US, UK, China and Russia are 'endemic surveillance societies'

US, UK, China and Russia are 'endemic surveillance societies'

Without specifying particular individuals in certain countries, which could involve political preferences, there is defintely still the need to protect individuals civil liberties and have freedom and yet have protection from the REAL threat of terorrism, which we all would suffer from.

A credibility problem?

This particular statement calls into question the credibility of the entire story:

"...the US has emerged as the country whose citizens enjoyed privacy protection the least last year."

Less than the citizens of China? Zimbabwe? North Korea? Uzbekistan?

The US may have problems, but whoever wrote this report was smoking something.

FISA challenged...
:confused:
Report: Warrantless surveillance legal
WASHINGTON, Jan. 21, 2008 — U.S. President George W. Bush’s authority to conduct warrantless electronic surveillance comes from the Constitution, a partisan congressional report says.

]
A Republican staff assessment of the revised Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act said the president’s controversial program is legal. “There is nothing new or aggressive about relying on Article II authority in the context of foreign intelligence surveillance," indicates an assessment produced by the office of Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

The 13-page assessment comes as the Senate prepares to debate legislation as early as Tuesday on extending legislation governing electronic surveillance of suspected foreign terrorists and spies, The Washington Times reported Monday. The Protect America Act, passed in August, temporarily revised the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to help authorities better monitor newer technologies. The law expires at the end of January.

The Republican-drafted report counters Democrats and other critics of the Bush administration’s Terrorist Surveillance Program who argued during a Senate filibuster last month that the program is illegal. The report also said that warrantless surveillance “has been an integral part of our nation’s foreign intelligence gathering," and that during World War II, U.S. warrantless surveillance of the German and Japanese militaries helped to break of their codes.

[url=http://www.dailyindia.com/show/209638.php/Report:-Warrantless-surveillance-legal:
Source[/url]

Stopgap extension blocked...
:cool:
Cheney: Widen surveillance law now
Wed., Jan. 23, 2008 WASHINGTON - Republicans block stopgap extension, instead seek immunity for telecomms

]
Vice President Dick Cheney prodded Congress on Wednesday to extend and broaden an expiring surveillance law, saying “fighting the war on terror is a long-term enterprise” that should not come with an expiration date. “We’re reminding Congress that they must act now," Cheney told the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. The law, which authorizes the administration to eavesdrop on e-mails and phone calls to and from suspected terrorists, expires on Feb. 1. Congress is bickering over terms of its extension.

On Tuesday, Senate Republicans blocked an effort by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to extend the stopgap Protect America Act without expanding it, raising stakes for an expected showdown in the Senate later this week on a new version of the law. “This cause is bigger than the quarrels of party and the agendas of politicians," Cheney said. “And if we in Washington, all of us, can only see our way clear to work together, then the outcome should not be in doubt."

Congress hastily adopted the stopgap act last year in the face of warnings from the administration about dangerous gaps in the government’s ability to gather intelligence in the Internet age.

[url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22790989/:
Seeking immunity for telecomms[/url]

Liability protection for companies?...
:confused:
A Key Gap In Fighting Terrorism
Friday, February 15, 2008; Private Firms Need Liability Protection

]
One of the most critical weapons in the fight against terrorists and other foreign intelligence threats — the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) — has not kept up with the technology revolution we have experienced over the past 30 years. We are on the brink of bringing this 20th-century tool in line with 21st-century technology and threats. The Senate has passed a strong bill, by an overwhelmingly bipartisan margin, that would modernize FISA and do the right thing for those companies that responded to their country’s call for assistance in its hour of need. It would also protect the civil liberties we Americans cherish. The bill is now before the House of Representatives.

For almost two years, we have worked with Congress to modernize FISA and ensure that the intelligence community can effectively collect the information needed to protect our country from attack — a goal that requires the willing cooperation of the private sector. Unfortunately, there were significant gaps in our ability to collect intelligence on terrorists and other national security threats because the 1978 law had not been modernized to reflect today’s global communications technology.

