PRISM

[Lamplighter]

...along that line, here is a story about bank robbers, the FBI, and "tower dumps"

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2...hy-it-matters/
Ars Technica
Nate Anderson
8/29/13

How “cell tower dumps” caught the High Country Bandits—and why it matters
Fishing expeditions can pay dividends—but do they need a warrant?

On February 18, 2010, the FBI field office in Denver issued a "wanted" notice
for two men known as "the High Country Bandits"—a rather grandiose name
for a pair of middle-aged white men who had been knocking down rural banks
in northern Arizona and Colorado, grabbing a few thousand dollars
from a teller's cash drawer and sometimes escaping on a stolen all-terrain vehicle (ATV).
<snip>
If you're the FBI, you ask a judge to approve a full "cell tower dump,"
in which wireless operators will turn over the records of every cell phone
that registered with a particular tower at a particular time.
(Phones "register" with the nearest cell towers so that the network knows how to route calls.)
And then you look for any numbers that stand out.
<snip>
The FBI actually received more than 150,000 registered cell phone numbers
from this particular set of tower dumps, despite picking the most rural locations possible.
What the case agents wanted to do was scan the logs from all four sites on the belief
that no single person was likely to be at all four banks during the robbery—except for the robber.

So the FBI dumped all the numbers into a Microsoft Access database and ran a query.
As expected, only a single number came back: Verizon Wireless phone number 928-205-xxxx
had registered with the tower closest to three of the banks on the day of each robbery.
(Verizon didn't have a cell tower covering the fourth bank.)
Further analysis found a second number, 928-358-xxxx,
that had been in contact with 928-205-xxx and that had registered with two of the towers in question.

The FBI then went back to the judge and obtained more particular
court orders covering these specific phone numbers.
The phone numbers came back with subscriber names attached: Joel Glore and Ronald Capito.
And the location data returned showed that these two phones had
been present at most of the 16 bank robberies under investigation.
Further, the data showed that both phones tended to travel from Show Low, Arizona,
to the location of each bank just before each robbery.
<snip>

BUT... About those 149,998 other numbers...

Bandits? Caught. Justice? Done.
But let's step back from the final result for a moment and ponder
the technique that provided the big lead —the cell tower dumps.
Should we have any concerns with the government getting that sort
of mass tracking information on so many Americans without a warrant?

Some judges say yes. Former Magistrate Judge Brian Owsley dealt routinely
with warrant requests and court orders until becoming a law school professor earlier this year;
he has just written an intriguing paper about the issues surrounding cell tower dumps.
In his view, these are clearly "searches" under the Fourth Amendment,
and they require a full warrant backed by evidence of "probable cause."

That's because the Supreme Court jurisprudence on surveillance has
relied for decades in part on the idea of someone's "reasonable expectation of privacy"
—and people certainly expect that their location won't be easily and routinely accessible
to law enforcement without a warrant, regardless of whether cell phone technology tracks them or not.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Access ??? I don't want anyone having access to this kind of data who does't have a ƒucking SQL Server guy on staff.

[sexobon]

The Cellar Security Council is monitoring this thread.

[tw]

George Bush Sr threatened to create a New World Order. Thank god we have citizens with assault rifles protecting us in our airports.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by tw

Thank god we have citizens with assault rifles protecting us in our airports.

I've seen multiple news reports that say the police are looking for a motive for why this guy hates the TSA.

Is there anyone in the country who likes the TSA? They have to be the most hated branch of the government. Well, maybe the IRS is more hated.



Not saying I approve in any way of the actions of this murderous thug. He belongs in prison. But looking for a motive? Duh.

[tw]

Once upon a time, workers only hated Post Office Management. Going Postal. Apparently there were not enough of them. With so many assault rifles, hunters must now search for new game.

Bagging trophies in malls and theaters is too easy.

Government will require all guns be connected to the internet. Then Echelon, Prism, or whatever it is now called can actually find and avert crimes.

[Lamplighter]

The Washington Post ran a survey form about on-line privacy for several days,
and the first thing it asked for was your NAME !

This article almost makes it sound as if all of 81 people went past that and responded...

Washington Post
Timothy B. Lee
November 7, 2013

Here’s how people are changing their Internet habits to avoid NSA snooping

<snip>The irony of asking for full names and e-mail addresses in a survey
about online privacy was not lost on Switch readers.

"The questionnaire can't be for real. I thought I inadvertently connected to 'the Onion,'" one reader
wrote in the comment section. Other commenters described the survey as "bizarre" and "creepy."

