[governance] or How will Snowden be Swartzed? Edward Snowden was NSA Prism leak source - Guardian

[Riaz K Tayob]

[Only question is how will this patriot(/enemy combatant?) be Swartzed? 
over time they will get you... as he says... but on this list, this guy 
would be anti-American... and let us be clear, equality before the law 
depends on whether the establishment likes you or not... Corzine of MF 
Global took billions of dollars of client funds from his hedge fund 
illegally and nothing... millions of fraudulent foreclosures on ordinary 
Americans sold finance they could not afford (affecting racial 
minorities much much more by the way)... welcome to the age of 
cumuppence... well done to EFF and others that have a critical rights 
based ideology with common humanity in focus... ]

10 June 2013 Last updated at 07:19 GMT


  Edward Snowden was NSA Prism leak source - Guardian

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22836378#dna-comments>

Ed Snowden explains why he became a whistleblower (Video courtesy of The 
Guardian, Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras)

A former CIA technical worker has been identified by the UK's Guardian 
newspaper as the source of leaks about US surveillance programmes.

Edward Snowden, 29, is described by the paper 
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance> 
as an ex-CIA technical assistant, currently employed by defence 
contractor Booz Allen Hamilton.

The Guardian said his identity was being revealed at his own request.

The recent revelations are that US agencies gathered millions of phone 
records and monitored internet data.

A spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said 
the matter had now been referred to the Department of Justice as a 
criminal matter.

The Guardian quotes Mr Snowden as saying he flew to Hong Kong on 20 May, 
where he holed himself up in a hotel.

"Start Quote

    I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things"

  * Profile: Edward Snowden
    <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22837100>

He told the paper that the extent of US surveillance was "horrifying", 
adding: "We can plant bugs in machines. Once you go on the network, I 
can identify your machine. You will never be safe whatever protections 
you put in place."

He added: "I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of 
things... I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say 
is recorded."

Mr Snowden said he did not believe he had committed a crime: "We have 
seen enough criminality on the part of government. It is hypocritical to 
make this allegation against me."

Asked what he thought would happen to him, he replied: "Nothing good."

Mr Snowden said he accepted he could end up in jail. "If they want to 
get you, over time they will," he said.

He said he also feared the US authorities would "act aggressively 
against anyone who has known me. That keeps me up at night".

Mr Snowden said he had gone to Hong Kong because of its "strong 
tradition of free speech".

Hong Kong signed an extradition treaty with the US shortly before the 
territory returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

However, Beijing can block any extradition if it believes it affects 
national defence or foreign policy issues.


    US media response

A USA Today 
<http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/06/09/nsa-whistle-blower-edward-snowden-editorials-debates/2406409/>editorial 
accepts that "the primary result of Snowden's actions is a plus. He has 
forced a public debate on the sweepingly invasive programs that should 
have taken place before they were created". But, it goes on, "pure 
motives and laudable effects don't alter the fact that he broke the law".

An editorial in the Chicago Tribune 
<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-nsa-20130609,0,784197.story>argues 
that "some new restrictions" in the US intelligence gathering programme 
may be in order, adding: "If the government is looking for, say, calls 
between the United States and terrorists in Pakistan or Yemen, why can't 
it simply demand records of calls to certain foreign countries. Is there 
no way to narrow the search to leave most Americans out of it?"

Robert O'Harrow in the Washington Post 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/the-outsourcing-of-us-intelligence-raises-risks-among-the-benefits/2013/06/09/eba2d314-d14c-11e2-9f1a-1a7cdee20287_story.html> 
writes that the growing reliance on contractors in US intelligence 
gathering "reflects a massive shift toward outsourcing over the past 15 
years, in part because of cutbacks in the government agencies". He 
argues that this "has dramatically increased the risk of waste and 
contracting abuses... but given the threat of terrorism and the national 
security mandates from Congress, the intelligence community had little 
choice".

Mr Snowden has expressed an interest in seeking asylum in Iceland.

However, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post quoted Iceland's 
ambassador to China as saying that "according to Icelandic law a person 
can only submit such an application once he/she is in Iceland".

'Core values'

In a statement 
<http://www.boozallen.com/media-center/press-releases/48399320/statement-reports-leaked-information-060913>, 
Booz Allen Hamilton confirmed Mr Snowden had been an employee for less 
than three months.

"If accurate, this action represents a grave violation of the code of 
conduct and core values of our firm," the statement said.

The first of the leaks came out on Wednesday night, when the Guardian 
reported a US secret court had ordered phone company Verizon to hand 
over to the National Security Agency (NSA) millions of records on 
telephone call "metadata".

The metadata include the numbers of both phones on a call, its duration, 
time, date and location (for mobiles, determined by which mobile signal 
towers relayed the call or text).

That report was followed by revelations in both the Washington Post and 
Guardian that the NSA tapped directly into the servers of nine internet 
firms including Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo to track online 
communication in a programme known as Prism.

All the internet companies deny giving the US government access to their 
servers.

Prism is said to give the NSA and FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) 
access to emails, web chats and other communications directly from the 
servers of major US internet companies.

The data are used to track foreign nationals suspected of terrorism or 
spying. The NSA is also collecting the telephone records of American 
customers, but not recording the content of their calls.

'Gut-wrenching'

On Saturday, US director of national intelligence James Clapper called 
the leaks "literally gut-wrenching".

"I hope we're able to track down whoever's doing this, because it is 
extremely damaging to, and it affects the safety and security of this 
country," he told NBC News on Saturday.

Continue reading the main story 
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22836378#story_continues_4>


    How surveillance came to light

  * 5 June: The Guardian reports that the National Security Agency (NSA)
    is collecting the telephone records of millions of US customers of
    Verizon under a top secret court order
  * 6 June: The Guardian and The Washington Post report that the NSA and
    the FBI are tapping into US Internet companies to track online
    communication in a programme known as Prism
  * 7 June: The Guardian reports President Obama has asked intelligence
    agencies to draw up a list of potential overseas targets for US
    cyber-attacks
  * 7 June: President Obama defends the programmes, saying they are
    closely overseen by Congress and the courts
  * 8 June: US director of national intelligence James Clapper calls the
    leaks "literally gut-wrenching"
  * 9 June: The Guardian names former CIA technical worker Edward
    Snowden as the source of the leaks

  * How much do the spooks know?
    <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22811580>
  * Why every call matters <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-22804547>
  * What can you learn from phone records?
    <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22808004>

Prism was reportedly established in 2007 in order to provide in-depth 
surveillance on live communications and stored information on foreigners 
overseas.

The NSA has filed a criminal report with the US Justice Department over 
the leaks.

The content of phone conversations - what people say to each other when 
they are on the phone - is protected by the Fourth Amendment to the US 
Constitution, which forbids unreasonable searches.

However, information shared with a third party, such as phone companies, 
is not out of bounds.

That means that data about phone calls - such as their timing and 
duration - can be scooped up by government officials.

Mr Clapper's office issued a statement on Saturday, saying all the 
information gathered under Prism was obtained with the approval of the 
secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court (Fisa).

Prism was authorised under changes to US surveillance laws passed under 
President George W Bush and renewed last year under Barack Obama.

On Friday, Mr Obama defended the surveillance programmes as a "modest 
encroachment" on privacy, necessary to protect the US from terrorist 
attacks.

"Nobody is listening to your telephone calls. That's not what this 
program is about," he said, emphasising that the programmes were 
authorised by Congress.

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