Laura Poitras recently won the Academy Award for CITIZENFOUR, her documentary on NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, but the director claims that she’s long been hassled by U.S. federal authorities for years, resulting in multiple unmerited airport detentions. Now she’s suing the government to find out exactly why. [More]
edward snowden
Senate Passes USA Freedom Act, Ushering In A Kindler, Gentler Era Of NSA Snooping
By 6.2.15
As expected following the June 1 expiration of one of the PATRIOT Act’s most controversial privacy-invading provisions, the Senate today passed a substitute bill, the USA FREEDOM Act (or rather, deep breath… the Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2015) that prohibits the sort of mass data collection the National Security Agency enjoyed under the recently sunset Patriot provisions, but still leaves in place many concerns for privacy advocates. [More]
Court: NSA Bulk Phone Data Collection Program Is Illegal
By 5.7.15
A federal appeals court has ruled this morning that the NSA’s controversial bulk phone data collection program is in violation of federal law. [More]
When You Give Silicon Valley Permission To Spy On You, It’s Kinda Hard To Say “No” To The NSA
By 5.20.14
The fundamental goal of the ad-supported web is to collect and capitalize on data from its users; rather unsurprisingly, that data is just as valuable to the government as it is to Facebook and Google. You may think you’d never willingly provide the FBI or NSA with a map of your entire private life, but, in fact, you probably already have. [More]
NSA Also Spied On World Of Warcraft, Second Life, Xbox Live Users
By 12.9.13
Because terrorists may be secretly chatting with each other while also trying to level-up their paladins and warlocks, the National Security Agency thought it was a good idea to eavesdrop on online games like World of Warcraft and Second Life, and on gamers who used Xbox Live. [More]
Google Exec To NSA: You Don’t Need To Spy On Everyone To Catch A Few Evil People
By 11.4.13
Last week, it was revealed that the National Security Agency had managed to tap into the private connections between Google’s supposedly secure data centers, effectively giving the agency unfettered access to e-mails, voicemails, and cloud-stored files of all Google users. Not surprisingly, this isn’t sitting well with the people at the Internet giant. [More]
We’re Calling “Snowdening” A Thing: Cancun Police Can’t Stop Woman From Living In Airport
By 7.9.13
We can’t all be alleged leakers of super secret National Security Agency information, but one woman isn’t letting that stop her from pulling an Edward Snowden and setting up in a transit zone: Police in Mexico say a woman arrived on a flight from the United States last week and since then just hasn’t left the Cancun airport. [More]
Edward Snowden Isn’t The First Transit Zone Dweller Who Reminds Us Of That One Movie
By 6.28.13
Remember that Tom Hanks movie where he’s really lonely and far from home? No, not Cast Away (Wilson! [tear]), the other one where he faces seemingly insurmountable obstacles while living in limbo, The Terminal. Accused NSA leaker Edward Snowden is a lot like the guy Hank portrays in the flick who’s stuck in JFK Airport. That’s because the character is based on a real person, and there are plenty of other transit zone dwellers on the books. [More]
