes that the NSA is also planning on expanding the program to other nations).
The Post also reports that the NSA has the ability to “reach into the past” and retroactively go back and listen to the calls later.
Sadly, this is also occurring in America.
Specifically, there is substantial evidence from top NSA and FBI whistleblowers that the government is recording the content of our calls … word-for-word.
NSA whistleblower Russel Tice – a key source in the 2005 New York Times report that blew the lid off the Bush administration’s use of warrantless wiretapping – says that the content and metadata of all digital communications are being tapped by the NSA.
Tice notes:
They’re collecting content … word-for-word.
***
You can’t trust these people. They lie, and they lie a lot.
Documents leaked by Edward Snowden to Glenn Greenwald show:
But what we’re really talking about here is a localized system that prevents any form of electronic communication from taking place without its being stored and monitored by the National Security Agency.
It doesn’t mean that they’re listening to every call, it means they’re storing every call and have the capability to listen to them at any time, and it does mean that they’re collecting millions upon millions upon millions of our phone and email records.
CNET reported last year:
Earlier reports have indicated that the NSA has the ability to record nearly all domestic and international phone calls — in case an analyst needed to access the recordings in the future. A Wired magazine article last year disclosed that the NSA has established “listening posts” that allow the agency to collect and sift through billions of phone calls through a massive new data center in Utah, “whether they originate within the country or overseas.” That includes not just metadata, but also the contents of the communications.
***
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the head of the Senate Intelligence committee, separately acknowledged this week that the agency’s analysts have the ability to access the “content of a call.”
NBC News reported last year:
NBC News has learned that under the post-9/11 Patriot Act, the government has been collecting records on every phone call made in the U.S.
Former FBI counter-terrorism agent Tim Clemente told CNN:
There’s a way to look at digital communications in the past.
In other words, if an analyst wants to spy on you, he can pull up your past communications (Remember, the private Internet Archive has been archiving web pages since the 1990s. So the NSA has undoubtedly been doing the same thing with digital communications).
Tice and top NSA whistleblower William Binney confirmed to PBS that the NSA is recording every word of every phone call made within the United States:
[PBS INTERVIEWER] JUDY WOODRUFF: Both Binney and Tice suspect that today, the NSA is doing more than just collecting metadata on calls made in the U.S. They both point to this CNN interview by former FBI counterterrorism agent Tim Clemente days after the Boston Marathon bombing. Clemente was asked if the government had a way to get the recordings of the calls between Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his wife.
TIM CLEMENTE, former FBI counterterrorism agent: On the national security side of the house, in the federal government, you know, we have assets. There are lots of assets at our disposal throughout the intelligence community and also not just domestically, but overseas. Those assets allow us to gain information, intelligence on things that we can’t use ordinarily in a criminal investigation.
All digital communications are — there’s a way to look at digital communications in the past. And I can’t go into detail of how that’s done or what’s done. But I can tell you that no digital communication is secure.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Tice says after he saw this interview on television, he called some former workmates at the NSA.
RUSSELL TICE: Well, two months ago, I contacted some colleagues at NSA. We had a little meeting, and the question came up, was NSA collecting everything now? Because we kind of figured that was the goal all along. And the answer came back. It was, yes, they are collecting everything, contents word for word, everything of every domestic communication in this country.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Both of you know what the government says is that we’re collecting this — we’re collecting the number of phone calls that are made, the e-mails, but we’re not listening to them.
WILLIAM BINNEY: Well, I don’t believe that for a minute. OK?
I mean, that’s why they had to build Bluffdale, that facility in Utah with that massive amount of storage that could store all these recordings and all the data being passed along the fiberoptic networks of the world. I mean, you could store 100 years of the world’s communications here. That’s for content storage. That’s not for metadata.
Metadata if you were doing it and putting it into the systems we built, you could do it in a 12-by-20-foot room for the world. That’s all the space you need. You don’t need 100,000 square feet of space that they have at Bluffdale to do that. You need that kind of storage for content.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, what does that say, Russell Tice, about what the government — you’re saying — your understanding is of what the government does once these conversations take place, is it your understanding they’re recorded and kept?
RUSSELL TICE: Yes, digitized and recorded and archived in a facility that is now online. And they’re kind of fibbing about that as well, because Bluffdale is online right now.
And that’s where the information is going. Now, as far as being able to have an analyst look at all that, that’s impossible, of course. And I think, semantically, they’re trying to say that their definition of collection is having literally a physical analyst look or listen, which would be disingenuous.
Binney tells Washington’s Blog:
It would have to come from the upstream collection/recording “Fairview etc” [background here and here] with – probably – telcom cooperation. That’s how the former FBI agent Tim Clemente could say on CNN that they had ways of getting back to the content of the phone call from one of the bombers to his wife prior to the bombing. Now we are starting to see some of the monitoring of US citizens on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) [background].
