It takes them a while to find the right
words to disclose nothing while appearing to disclose something...
U.S.
releases details on PRISM
In response to the furor over reports
of a classified surveillance program called PRISM,
the U.S. Director of National Intelligence has released a statement
saying PRISM-related activities are "lawful" and "fully
debated and authorized by Congress" and has issued a fact sheet
on PRISM that says the government doesn't simply
[It's much more complex than that! Bob] scoop information
from company servers.
Clapper's full statement:
[From the fact sheet:
All FISA collection, including
collection under Section 702, is overseen andmonitored by the FISA
Court [Circular argument. “FISA supervises FISA
stuff” What else is there and who supervises that? Bob]
(Related) Note that this seems to be a
tool for measuring data volumes. That would let the NSA predict
storage needs and perhaps gross analysis times, but has virtually no
intelligence value beyond “they're talking more.”.
Boundless
Informant: the NSA's secret tool to track global surveillance data
The National Security Agency has
developed a powerful tool for recording and analysing where its
intelligence comes from, raising questions about its repeated
assurances to Congress that it cannot keep track of all the
surveillance it performs on American communications.
The Guardian has acquired top-secret
documents about the NSA
datamining tool, called Boundless
Informant, that details and even maps by country the voluminous
amount of information it collects from computer and telephone
networks.
… At a hearing
of the Senate intelligence committee In March this year,
Democratic senator Ron Wyden asked James Clapper, the director of
national intelligence: "Does the NSA collect any type of data at
all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?"
"No sir," replied Clapper.
It's not worth reading the (fluffy)
article, but the question is always amusing.
What
If China Hacks the NSA's Massive Data Trove?
"I've got nothing to hide."
“Please put your pants back on...”
Commentary
– Why Privacy Matters Even if You Have ‘Nothing to Hide’
Most attempts to understand privacy do
so by attempting to locate its essence—its core characteristics or
the common denominator that links together the various things we
classify under the rubric of “privacy.” Privacy, however, is too
complex a concept to be reduced to a singular essence. It is a
plurality of different things that do not share any one element but
nevertheless bear a resemblance to one another. For example, privacy
can be invaded by the disclosure of your deepest secrets. It might
also be invaded if you’re watched by a peeping Tom, even if no
secrets are ever revealed. With the disclosure of secrets, the harm
is that your concealed information is spread to others. With the
peeping Tom, the harm is that you’re being watched. You’d
probably find that creepy regardless of whether the peeper finds out
anything sensitive or discloses any information to others. There are
many other forms of invasion of privacy, such as blackmail and the
improper use of your personal data. Your privacy can also be invaded
if the government compiles an extensive dossier about you. Privacy,
in other words, involves so many things that it is impossible to
reduce them all to one simple idea. And we need not do so.”
Why didn't I think of this?
GitHub
for Academics: the open-source way to host, create and curate
knowledge
“Though originally developed as a way
to share and merge software code, any types of files can be part of a
GitHub
repository, making it a great collaborative tool for academics,
finds Kris Shaffer.
Since any open-licensed project can be hosted on GitHub for free, it
can function as a publishing platform, a peer-review system, a
learning management tool, and a locus for intra- and
inter-institutional collaboration.”
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