domestic surveillance

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Seattle Mayor: Fine, We Won't Use Drones

Outcry ends program before it begins

(Newser) - Bowing to a fierce public outcry, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn has decided to ground the city's plan for an unmanned drone program, reports Reuters . Seattle bought two Draganflyer X6 drones in 2010 using an $80,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security, and planned to use the miniature,...

Anonymous Says Hackathon Hit PayPal, Lady Gaga

Symantec, NBC also allegedly hit in Guy Fawkes Day hack-a-thon

(Newser) - Anonymous is holding an all-day hackathon today, as part of a global protest commemorating Guy Fawkes Day, and it's already claimed—or says it's claimed—a number of scalps. The group says it's stolen roughly 28,000 PayPal passwords, Gizmodo reports, though PayPal is telling customers it...

Informant: NYPD Paid Me to 'Bait' Muslims

He tells AP of his undercover tactics

(Newser) - Shamiur Rahman was behind bars in Queens on drug charges when he says he was approached by a plainclothes NYPD officer who offered him a chance to "turn his life around." The 19-year-old said the next month he began to infiltrate a wide variety of Muslim gatherings, including...

Bloomberg: Minority Surveillance Like Checking for Measles

Muslims have accused NYPD of racial profiling

(Newser) - The NYPD's increased undercover surveillance of Muslims and ethnic minorities since 9/11 is like screening children for measles, said Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday. "If there is a community where the crime rate is very high, to not put more cops in that community is ridiculous," said the...

Americans Willing to Give Up Some Freedoms for Security

Public fine with surveillance cameras, not fine with email snooping

(Newser) - Americans are willing to give up some privacy and freedoms for security—but not others. A new AP poll has charted just which freedoms Americans are partial to. For example:
  • 71% are OK with surveillance cameras in public places
  • 58% are fine with full-body scans and pat-downs at the airport
...

NYPD Spied on 250 Mosques, Student Groups

Undercover agents monitored groups' activities

(Newser) - New York’s police department kept tabs on some 250 mosques and Muslim student groups in the metropolitan area, turning to undercover officers and informants to help monitor the organizations, an AP investigation finds. Confidential documents obtained by the news organization show a blend of anti-terror measures and monitoring of...

China Plans Massive Surveillance Network

Cisco, other Western companies are poised to help

(Newser) - China is preparing a surveillance network with an area bigger than New York City—and Cisco is among the Western companies set to help. China says the system of up to 500,000 cameras is aimed at preventing crime, but human rights advocates fear it could be used to stamp...

Patriot Act Set for 4-Year Extension

Reid, McConnell agree to renew domestic surveillance measures

(Newser) - With the Patriot Act's three central provisions set to expire in a week, Congressional leaders John Boehner, Harry Reid, and Mitch McConnell struck a deal to extend the law for four more years, Politico reports. Both chambers must pass the plan before it becomes law. The sections set to...

House Passes Patriot Act Extensions

Move to extend surveillance powers passes 275-144

(Newser) - The House of Representatives has voted 275-144 to extend three key provisions of the Patriot Act until the end of the year. The measures—which would keep in place surveillance powers including counterterrorism officials' ability to conduct roving wiretap surveillance of targets—were slammed as "intrusive" and "unconstitutional"...

US Agencies Link Up to Spy on ... You
US Agencies Link Up
to Spy on ... You
INVESTIGATION
Dec 20, 2010 3:31 PM CST

US Agencies Link Up to Spy on ... You

Thousands deemed 'suspicious' appear on giant database: WaPo probe

(Newser) - Aiming to fight home-grown terrorism, the US is linking local, state, FBI, and military resources to gather information about American citizens: It’s “the largest and most technologically sophisticated” domestic intelligence system the country has ever assembled, write Dana Priest and William Arkin after a Washington Post investigation that’...

Obama Moves to Boost FBI Access to Internet Records

Critics say move is fed power grab

(Newser) - The Obama administration is trying to make it easier for the FBI to obtain records of people's Internet usage without a court order. Adding "electronic communication transactional records" to the list of items the FBI can demand without court approval would allow the bureau to access the email addresses...

More Surveillance = More Terrorism
 More Surveillance 
 = More Terrorism 
opinion
Jan 6, 2010 12:24 PM CST

More Surveillance = More Terrorism

We had info on Ft. Hood, Abdulmutallab, but it got lost in the mix

(Newser) - The expansion of government surveillance powers, often enabled by public unease following a terror attack or scare, actually makes those events more likely, Glenn Greenwald writes. The main problem is that intelligence agencies get clogged with useless information. In the cases of Ft. Hood and the Christmas attempt, our intelligence...

Loose FBI Rules Raise Privacy Fears

People are unfairly targeted, complain Muslim groups

(Newser) - The FBI has been given far too much leeway to gather information on individuals and groups, charge Muslim and civil liberties organizations. Guidelines in a newly disclosed FBI manual allow the bureau to probe people or organizations without any factual evidence against them. Agents are given broad powers to proactively...

Obama Supports Extending Patriot Act Provisions

Administration tells Congress it wants to renew surveillance laws

(Newser) - The Obama administration supports extending three controversial provisions of the Patriot Act that are due to expire at the end of the year,  AP reports. The Justice Department tells Congress in a letter they will back preserving the post-9/11 law's authority to access business records, monitor so-called "lone...

Harman: Release Wiretap Transcripts

Calif. rep decries 'outrageous' 'abuse of power'

(Newser) - California Rep. Jane Harman demanded today that Justice Department release “unredacted” transcripts of telephone conversations recorded without her knowledge, Politico reports. Harman demanded the wiretapped conversations be released in response to media reports that she was recorded agreeing to try to help two pro-Israel lobbyists accused of spying in...

NSA Violated Domestic Wiretap Limits

Agency overcollected Americans' emails, phonecalls: officials

(Newser) - The NSA has been listening in on the domestic communications of American citizens well in excess of the limits placed on it by Congress last year, say intelligence officials. The Justice Department has confirmed to the New York Times that it detected "issues" in recent months but said it ...

Scotland Yard Secretly Tracking Activists

Civil liberties groups believe database on peaceful protesters may be illegal

(Newser) - British human rights advocates have been alarmed to discover that Scotland Yard keeps a secret database on political activists, the Guardian reports. Surveillance teams have tracked and gathered information on protesters, including thousands of people not suspected of any crime. Personal information on the activists—including their political affiliation—is...

Score Card on Late White House Rules Changes

Bush administration pushes through midnight regulations

(Newser) - With the  Bush White House pushing through a raft of last-minute rules, the nonprofit journalism group ProPublica offers a running list, with the status of each:
  • Business-friendly safety regulations would loosen restrictions on exposure to toxic chemicals in the workplace.
  • Local police would get increased surveillance ability.
  • Loaded guns would
...

Maryland Cops Spied on Peaceniks

Activists branded terrorists & drug dealers

(Newser) - Groups opposing the death penalty and the war in Iraq were infiltrated and spied on by undercover Maryland State Police officers, according to police logs obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union. Some activists were placed on terrorist and drug trafficking databases with no evidence they were involved in any...

Senate passes FISA, 69-28
 Senate passes FISA, 69-28 
Jul 9, 2008 2:50 PM CDT

Senate passes FISA, 69-28

Amendments fail

(Newser) - The Senate approved a bill today overhauling the rules on secret US government eavesdropping and granting immunity to telephone companies that helped it listen in after 9/11. The so-called FISA bill passed by a large margin of 69-28. The upper house also voted against three amendments that would have watered...

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