What’s new about the PSTN network is the content. We have heard a lot about phone metadata but not content. This is what I have been saying for a long time: that they are taking and storing content too. It’s not just about metadata. So [NSA's claim that it doesn't record the phonecalls of Americans is] just another government lie.
Bonus:
Snowden: “Is It Really Terrorism That We’re Stopping? I Say No. The Bottom Line Is That Terrorism … Has Always Been a Cover For Actions”
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"But running the complex requires 65 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 65,000 homes."
With this, they should be mining bitcoins.
Maybe they are?
Judge Cullea issued an order to all the Tel-co's to assign an IP to every single phone number in the "Central Office". There are chip that digitize audio into bits. There is non-volitile memory. The audio was 8 bit up to the 90's but has since gotten better. Most of the current data is on redundant hard drive though some older is on casettes, big ones. You can be assured, going foreward that everything is stored and, in fact, accessable. Cell phones are also in the "Central Office" so they are no different. They're useful because it is a microphone you carry with you, on or off. Every device and probably old analog radio speakers can be pressed into listening service.
Your teapot is boiling.
That is a well reasoned comment and from your pov, totally understandable. But not quite accurate.
The NSA is based in Maryland and has multiple data centres within and outside the continental US, including shared facilities with GCHQ in the UK.
One new data centre, in Bluffdale Utah has over 100,000 sq ft of computer storage and uses around 1.7 million gallons of water per day to cool them. The logistics of the operations are quite staggering and that's just one of many. No doubt there will be areas of internet and phone coverage that are technically outside their control, but covering a good portion of a country the size of the US is well within their capabilities. It is too big, but it exists.
It is costly and useless as a security measure but valuable to the corporatists as a tool of blackmail and industrial espionage. Think of the political power to be able to control lawmakers through blackmail. To be able to have competitive advantage against any commercial rival. To know the strategies and personal lives of your enemies and friends. To have enough information on anyone to shut them up or put them in prison any time in the future. The things we say and do in private can often be used against us out of context. Nobody is immune. That is why this costly and useless and intrusive and unconstitutional, deeply offensive apparatus of government is being implemented and upgraded at every opportunity.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/12/utah-lawmaker-nsa-data-cent...
FTSE - long time...
good rebuttal. might add that as data systems grow, the fact of data storage and data manipulation does not rely on human limitations. every drudge human function subject to depreciation can be automated, and designed to spit out a result that suits the needs of the user.
the weak point in the system is still the user, and that person or group's intentions.
the trickle of info about the evolving VAST MACHINE surveillance apparatus is fine by me, as long as its genuine - not another psyop.
either way, eventually no thoughtful person will be able to ignore this or its implications. virtual panopticon
and then, phase change.......
other nations like Aust have built these centres totally out of proportion of their security interests and population size - and that is just what's publicly acknowledged. Increasingly we may choose to limit our personal comm's but our banks do not, our credit card co does not and those around you with smart phones or ipads do not nor family or friends who share articles/comments/etc...
We are not always aware of the tech available in the "breakaway civilisation" but we are aware we are not going to do well out of it with respect to those who control the strings and are acting in self-interest.
They'll retrieve your records and screw you with them once you step out of line, Goose. That's the plan. Don't protest or make waves and you will be fine...for now.
Believe it!
Technically, it's no problem and it won't effect "grid performance" at all. Google "beam splitter"
the antichrist has arrived and must be destroyed.
My understanding is you'll be needing some help with that.
"Sadly" is in regard to the part of it happening in the U.S? THE NSA IS A US AGENCY. The "sadly" part (if one isn't going to say the mere act of doing this in general is BS) should be it happening in a foreign country as no way that can be close to legal. How the hell is that OK to some but not domestically? Oh wait I know...it's the good ol Americana USA! USA! mentality where it's OK if US agencies are fucking with others in the world but heaven forbid they do that to their own citizens.
It's a shame how so many who seem to act like they aren't the typical patriotic American sheep really are at the core since they seem to only care if things are done which hurt Americans. I see it when people complain about the US getitng involved in foreign affairs. The issue isn't the mere fact it is wrong to do so and the US government goes and kills innocent people in other countries (hello Iraq and all the drone strieks elsewhere) but that it costs US taxpayers cash. To these people, if the U.S could do this without it costing anything then they wouldn't give a shit.
I for one don't like the idea if the country's government where I live goes and messes with others just as much as I don't like the idea if the government messes with me and others who live in my country. Then again, I'm not an American so I'm just an idiot I guess and am not "exceptional" like Americans are. USA! USA!
Just in case the NSA does a retrospective search on my communications I want them to know that I was saying Fuck the NSA when Fuck the NSA wasn't cool. Just saying. On the other hand don't taze me bro.
Finally, there's a way to prove that I really DID call my mom every week, even if she claims I didn't.
