NSA

Law, Liberty, NSA, Privacy, Surveillance

Bizarre Illegality of Bulk Surveillance 

“There’s a program that Congress never approved. The House weirdly had to vote to get rid of it. They did so. But the Senate had to follow suit, voting to get rid of the program that they never passed. And they failed even though 57 Senators were in favor. So an illegal program will continue,…

Business, Cronyism, Liberty, Lobbying, Military, NSA, Surveillance, Technology

Cronies of the Surveillance State

“If journalists are writing about this they should not be naive about the immensity of the security establishment,” said Columbia Journalism School professor Todd Gitlin. Gitlin says that he understands why media outlets would call upon former government officials to discuss NSA issues given that they have “earned their expertise by virtue of their institutional…

Law, Liberty, NSA, Surveillance

Illegal, and Illegal from the Very Beginning

Section 215 of Patriot Act, used to justify bulk collection of phone data, was never a lawful basis for that collection: WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court in New York on Thursday ruled that the once-secret National Security Agency program that is systematically collecting Americans’ phone records in bulk is illegal. The decision comes as…