MOTUS A.D.: “See Something, Say Something.” HELLO!!!!

Friday, July 26, 2013

“See Something, Say Something.” HELLO!!!!

Do you remember when citizens still had a reasonable expectation of privacy (c. 1776-2007)? You know, from the Constitution?

I guess because of all the “phony scandals” talk radio has ginned up, or something, we’re getting a timeout and have lost that privilege for the time being.

The U.S. government has demanded that major Internet companies divulge users' stored passwords, according to two industry sources familiar with these orders, which represent an escalation in surveillance techniques that has not previously been disclosed.

Butt don’t worry, because Microsoft says it does not participate:

A Microsoft spokesperson would not say whether the company has received such requests from the government. But when asked whether Microsoft would divulge passwords, salts, or algorithms, the spokesperson replied: "No, we don't, and we can't see a circumstance in which we would provide it."

Really? Except maybe this one?

According to an article published on Thursday by the British newspaper, internal National Security Agency memos show that Microsoft actually helped the federal government find a way to decrypt messages sent over select platforms, including Outlook.com Web chat, Hotmail email service, and Skype.

Google, in responding to the story, said likewise:

"We take the privacy and security of our users very seriously."

And you can take that to the bank, because Google’s official motto is “Don’t Be Evil.”

Don’t read too much into the fact that they previously caved to China’s demands for censorship,

and have reversed themselves on the issue of personal privacy.

That doesn’t mean that they would ever dream of caving into their own government’s demand for snooping.

And that goes for Yahoo too,

"If we are required to provide information, we do so only in the strictest interpretation of what is required by law,"

And we all know who “the law” is around here now.

And I think you can expect dittos from the rest of the gang, despite the fact they pled the Fifth and refused to comment,:

Apple, Facebook, AOL, Verizon, AT&T, Time Warner Cable, and Comcast did not respond to queries about whether they have received requests for users' passwords and how they would respond to them.

We can’t say for sure if any of these companies have cooperated with the NSA, as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court operates in near total secrecy. Even Congress can’t get their hands on the data they are holding:

Congressman Issa displays all the information from his document request that wasn’t redacted.

So how’s that for irony!? The only entity guaranteed total, absolute, secured privacy of their data is…your federal government! Which used to be “we the people” - you know, us - butt now it’s them!

That’s right! And if you dare leak any of their secrets, well, you may just end up living in the Moscow Airport.

Just what part of “creeping tyranny” do you people not understand?

Construction of new $1.2 billion NSA surveillance data center in Lehi, Utah - 15 times the size of a NFL stadium - nears completion