The Verge - US government tries to rebuild lost trust after NSA surveillance leakshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52801/VER_Logomark_32x32..png2014-07-02T12:39:16-04:00http://www.theverge.com/rss/stream/44835712014-07-02T12:39:16-04:002014-07-02T12:39:16-04:00PRISM is legal, says panel that bashed NSA phone spying
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<p>The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/27/5342658/inside-the-government-report-that-found-obama-nsa-spying-illegal">a White House watchdog group</a> that condemned the Obama administration's phone surveillance program earlier this year, has released <a href="http://www.pclob.gov/All%20Documents/Report%20on%20the%20Section%20702%20Program/PCLOB-Section-702-Report.pdf" target="_blank">another report</a> — and civil liberties groups aren't happy about it. The report took on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which the NSA, CIA, and FBI have used to justify collecting the contents of emails and other electronic communications from web services or directly through internet backbone cables. It's the rule that governs PRISM, one of the first surveillance systems to be revealed by Edward Snowden. According to the board, though, it's completely legal.</p>
<p>The board addresses two known programs that are run under Section 702: PRISM...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/2/5863933/oversight-board-that-condemned-nsa-phone-surveillance-says-prism-is-legal">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/2/5863933/oversight-board-that-condemned-nsa-phone-surveillance-says-prism-is-legalAdi Robertson2014-04-24T04:38:02-04:002014-04-24T04:38:02-04:00Brazil looks to protect privacy and net neutrality with internet bill of rights
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<img alt="Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff signed the "internet constitution" into law on Wednesday" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OI-l1sXPKRLKFUV_nfT9YlbMrH8=/0x0:1024x683/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/32078989/6175048344_92914d5e2b_b.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff signed the "internet constitution" into law on Wednesday | <a href='http://www.flickr.com/photos/dilma-rousseff/6175048344/sizes/l/'>Dilma Rousseff / Flickr</a></figcaption>
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<p>The Brazilian government this week passed new legislation aimed at protecting internet privacy and guaranteeing open access to the web. As the <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_25621388/brazil-passes-an-internet-bill-rights" target="_blank">Associated Press reports</a>, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff signed the so-called "internet constitution" into law yesterday before speaking at a conference on web governance in Sao Paulo, where she hailed the legislation as critical to protecting human rights and net neutrality.</p>
<p>"The internet you want is only possible in an environment of respect for human rights," Rousseff said in a <a href="http://www.dilma.com.br/site/noticias/view/dilma-sanciona-marco-civil-da-internet" target="_blank">statement</a> on her website, "especially privacy and freedom of expression."</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2014/4/24/5646500/brazil-looks-to-protect-privacy-and-net-neutrality-with-internet-bill">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2014/4/24/5646500/brazil-looks-to-protect-privacy-and-net-neutrality-with-internet-billAmar Toor2014-03-27T09:45:59-04:002014-03-27T09:45:59-04:00President Obama announces plan to dismantle NSA phone record database
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<figcaption><a href='http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/12864176923/'>The White House / Flickr</a></figcaption>
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<p>President Barack Obama has officially announced his plan to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/24/5544516/obama-propose-law-to-end-nsa-bulk-phone-record-collection">reform the National Security Agency's collection</a> of phone records. Under his new proposal, the agency would no longer keep a database holding a large percentage of all American call records. Instead, phone companies like AT&T and Verizon would keep them for the same length of time they do now, and the government would submit requests for individual numbers after getting approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Phone companies, for their part, would have to provide "technical assistance" in order to make sure that the government could easily search for and collect information, which could include the numbers that had been in communication with a particular...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2014/3/27/5546950/president-obama-announces-plan-to-dismantle-nsa-phone-record-database">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2014/3/27/5546950/president-obama-announces-plan-to-dismantle-nsa-phone-record-databaseAdi Robertson2014-02-26T03:25:01-05:002014-02-26T03:25:01-05:00Obama assessing four alternatives to NSA phone data collection: WSJ
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<p>The Obama administration has been presented with four wide-ranging options on how to reform the National Security Agency's (NSA) phone data collection program — including doing away with it altogether — according to a <a target="_blank" href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303880604579405640624409748">report</a> from the <i>Wall Street Journal</i>. Citing officials close to the matter, the <i>Journal</i> reports that intelligence officials presented the options ahead of the <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/17/5316980/president-obama-nsa-signals-intelligence-reform-report-card">March 28th deadline</a> that President Barack Obama set forth in a <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/17/5319424/president-obamas-full-speech-on-nsa-surveillance-reform">speech</a> about NSA reform earlier this year.</p>
