US Prism Scandal: 'Security Is Not an End in Itself'
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: How much monitoring is too much and at what point does freedom become compromised? With its Prism spy program, the US has crossed the line.

Shortly before US President Barack Obama's visit to Berlin, Germans are troubled by questions regarding the extent to which the United States monitors Internet traffic worldwide. Is it true, as the media claim, that the United States can access and track virtually every form of communication on the Internet at the source? The Guardian and the Washington Post reported that the National Security Agency (NSA) could gain direct access to and read user data with the so-called "Prism" program. An unnamed intelligence officer was quoted by the Washington Post as saying that the NSA could "quite literally … watch your ideas form as you type."

Internet giants like Facebook and Google were quick to issue denials, saying that they do not release any information without a court order. But doubts remain.

These reports are deeply disconcerting. When viewed in its entirety, this massive effort to acquire information, if it is true, would be dangerous.

On the weekend, President Obama reacted by saying that it is impossible to have 100 percent security and 100 percent privacy and zero inconvenience.

I don't share this view. The more a society monitors, controls and observes its citizens, the less free it is. In a democratic constitutional state, security is not an end in itself, but serves to secure freedom. » | A Commentary by German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger | Tuesday, June 11, 2013

NSA Snooping: Obama Under Pressure as Senator Denounces 'Act of Treason'

THE GUARDIAN: Information chiefs worldwide sound alarm while US senator Dianne Feinstein orders NSA to review monitoring program

Barack Obama was facing a mounting domestic and international backlash against US surveillance operations on Monday as his administration struggled to contain one of the most explosive national security leaks in US history.

Political opinion in the US was split with some members of Congress calling for the immediate extradition from Hong Kong of the whistleblower, Edward Snowden. But other senior politicians in both main parties questioned whether US surveillance practices had gone too far.

Dianne Feinstein, chairman of the national intelligence committee, has ordered the NSA to review how it limits the exposure of Americans to government surveillance. But she made clear her disapproval of Snowden. "What he did was an act of treason," she said.

Officials in European capitals demanded immediate answers from their US counterparts and denounced the practice of secretly gathering digital information on Europeans as unacceptable, illegal and a serious violation of basic rights. The NSA, meanwhile, asked the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation and said that it was assessing the damage caused by the disclosures.

Daniel Ellsberg, the former military analyst who revealed secrets of the Vietnam war through the Pentagon Papers in 1971, described Snowden's leak as even more important and perhaps the most significant leak in American history. » | Dan Roberts in Washington, Ewen MacAskill in Hong Kong and James Ball in New York | Tuesday, June 11, 2013

The Dark Presidency: Obama: Congress Knew About, Authorized NSA Surveillance
President addresses controversy over government eavesdropping

NSA Surveillance Scandal: Barack Obama's Credibility Under Scrutiny Like Never Before

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Commentary: In the wake of the NSA surveillance scandal, Barack Obama's credibility is under scrutiny like never before, writes Peter Foster.

Whether using drones for the 'targeted killing' of alleged terrorists, or data-mining the phone records of everyone in America, Barack Obama has a standard response to those who would question his use of these questionable clandestine programmes: "we welcome a debate".

That debate – which Mr Obama described last month as "the appropriate balance between our need for security and preserving those freedoms that make us who we are" – has exploded into the open following this week's revelations about the extent of National Security Agency surveillance programs.

Mr Obama's offer of debate sounds all very liberal, and reasonable but for his frustrated critics on both the liberal Left and libertarian Right the offer is nothing more than a cover for a president who campaigned as a liberal but on national security has governed as an outright authoritarian.

If Mr Obama really wanted a debate on drones, or the ethics of dragnet-surveillance of the phone records of all Americans, they ask, why has it taken a series of damaging leaks for his administration to even admit the existence of these programmes, let alone openly debate them? » | Peter Foster, Washington | Friday, June 07, 2013

Verizon Treason: US Government Seizes Millions of Call Records at FBI's Request
Millions of Americans are reportedly having their phone records seized without their knowledge. The U.S. National Security Agency has allegedly secretly forced Verizon, one of the nation's biggest phone companies, to hand over all its call data. RT's Tom Barton reports.

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NSA Spying: Sweeping US Data-mining Program Revealed
US intelligence confirms it is collecting the private messages of internet users but defends the move, claiming the mass surveillance was targeting only "non-US persons" outside the country. Earlier British and American papers reported that the US was tapping directly into the servers of leading American internet companies, getting access to personal e-mails, photos and documents. A leaked court order has become the first hard evidence of Washington's sweeping data collection program. RT's Anastasia Churkina reports. ¶ Eugene Puryear, an activist for the civil rights organization Answer Coalition, joins after to give his perspective on the issue.

David Cameron: Lib Dems Were Fully Aware of 'Snooping' Plans

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron has hit back against Liberal Democrat critics of the new internet “snooping” laws, claiming Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne approved the controversial plans.

In a put-down to his Coalition partners, the Prime Minister said it was important to “remember” that some of the most senior Liberal Democrats in Government waived [sic] through the proposals.

Ministers insist the new laws will simply widen the current scope of powers to the internet, as police and intelligence agencies are already allowed to monitor phones, letters and emails. They dispute the idea that monitoring voice calls and other communications over the internet amounts to snooping.

But prominent Liberal Democrats have expressed outrage that the changes will allow the police to have greater power to track online communications, such as Facebook and Skype.

Last week, Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, intervened to say he would block any intrusive new powers following a series of reports on the forthcoming legislation.

Tim Farron, the president of the Liberal Democrats, has even said the party is prepared to “kill” the plans, if the laws pose a “threat to a free and liberal society”. » | Rowena Mason, Political Correspondent | Tuesday, April 10, 2012

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Nick Clegg denies endorsing Coalition's 'snooping' plans: The Coalition has been shaken by a row as Nick Clegg denies claims by David Cameron that he had signed up to controversial internet surveillance plans. » | Rowena Mason, Political Correspondent | Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Jackboot Jacqui’s a Nazi Piece of Work
Swastika courtesy of Google Images
MAIL Online: George Orwell's 1984 was supposed to be a warning about the dangers of totalitarianism, not a blueprint for government.

No one seems to have told New Labour. Barely a day goes by without another assault on our civil liberties, another extension of state snooping, another exciting ruse for meting out punishment for the most trivial offence.

This week’s outrage is the news that Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is creating a whole new vigilante class of quasi-policemen, drawn from the ranks of Town Hall jobsworths, security guards and car park attendants.

They’ll be allowed to wear uniforms, patrol the streets with dogs, confiscate property and hand out fixed-penalty notices for everything from littering to under-age drinking.

It’s emerged that there are 1,400 of these Accredited Persons out there already, and their numbers will soon swell into the thousands.

They have the power to stop cars, take photos of people, demand names and addresses and issue fines.
For now, they wear badges sewn onto their tunics by their employers.

But the Home Office wants to see a uniform standardised across the country. How about peaked caps, jodhpurs, jackboots and black shirts with swastikas on the sleeves? Jackboot Jacqui’s a Nazi Piece of Work >>> By Richard Littlejohn | August 29, 2008

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