The Protect America Act, passed by Congress last August, temporarily closed the gaps in our intelligence collection, but there was a glaring omission: liability protection for those private-sector firms that helped defend the nation after the Sept. 11 attacks. This month, I testified before Congress, along with the other senior leaders of the intelligence community, on the continuing threats to the United States from terrorists and other foreign intelligence targets. We stated that long-term legislation that modernized FISA and provided retroactive liability protection was vital to our operations. The director of the FBI told the Senate that “in protecting the homeland it’s absolutely essential” to have the support of private parties.

[url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/14/AR2008021403103.html?hpid=opinionsbox1:
MORE[/url]

Goin' after the druglords and terrorists...
:cool:
Computer networks to power national police dragnet
Friday, March 7, 2008 : Several thousand law-enforcement agencies are creating the foundation of a domestic intelligence system through computer networks that analyze vast amounts of police information to fight crime and root out terror plots.

]
As federal authorities struggled to meet information-sharing mandates after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, police agencies from Alaska and California to the Washington region poured millions of criminal and investigative records into shared digital repositories called data warehouses, giving investigators and analysts new power to discern links among people, patterns of behavior and other hidden clues.

Those network efforts will begin expanding further this month, as some local and state agencies connect to a fledgling Justice Department system called the National Data Exchange, or N-DEx. Federal authorities hope N-DEx will become what one called a “one-stop shop” enabling federal law-enforcement, counterterrorism and intelligence analysts to automatically examine the enormous caches of local and state records for the first time.

Although Americans have become accustomed to seeing dazzling examples of fictional crime-busting gear on television and movies, in reality law enforcement’s search for clues has generally involved a mundane mix of disjointed computers, legwork and luck. These new systems are transforming that process. “It’s going from the horse-and-buggy days to the space age, that’s what it’s like," said Sgt. Chuck Violette of the Tucson police department, one of almost 1,600 law-enforcement agencies that uses a commercial data-mining system called Coplink.

[url=http://www.chinapost.com.tw/international/2008/03/07/146061/Computer%2Dnetworks.htm:
MORE[/url]

See also:

al-Qaida dometic threat still real...

Al Qaeda is trying
7 Mar.`08 - U.S. has lowered the risk of a large-scale domestic attack, Chertoff says; “I think it would be imprudent of us to let down our guard," says Renuart; “Tangible results” are needed to maintain credibility, recruit more, Renuart says; U.S. intelligence analysts in July concluded al Qaeda had rebuilt operating capability

]
Al Qaeda terrorists may be plotting more urgently to attack the United States to maintain their credibility and ability to recruit followers, the U.S. military commander in charge of domestic defense said Thursday. Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, chief of the U.S. Northern Command, also told reporters he has not seen any direct threats tied to the U.S. presidential elections. But he said it would be rash to think that such threats are not there. “We need only to look at Spain and see that they’re certainly willing to try to do something that is significant that could affect an election process," Renuart said. “I think it would be imprudent of us to let down our guard believing that if there’s no credible threat that you know of today, there won’t be something tomorrow."

While he said that U.S. authorities have thwarted attacks on a number of occasions, he said terrorist cells may be working harder than ever to plot high-impact events. He did not point to any specific intelligence that authorities have received but said the “chatter” they are hearing “gives me no reason to believe they’re going to slow down” in their efforts to target the U.S. “If an organization like that is to maintain credibility and continue to grow more of its extremists, it has to show tangible results," Renuart said. “So I think there may be a certain sense of urgency among that organization to have an effect. So it would tell me that they’re trying harder."

Asked about the terror threat, Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said, “There continues to be no credible information telling us about an imminent threat to homeland at this time." In July, U.S. intelligence analysts, in a threat assessment, concluded that al Qaeda has rebuilt its operating capability to a level not seen since just before the September 11 terrorist attacks. The report said the terror network has regrouped along the Afghan-Pakistan border, but it also noted that officials knew of no specific credible threat of an attack on U.S. soil.