Some survey respondents indicated that they had cut back on using the Internet
to send sensitive personal information. But a much larger group told us that
they hadn't changed their Internet habits at all.

"If the NSA wants to know I spend too much time researching fantasy football,
hotels in Las Vegas, and the best way to roast pumpkin seeds, so be it," one wrote.
"You only have something to fear if you are looking up things that the NSA would consider dangerous to US citizens."

Other respondents haven't changed their habits because they believe doing so is hopeless.
"There is simply no defense against the NSA if they are targeting you," one reader claimed.
"I accept that I am a minnow swimming in a pool full of sharks," wrote another.

Added a third respondent: "I always add the following to my emails 'Hey NSA, go f--k yourselves.'"

[Lamplighter]

NY Times
By ALISON SMALE and DAVID E. SANGER
11/12/13

Spying Scandal Alters U.S. Ties With Allies and Raises Talk of Policy Shift

BERLIN — Just as European and American negotiators resumed work
on a groundbreaking trade accord meant to tie their two continents closer together,
René Obermann, the chief executive of Deutsche Telekom, the German telecommunications giant,
told a cybersecurity conference in Germany on Monday that his company was
working to keep electronic message traffic from “unnecessarily” crossing the Atlantic,
where it could fall into the hands of the National Security Agency.

Other German executives, and some politicians, are beginning to talk of segmenting the Internet,
so that they are not reliant on large American firms that by contract or court order allow
United States intelligence agencies to delve into their data about phone and Internet usage.

Europeans are demanding that any new trade accord include data-privacy protections
that the United States is eager to avoid. Almost never before has a spying scandal
— in this case the revelation of the monitoring of the cellphone of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany —
resulted in such a concrete, commercial backlash.

Now it is also driving a debate inside the American government about whether the United States,
which has long spied on allies even while nurturing them as partners, may have to change its approach.

<snip>

[Lamplighter]

The NSA has finally learned that they can't know everything...

NY Times
MARK MAZZETTI and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
12/14/13

Officials Say U.S. May Never Know Extent of Snowden's Leaks

Investigators remain in the dark partly because the facility where
the former National Security Agency contractor Edward J. Snowden worked
was not equipped with software to monitor employees.
<snip>
Six months since the investigation began, officials said Mr. Snowden had
further covered his tracks by logging into classified systems using the passwords
of other security agency employees, as well as by hacking firewalls
installed to limit access to certain parts of the system.
<snip>
In recent days, a senior N.S.A. official has told reporters that he believed Mr. Snowden
still had access to documents not yet disclosed. The official, Rick Ledgett, who is heading
the security agency’s task force examining Mr. Snowden’s leak, said he would consider
recommending amnesty for Mr. Snowden in exchange for those documents.
<snip>

... but that won't stop them from trying.

[Griff]

It's sort of hilarious watching our government descend into the old soviet ways. I remember sitting in a Roman History class in college when the Professor said something like, "Anything familiar in this?"

[busterb]

This shit is NOT amazing to me Anyone who has contact with the bunch of assholes who work for the Gubberment knows this. From the VA, IRS and all are full of the affitive action assholes. Hey. I got my job. Ya can't fire me.

[glatt]

I know a bunch of people who work for the government and most are not assholes. But one definitely is, and another is a great guy, but the people who have to deal with him think he is an asshole because he's enforcing laws they are breaking.

[Lamplighter]

WOW !

Breaking news (tv talking heads) report that a federal appeals court judge has ruled the "entire law"
under which the NSA digital surveilance programs operate is unconstitutional.

This judge has also delayed his own ruling while it is being appealed.
But he is saying that the NSA should get ready for it to be supported.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Breaking news (tv talking heads) report that a federal appeals court judge has ruled the "entire law"
under which the NSA digital surveilance programs operate is unconstitutional.

Justices have danced around this concept in public discussion. For example, Scalia has said the Constitution does not provide a right to privacy. It is possible that Justices reverse previous rulings that defined what is privacy and what is now to become information accessible to police without a court order.

I doubt any decision would be that earth shaking. But a discussion is to (will be) finally occur.

At this point, Snowden is looking more like a hero for exposing rampant disregard in the NSA for laws or for the principles that define those laws. We know this from what has happened after 11 September. NSA and other intelligence agencies no longer can be trusted to make their own rules. With new technologies and virtually unlimited budgets, these organizations need serious and increased oversight.

[Adak]

And the judge singled out the oft-cited precedent case, always used to justify intrusive measures by the gov't, and said it was obsolete (which it should be, it was written 30 years ago, when our technology was much different than now).

Well done, Federal Judge Richard Leon!!