Hall Of Shame II: Thanks To Congress, The NSA Is ‘Just Days From Taking Over The Internet’
You might remember when AT&T willingly partnered with the NSA to set up listening (“peering”) posts inside the main switching centers around the country. The initial discovery was made in San Francisco, and the world was aghast. Like two illicit lovers caught naked in bed with each other, both AT&T and the NSA swore that they would never cheat on the American people again. Everyone assumed that this transgression was dealt with and that the partnership was dissolved.
Fat chance. Not only was the San Francisco operation NOT dismantled, but others were discovered in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington, DC, New York City, and Atlanta. These comprise the “backbone” of AT&T’s network in the U.S.
According to The Intercept
A body of evidence – including classified NSA documents, public records, and interviews with several former AT&T employees – indicates that the buildings are central to an NSA spying initiative that has for years monitored billions of emails, phone calls, and online chats passing across U.S. territory.
The NSA considers AT&T to be one of its most trusted partners and has lauded the company’s “extreme willingness to help.” It is a collaboration that dates back decades. Little known, however, is that its scope is not restricted to AT&T’s customers. According to the NSA’s documents, it values AT&T not only because it “has access to information that transits the nation,” but also because it maintains unique relationships with other phone and internet providers. The NSA exploits these relationships for surveillance purposes, commandeering AT&T’s massive infrastructure and using it as a platform to covertly tap into communications processed by other companies.
All of this spying activity on Americans was patently illegal, and everyone knew it. It is still illegal, but who is going to tell the NSA what to do? It is totally rogue, chock full of Technocrats who answer to no one.
This backstory in critical to understanding the legislation up vote on April 19. It is the physical part of the Internet that is being handed over to the NSA. It will grandfather in all the previous illegality that was allegedly “voluntary” between AT&T and the NSA, but now it will give legal authority to the NSA to force mandatory cooperation by anyone who has access to the physical hardware of the Internet.
This is why famed NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden recently said “The NSA is just DAYS from taking over the Internet, and it’s not on the front page of any newspaper — because no one has noticed.” ⁃ TN Editor
The United States National Security Agency (NSA) is only days away from “taking over the internet” with a massive expansion of its surveillance powers, according to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
In an April 16 post to X, Snowden drew attention to a thread originally posted by Elizabeth Goitein — the co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice — that warned of a new bill that could see the U.S. government surveillance powers amplified to new levels.
The bill in question reforms and extends a part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) known as Section 702.
Currently, the NSA can force internet service providers such as Google and Verizon to hand over sensitive data concerning NSA targets.
However, Goitein claims that through an “innocuous change” to the definition of “electronic communications surveillance provider” in the FISA 702 bill, the U.S. government could go far beyond its current scope and force nearly every company and individual that provides any internet-related service to assist with NSA surveillance.
Additionally, the people forced to hand over data would be unable to discuss the information provided due to hefty gag order penalties and conditions outlined in the bill, added Goitein.
The bill initially received heavy pushback from privacy-conscious Republicans but passed through the U.S. House of Representatives on April 13.
Part of the pushback saw the bills’ proposed spying powers time-frame cut from five years to two years, as well as some minor amendments to the service providers included under the surveillance measures.
However, according to Goitein, the amendment did very little to reduce the scope of surveillance granted to the NSA.
In her view, the amendment could even see service providers such as cleaners, plumbers and IT service providers that have access to laptops and routers inside people’s homes be forced to provide information and serve as “surrogate spies,” claimed Goitein.
The bill has seen strong pushback from both sides of the political aisle, with several government representatives claiming the bill violates citizen’s constitutional rights.
Democratic Senator Ron Wyden described the bill as “terrifying” and said he would do everything in his power to prevent it from being passed through the Senate.
Republican Congressperson Anna Paulina Luna, who voted against the bill in the House of Representatives, said Section 702 was an “irresponsible extension” of the NSA’s powers. Luna added that if government agencies wanted access to data, they must be forced to apply for a warrant.
The bill is slated for a vote on April 19 in the U.S. Senate.
Source: technocracy.news
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