More [url:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/06/us.threat.ap/index.html[/url]

Granny says dey keepin' it a secret so the terrorists don’t find out...
;)
US House Holds Secret Session Over Surveillance Law
13 March 2008 - The House of Representatives has met in a rare closed session to consider proposed revisions to foreign intelligence surveillance law, the subject of continuing conflict between President Bush and Democrats.

]
On only three other occasions in recent times — 1979, 1980, and 1983 — has the House held what is called a “secret session”, in which the chamber undergoes a security sweep, and is closed to the public and media while lawmakers discuss sensitive issues. This time it was requested by minority Republicans, who with President Bush oppose a Democratic measure to revise existing law on electronic surveillance aimed at helping the U.S. prevent further terrorist attacks. But many Democrats expressed discomfort, questioning exactly what would be discussed in the closed session and voicing suspicion at Republican motives for making the request just before a two-week recess.

Texas Congressman Lloyd Doggett was one of those challenging reasoning for the unusual session. “I would not want to limit the ability of anyone to debate any aspect of this. If their points are clear and justified, I would want them to do that in front of the American people and not in a secret session unless it in some way compromised the confidentiality and classified nature of the material," he said. House majority leader Steny Hoyer explains why he and other key leaders agreed to the Republican request. “All this contemplates is the offering and receiving of information that the minority has represented, they believe they want to give to the members, they ought not to give in open session," he said.

Republican minority whip Roy Blunt implied that new classified information would likely be discussed, although he asserted it not would differ from details already made available to members of the House intelligence committee. “This is a bill that goes well beyond the information the most members would normally have. I think the secret session will be helpful to the members, or I wouldn’t have said early today that I would ask for it," he said. Democratic lawmakers also questioned what information revealed in Thursday’s classified session could be discussed when, as is now expected, the House holds an open public debate on the Democratic measure on Friday. Congresswoman Diane Watson was among those pressing Republicans and her own Democratic leadership to explain why the closed debate was necessary. “I have got to go back to my district and explain to my constituents why we had a secret session before we voted on the FISA bill," she said.

More [url:
http://voanews.com/english/2008-03-13-voa55.cfm[/url]

See also:

Secret spy bill in White House standoff
March 14, 2008 - THE US House of Representatives agreed to hold a rare secret session, the first for a quarter century, on a wiretapping anti-terror bill, as a standoff with the White House deepened.

]
Democratic leaders agreed to a request by Republicans for the extraordinary session, on legislation opposed by President George W. Bush. House security officers were directed to seal and sweep the chamber for listening devices, and to ensure reporters, and members of the public were cleared, before the session, believed to be only the fifth ever such event, could start.

A vote on the legislation, which the White House opposes because it does not provide a retroactive legal shield to telecommunications firms which cooperated in government eavesdropping after the September 11 attacks, was expected Friday. The House let the previous law expire on February 16 after it refused to rubber stamp a Senate bill that would have given telecommunication companies immunity from prosecution. The new version would grant immunity from future prosecution, but not retroactive immunity for the companies' past participation in the warrantless wiretaps by US intelligence agencies.

If the House bill is passed, it is thought unlikely to make it through the Senate. “Companies that may have helped us save lives should be thanked for their patriotic service, not subjected to billion-dollar lawsuits that will make them less willing to help in the future," President Bush said earlier. “They should not leave for their Easter recess without getting the Senate bill to my desk."

[url:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23374344-23109,00.html[/url]

Granny says, Dat’s right - dey don’t want nobody sendin' e-mails bad-mouthin' Fearless W...
:cool:
House Approves Surveillance Bill
Friday, Mar. 14, 2008 (WASHINGTON) — The House on Friday narrowly approved a Democratic bill that would set rules for the government’s eavesdropping on phone calls and e-mails inside the United States.

