[Wikimedia-l] PRISM

[Tim Starling]

On 11/06/13 05:21, Anthony wrote:
> On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 9:36 AM, Fred Bauder <fredbaud at 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