How do I get those records, again?
Oh, you're so right. This is just all silly hijinks!
Gosh, the fun those boys have playing God with our liberties and freedoms...just one big giggle fest!
Damn right.
You can either laugh at it all or go kill somebody who really needs it.
yeah, but the nsa staff, which includes local investigators of various types, prefer to watch live porn folks are providing in their homes without knowing. it is not like there is staff dedicated to listening to much of the recorded stuff. militia types get watched......but mostly....YOU.
If the NSA is recording all these calls of mine they are getting mostly a bunch of swear words telling telemarketers to go away. Why don't they put these telephone terrorists out of business?
Some of the best NSA operatives come directly from the telemarketing training camps. Think of it as the minor leagues.
And remember, just keep them talking...
Terrorism is a cover for action?
Let's apply this logic to 9/11 Eddie.
Of course. It was the cover to go and blow shit up in other countries. And most probably, almost if not all of people posting here cheered that all the way.
Yep, I was amongst those cheering on our illegal war efforts after 9/11. I am ashamed of it. However the lesson I learned will never be undone.
Never again.
and yet they missed the Boston bomber?
dumb asses.
It is my firm belief that the two in Boston weren't missed at all.
The tree of liberty is much like the weed of despotism - they both respond to water. Regrettably most weeds grow faster.
Yes, sadly there was still a couple pieces of the constitution getting in their way.
If you would only just allow them to do their jobs and shove that bill of rights clean up your ass holes then we could finally sleep peacefully knowing this land, this GGGRRRREAAATTTEEESSSTTT COOOUUUNNNTTTRRRRY IIINNNN TTHHHEEE WWWOOOORRRLLLDDD was keeping watch over our liberties so we don't have to.
THE NSA: KEEPING WATCH OVER YOUR LIBERTIES SO YOU DON"T HAVE TO.
It's all about money and the eventual tracking of everything monetary by electronic means.
We're talking automatic withdrawals from accounts, instantaneously, for traffic infractions. That's just the start. Don't like it get in line at the 'courthouse' for six hours with the rest of the mouthbreathers and 'protest'.
The fed will give the s/w away to the states for free.
Amerikans with half a clue (one in ten thousand) are just pissing in the wind with their bitching. It relieves pressure and continues the illusion they can do jackshit.
You are not an operator if you can't get your work done off the books and off the wire.
If you have to, just remember the difference between a code and a cipher.
"You can’t trust these people. They lie, and they lie a lot."
They lie to the people, because as far as they are concerned, we are the enemy, we are the targets.
But that will never happen in America since the NSA will never record its own calls. So only 99.99% of calls will be recorded in the land of the free.
More and more is coming out in the open. I'll have to watch some MSM for signs of the anchors starting crack under the sheer weight of naked propaganda.
You can tell the stress is getting to an anchor when their hair starts to look like the rest of us.
Hey snowden/greenwald how about some more info on who,what,when,where and how they use all that info.
Enough with pimping the big bad bullies awsomenes. Pull the rug off. This all makes for good theater but,,,
You're not getting this, are you?
-Chumblez.
Im all ears.
put bluntly-fight or flight; any other option is vile as in a life you don't want to live-see n. korea...
fucking sad reality...
Fight or flight? Realy thats it. Here Ill give ya a hint. When faced with two bad choices a wise man will find another option.
Run? To where? Fight? who the guy next door? Grow up boys this is not some kids game. Think this thru long term. You guys need to get this so I will say it slow.
This struggle has been going on for all of human history. A history that might be several times longer than we been told. What we should be working on is evolution rather than revolution. Either running or fighting plays into the beasts hands. We are the beast. Address that.
if your ears are not working try your eyes, then brain? be carefull...
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/03/18/jeffrey-st-clair-explains-oba...
Snowden is an agent of the Panopticon. It's cheaper to sell a lie than to buy a prism.
So they know what music you listen to and when, what you watch for entertainment, porn, what you eat, where you go and when, with whom, for whom, what you read etc. etc. etc.
Think of all the grand torture one could come up with as a pure mind f--k and manipulation. Manchurian candidate in extremis.
"at the request of the NSA, the Post is withholding the name of the country."
"request"
:)
Okay, the NSA went in and deleted it from the reporter's hard drive. Consider that a request.
A request is usually enough to prevent the NSA from needing to go in and delete the reporter.
I believe they used sledgehammers when they deleted the info on the Guardian's drives. Of course it was their cousins, not them directly.
People are going to start to ask for phones to be deposited at the door, and locked in a box protected against radio signals.
On the phone, or in the net people will start to say less and less. Theoretical, abstract, but nothing explicit.
Laptops with built in mics and cameras will become passe.
Etc.
Eak-spay in ode-kay oh-say eh-thay ont-day oh-nay at-whay is up-way. Zee- EeAy!
