Posted 06/21/09 at 01:28:24 AM by Justn Kerr

The National Security Agency is facing renewed scrutiny over its domestic surveillance program, and Congress is now claiming that their powers may go too far. A review of recent telephone and email intercepts seems to suggest that the agency may be monitoring the conversations of everyday Americans far more than they let on. Longstanding legal issues aside, the N.S.A, as of last year, is expected to only monitor the private communications of US citizens if it can be demonstrated that it was done so as an incidental byproduct of investigating individuals abroad.

Even more troubling, in April, it was disclosed that intercepts of private American communications were far beyond the legal limits for both late 2008 and early 2009, and the extent of the problem is still being investigated. Further supporting evidence was provided by a former N.S.A analyst who claims he was trained in 2005 to use specialized email monitoring software, an application which intelligence officials confirms is still in operation. New Jersey Democratic representative Rush Holt admitted that “Some actions are so flagrant that they can’t be accidental”, but still admits, few lawmakers can deal with the issues because of the technical complexities of the operation. “The people making the policy,” he said, “don’t understand the technicalities.”

It’s easy to see that trying to distinguish between domestic and foreign email correspondence can be difficult, but is the privacy trade off worth the added security benefit? Let us know what you think.

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Posted 05/11/09 at 05:52:44 PM by Andy Salisbury

The release of the FBI’s surveillance programs budget for 2010 has revealed some pretty interesting new programs, one of which fall under the “awesome code name” category.

The budget shows that the FBI is in the process of developing a new “Advanced Electronic Surveillance” program, which is funded at $233.9 million in 2010. It will have 133 employees, 15 of whom are agents.

Along with this, another program named “Going Dark,” will provide support to the electronic surveillance program by collecting intelligence and evidence. “The term 'Going Dark' does not refer to a specific capability, but is a program name for the part of the FBI, Operational Technology Division's (OTD) lawful interception program which is shared with other law enforcement agencies,” stated an FBI spokesman.

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Posted 04/09/08 at 12:19:01 PM by Michael Brown

At first glance, Zonet’s ZVC7630W Wi-Fi webcam seems to be a lust-worthy device. It’s equipped with a two-way intercom, automatic night-vision mode, a USB port for external storage, and software that supports up to 16 cameras. Our enthusiasm dwindled, however, once we got our hands on the device.

Click Read More for more. 

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Posted 01/18/08 at 12:07:05 PM by Erin Simon

Filtering its network for copyright infringement could expose AT&T to enormous liability. Why would the telecom be proposing to do just that?

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Posted 11/08/07 at 10:04:54 PM by Erin Simon

The Senate debates whether to grant retroactive immunity to the phone and internet service providers who allegedly illegally turned over massive amounts of customer data to the NSA.

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Posted 09/27/07 at 02:01:59 PM by Erin Simon

The Patriot Act can't redefine permissible warrantless foreign intelligence surveillance, holds one Oregon Court.

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Posted 09/06/07 at 08:26:59 PM by Erin Simon

The First Amendment makes a cameo appearance in both copyright and national security / surveillance law this week.

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Posted 08/07/07 at 04:04:15 PM by Erin Simon

Say hello to the shambling corpse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Zombies are still cool, right?

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