]
The bill, approved as lawmakers departed for a two-week break, faces a veto threat from President Bush. The margin of House approval was 213 to 197, largely along party lines. Because of the promised veto, “this vote has no impact at all," said Republican Whip Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri. The president’s main objection is that the bill does not protect from lawsuits the telecommunications companies that allowed the government to eavesdrop on their customers without a court’s permission after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The vote sent the bill to the Senate, which has passed its own version that includes the legal immunity for telecom companies that Bush is insisting on. Without that provision, House Republicans said, the companies won’t cooperate with U.S. intelligence. “We cannot conduct foreign surveillance without them. But if we continue to subject them to billion-dollar lawsuits, we risk losing their cooperation in the future," said Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas. The government does have the power to compel telecommunications companies to cooperate with wiretaps if it gets warrants from a secret court. The government apparently did not get such warrants before initiating the post-9/11 wiretaps, which are the basis for the lawsuits.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, said the bill is meant to fix that. It would let a judge determine whether lawsuits should be dismissed, rather than having Congress make that decision. “I believe that the nation is deeply concerned about what has gone on for the last seven years, and I want to restore some of the trust in the intelligence community," Reyes said. About 40 lawsuits have been filed against telecommunications companies by people and organizations alleging the companies violated wiretapping and privacy laws. The lawsuits have been combined and are pending before a single federal judge in California.

The Democrats' measure would encourage the judge to review in private the secret government documents underpinning the program to decide if the companies acted lawfully. The administration has prevented those documents from being revealed, even to a judge, by invoking the state secrets privilege. That puts the companies in a bind because they are unable to defend themselves. Just a fraction of Congress has been granted access to the records.

[url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1722605,00.html?xid=feed-rss-netzero:
MORE[/url]

An aid to air marshals...
:cool:
Flying? 'Big Brother' May Be Aboard
May 31, 2008 : In-Flight Surveillance Could Foil Terrorists in the Sky

]
CCTV cameras are bringing more and more public places under surveillance – and passenger aircraft could be next. A prototype European system uses multiple cameras and “Big Brother” software to try and automatically detect terrorists or other dangers caused by passengers.

The European Union’s Security of Aircraft in the Future European Environment (SAFEE) project uses a camera in every passenger’s seat, with six wide-angle cameras to survey the aisles. Software then analyses the footage to detect developing terrorist activity or “air-rage” incidents, by tracking passengers' facial expressions.

The system performed well in tests this January that simulated terrorist and unruly passenger behaviour scenarios in a fake Airbus A380 fuselage, say the researchers that built it. Systems to analyse CCTV footage – for example, to detect violence (with video) or alert CCTV operators to unusual events – have been designed before. But the SAFEE software must cope with the particularly challenging environment of a full aircraft cabin.

[url=http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/GadgetGuide/story?id=4966969&page=1:
Threat Indicators[/url]

Makin' some adjustments...
;)
Senate to pass bill overhauling eavesdropping rules
Jul 9, `08 WASHINGTON - The Senate finally is expected to pass a bill overhauling rules on secret government eavesdropping, completing a lengthy and bitter debate that pitted privacy and civil liberties concerns against the desire to prevent terrorist attacks.

]
The vote, planned for Wednesday, would end almost a year of wrangling between the House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans, and Congress and the White House over the president’s warrantless wiretapping program that was initiated after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. A major issue was the Bush administration’s insistence that the bill shield from civil lawsuits telecommunications companies that helped the government eavesdrop on Americans without court permission after 9/11.

The White House had threatened to veto the bill unless it immunized companies like AT&T Inc. (ATT) and Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) from wiretapping lawsuits. About 40 such lawsuits have been filed. They are all pending before a single federal court. The House approved the surveillance overhaul last month.

For about six years after 9/11, President Bush secretly directed telecommunications companies to tap phone and computer lines inside the United States without the permission or knowledge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. That court was created 30 years ago to prevent the government from abusing its surveillance powers for political purposes. The court is meant to approve all wiretaps placed inside the U.S. for intelligence-gathering purposes. That includes international e-mail records stored on servers inside the U.S.

More [url:
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080709/D91Q6ILG0.html[/url]