On 11/06/13 05:21, Anthony wrote:
On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 9:36 AM, Fred Bauder
<fredbaud(a)fairpoint.net> wrote:
You are right, Anthony, never assume you're
not dealing with idiots. If
NSA is doing doing detailed surveillance of Tea Party activists or
defense lawyers we are truly well along the road to hell.
Maybe we are. It certainly wouldn't be unprecedented for the government to
engage in witch hunts against certain political groups. Granted, it's more
likely to be the FBI that has a file on Tea Party groups than the NSA, but
still...
According to the Washington Post, PRISM is primarily operated by the
FBI. The data is stored by the FBI, and the NSA requests data from the
FBI on a case-by-case basis. The FBI checks each search term to make
sure the person named is not a US citizen.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-company-officials-internet-surveillance-does-not-indiscriminately-mine-data/2013/06/08/5b3bb234-d07d-11e2-9f1a-1a7cdee20287_story_1.html>
So there is a separation of responsibilities, but there is no reason
to think that US citizens are better protected against snooping than
foreigners.
-- Tim Starling