Or for real, secret comm, use a one time pad and be smart about it. Don't use the text from Pokey Puppy, for instance.
Doo6 1 7hin|< th47z a ke\/\/l 1d34.
People will continue to blab their heads off about the most personal details of their lives because most of them are fucking morons.
Well, at least they are not recording MY cell phone calls.
Neither are they scanning my license plate or tracking my buying activity through my credit card.
I guess ZH is a bit of a give-away though!
To the NSA computer nerd paid to spy on communications, whos computer likely contains a copy of this post;
"You are a wanker, a ruddy ruddy wanker." And a traitor to your country.
They don't listen real time, they just record and then data-mine.
Webcams are a whole different ball game - hours of entertainment.
Hence the tape over mine.
Once you are storing existing transmittals, it is not really any difficult jump to modification of existing transmittals or even creation of transmittals.
There really are no rules and nobody that can block the NSA or the FBI or the CIA when they want to examine you - Snowden showed us that there is little if any oversight as to what can be discovered, collected, and examined. When the NSA wants to closely examine a desired target - for instance:
* a candidate running for public office
* members of the Senate Intelligence Committee
* an on-going government lawsuit
* a revolutionary new product being developed
* a Wall Street CEO, President, or Vice President
* a political group of any color
* a Supreme Court Justice or a US Senator
* a new game-changing scientific discovery
* a lawyer, prosecutor, judge, or juror involved in a key public trial
* or whatever/whomever they want to study
They now have the tools to very closely examine and perhaps even alter the target in a clandestine or covert manner.
Let's say the NSA wants to know everything about a "target" situation such as listed above. The NSA has created a "template" they populate with historical and real-time illegally collected surveillance data. This template allows them to create a “mirror image” of the target for close and intimate observation.
They set up a duplicate office of the target: matching up NSA personnel, PC's, software, smart phones, fax machines, and tablets, etc. The key is to set up each device just like their actual target person's device. Remember the NSA knows ALL your account user names and passwords for everything. Any site or service you can logon to they can logon to. So matching each target's software, hardware, user accounts (etc) to the target PC, iPhone, Android, Skype, gmail, Outlook, even using all their RSA encryption keys, browser favorites, browser history, LinkedIn, Facebook, bla bla bla. Exact match.
Target person gets a text message? … the NSA mirror person’s device gets the same text message. Target sends (or receives) an e-mail? … and the NSA counterpart's sent folder (or inbox folder) shows the same e-mail as if he/she sent it. The mirror PC browser history, phone call log, and texts all matches up perfectly and in real time with the target's devices.
So now the NSA has the ability to intervene in the target office’s day to day operation. They can intercept any e-mail, text or fax traffic and modify it before sending on to its recipient (the NSA has admitted doing man-in-the-middle intercepts).
The NSA can watch ANY target it desires in real time as they go through things like: product development, or mergers and acquisitions, court trials, senate votes, patent applications, or legal battles with the government. They know every decision being made by government officials or CEO’s (and/or their management) and how they came to that decision.
But let's say the NSA does not want to go through all this trouble to set it up right now. Well they just simply turn on the "data collection machine" and leave it running forever and the NSA can come back at any time and populate the template to see what has been going on with its target. They can turn it on at any time and run it through the system chronologically. The Utah Data Center is specifically designed to operate that way. It is not a static data collection center. There is special software and hardware designed to record, analyze, report, and manipulate the illegally collected data.
Through this "system" they learn intimately about all the political and personal viewpoints of the nation’s corporate leaders, Federal Court Judges (like U.S. District Judge Richard Leon), Supreme Court Judges, state governors, metropolitan mayors, senators, congressmen, prosecutors, etc. The NSa learns intimate details of their financial connections, professional and legal connections, romantic involvement, medical conditions, religious affiliation, political views, and even gun ownership. The NSA also illegally uncovers a ton of similar information related to non-targets (friends & families).
This illegal and tyrannical "data collection system" becomes an evil dossier like never before seen. The illegally collected data can be stored forever and retrieved for examination at any time. The system can run forever now they have the Utah Data Center online.
There are few if any laws about what gets collected, how long it is held, and what may be done with this data (such as above). So this is indeed tyranny. We now live in a police state - if you don't think so you are severely delusional. The US Military are the ones charged with designing, collecting, storing, analyzing, and reporting this private data. Think about that.
The NSA uses this system on US citizens, political groups, political campaigns, corporations, Wall Street, media, etc. They are collecting all our data by default so they can know everything about us and have it available to examine at any time. This is in direct violation of the Constitution.
Don't forget Snowden had access to all that government spy agency collected data through 2 different companies that he worked at that were not goverment. How many different types of corperations have access to your almost every word, daily doings, web activity, when you wake up or go to bed (smartmeters and appliances), what you eat if you use any kind of plastic, etc.