<p>One proposal would be to put phone metadata collection under the purview of US telecommunications companies. Under this option, the NSA would inform the companies of when it needs to search their databases for terrorism-related investigations, and the phone...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2014/2/26/5448814/obama-assessing-four-alternatives-to-nsa-phone-data-collection-wsj">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2014/2/26/5448814/obama-assessing-four-alternatives-to-nsa-phone-data-collection-wsjAmar Toor2014-02-18T15:31:02-05:002014-02-18T15:31:02-05:00Intelligence chief says NSA should have been transparent about mass surveillance
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<img alt="James Clapper" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xNquQoMLZz9kA1kSvShMcGU6Gxw=/0x1:640x428/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/assets/2309837/5202048922_444e67e2fe_z.jpg" />
<figcaption>James Clapper</figcaption>
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<p>Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has weathered a firestorm of criticism in the months since Edward Snowden leaked documents detailing the NSA's bulk surveillance activity. Since then, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/31/4574802/james-clapper-declassifies-documents-nsa-metadata-surveillance">he has declassified numerous documents</a> as a means of showing transparency on the part of the government. However, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/17/spy-chief-we-should-ve-told-you-we-track-your-calls.html">in an interview with <i>The Daily Beast</i></a>, Clapper goes so far as to say that had the agency been transparent about data collection from the beginning, the issue would not have exploded into a scandal.</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2014/2/18/5423094/intelligence-chief-says-nsa-should-have-been-transparent-about-mass">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2014/2/18/5423094/intelligence-chief-says-nsa-should-have-been-transparent-about-massKwame Opam2014-02-16T17:42:02-05:002014-02-16T17:42:02-05:00Germany and France are working together to keep internet traffic away from the US
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<figcaption>angela merkel</figcaption>
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<p>The ongoing revelations about the extent of NSA data collection are causing other countries to tighten up their security and keep their citizens' data private. Germany in particular has been talking about <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/germany-looks-at-keeping-its-internet-e-mail-traffic-inside-its-borders/2013/10/31/981104fe-424f-11e3-a751-f032898f2dbc_story.html" target="_blank">keeping its internet traffic and email messages private</a> within the country for some time, and now the country is planning to work with France to help build a network throughout Europe that keeps data away from the United States. <a href="http://5/us-germany-france-idUSBREA1E0IG20140215" target="_blank">According to Reuters</a>, German Chancellor Angela Merkel (pictured above) is planning to discuss a European communication network that'll keep internet traffic away from the US with French President Francois Hollande when they meet later this week.</p>
<p>This comes after it was revealed that the <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/26/5031990/us-has-been-monitoring-german-chancellor-angela-merkels-phone-since-2002">NSA had monitored...</a></p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2014/2/16/5417350/germany-and-france-are-working-together-to-keep-internet-traffic-away-from-US">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2014/2/16/5417350/germany-and-france-are-working-together-to-keep-internet-traffic-away-from-USNathan Ingraham2014-02-07T11:26:59-05:002014-02-07T11:26:59-05:00Secret court approves Obama's limits on NSA phone record collection
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<figcaption>BlackBerry Bold (STOCK)</figcaption>
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<p>The secret FISA court has approved two of President Barack Obama's proposed changes to how the NSA can use its collection of American phone records. While many of Obama's suggestions will take months to implement, if they go into effect at all, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper wrote yesterday that the court had agreed to two immediate limits. Except in cases of "true emergency," every use of the database — which includes metadata like calling history for virtually all American phone numbers — will now have to be approved beforehand by the FISA court on the basis of a reasonable, articulable suspicion that the search criteria is tied to a known terrorist organization. While agents could previously search within three...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2014/2/7/5389746/secret-court-approves-obamas-limits-on-nsa-phone-record-collection">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2014/2/7/5389746/secret-court-approves-obamas-limits-on-nsa-phone-record-collectionAdi Robertson2014-01-30T17:18:59-05:002014-01-30T17:18:59-05:00Obama to nominate Navy vice admiral as new NSA chief
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<img alt="michael rogers navy portrait" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lgvgcoksigyMr9k2ncyzDDSzPb0=/0x26:640x453/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/assets/3934391/rogers.jpg" />
<figcaption>michael rogers navy portrait</figcaption>
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<p>President Obama will nominate Vice Admiral Michael Rogers as the new director of the National Security Agency and the chief of US Cyber Command. Throughout his over 30 years with the Navy, Rogers has worked extensively in cryptology, and since 2011 has been commander of the US Fleet Cyber Command. He will succeed General Keith Alexander, who's <a style="background-color: #ffffff;" href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/16/4846046/nsa-head-keith-alexander-reportedly-stepping-down-march-april">planning to step down</a> this spring.</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2014/1/30/5362374/michael-rogers-nominated-nsa-chief-keith-alexander-replacement">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2014/1/30/5362374/michael-rogers-nominated-nsa-chief-keith-alexander-replacementJacob Kastrenakes