Senators To NSA: Your 'Fact Sheet' Isn't Factual; Can You Tell Us The Truth For Once?
from the look-at-that dept
We recently wrote about the NSA’s highly questionable “talking points” about the various NSA surveillance programs that have leaked. Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall — who have long been leading the fight to get people to understand how the NSA was spying on Americans — have now sent a letter to NSA boss Keith Alexander saying that the “facts” in the NSA’s “fact sheets” do not, in fact, appear to be factual, and asking him to correct the errors.
We were disappointed to see that this fact sheet contains an inaccurate statement about how the section 702 authority has been interpreted by the US government. In our judgment this inaccuracy is significant, as it portrays protections for Americans’ privacy as being significantly stronger than they actually are. We have identified this inaccurate statement in the classified attachment to this letter.
We urge you to correct this statement as soon as possible. As you have seen, when the NSA makes inaccurate statements about government surveillance and fails to correct the public record, it can decrease public confidence in the NSA’s openness and its commitment to protecting Americans’ constitutional rights. Rebuilding this confidence will require a willingness to correct misstatements and a willingness to make reforms where appropriate.
Later in the letter, they also point to another “misleading” statement, amusingly using a letter that the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) sent to Wyden and Udall two years ago. This was back when they two were asking the DNI to at least reveal how many Americans had their info collected, and the DNI responded that “…it is not reasonably possible to identify the number of people located in the United States whose communications may have been reviewed….” Now Wyden and Udall are using that line to show that the latest “fact sheet” must be wrong:
Separately, we note that this same fact sheet states that under section 702, “Any inadvertently acquired communication of or concerning a US person must be promptly destroyed if it is neither relevant to the authorized purpose nor evidence of a crime.” We believe that this statement is somewhat misleading, in that it implies that the NSA has the ability to determine how many American communications it has collected under section 702, or that the law does not allow the NSA to deliberately search for the records of particular Americans. In fact, the intelligence community has told us repeatedly that it is “not reasonably possible to identify the number of people located in the United States whose communications may have been reviewed under the authority” of the FISA Amendments Act.
So, basically: were you lying to us then, or are you lying to us now?
We’ll see what the NSA’s response is, but I imagine it will likely involve more lying.
Filed Under: 215, 702, james clapper, keith alexander, mark udall, nsa, nsa surveillance, prism, ron wyden
Comments on “Senators To NSA: Your 'Fact Sheet' Isn't Factual; Can You Tell Us The Truth For Once?”
American people to Senators: please stop passing laws which leave open-ended interpretations for its readers.
Had you done your job right in the first place, none of this would have been an issue.
We’ll see what the NSA’s response is, but I imagine it will likely involve more lying.
A lot of [REDACTED] brackets or shitloads of black ink. Isn’t it time to reboot such agencies? Seems the current structure is not engaged in actually following the Constitution..
Re: Re:
Reboot?
rm -rf /
kill -9 -1
Re: Re: Re:
Kernel panic – not syncing: Attempted to kill init!
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Hard reboot!
Finger firmly on the shutdown button.
Re: Re:
A lot of [REDACTED] brackets or shitloads of black ink.
Those senators are cleared to know just about anything as they’re part of the committee that has oversight for the NSA. One would think with how upset they sound, it would be very unwise for the NSA to continue to lie to them as they are basically like a judge at this point. They are more or less collecting evidence to be used against whoever is sponsoring the acts they feel are illegal or against the spirit of the law.
Think NSA = Prenda and Wyden/Udall = Judge Otis Wright. Something is about to give and there hopefully wont be enough popcorn in the world to enjoy it. The big problem here is it’s a full committee rather than just Wyden/Udall and some of the members seem content turning a blind eye…
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And the rest of the senators in the committee is the reason why you will be wrong. Udall and Wyden are by far a minority. Most of the others seem to think that Udall and Wyden are extreme communist traitors to make a throwback to McCarthy.
It has got to be said
“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act” – George Orwell
Re: It has got to be said
The Soviet Union was officially dissolved just before 1992…
…and the US has fought like hell to bring it back ever since then.
Re: Re: It has got to be said
Everybody needs an enemy…
Re: Re: Re: It has got to be said
FTFY.
Again, persons in high places lying to officials and getting nothing more than called out on it. If the average person lied to them, jail time would be served post haste.
Freedom on the Rocks - Federal Tyranny versus Terrorism
Tired of your rights being exploited by the NSA?
Here?s the REAL problem: Freedom on the Rocks – Federal Tyranny versus Terrorism will give you the true scope, intent and end-goal of the NSA?s digital dragnet:
http://www.argusleader.com/article/20130620/VOICES05/306200011/My-Voice-Freedom-Rocks-federal-tyranny-versus-terrorism
Here?s the solution (at least individually). It?s a free Digital Privacy Black Paper; it shows you, with simple technical references and resources, how to disappear yourself and your personal communications from the prying eyes and master data recorders of the NSA and other elements of our intrusive national security apparatus. Enjoy!
https://s3.amazonaws.com/sm-cdn/reports/NSA-Black-Paper.pdf
Please pass this onto your friends, family, and business associates.
Re: Freedom on the Rocks - Federal Tyranny versus Terrorism
Not a honeypot. No really. Not at all. There is no way the NSA would be watching this document. Carry on.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines
there shouldn’t be any ‘can you tell us the truth for once’ there should be ‘you will tell us the truth or else!’
Wyden needs to run for president. Although he does a lot of good in Congress, he is way too restricted and outnumbered to accomplish enough there. He needs to be at the helm.
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I think I disagree. Being President is not being “at the helm”. As an individual, you have more power than if you’re a Congressman, but Congress as a whole is more powerful than the Presidency.
In any case, it doesn’t matter much who’s in office (in any branch). The problem is systemic.
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The limit on Congress’ power is getting the majority of ~600 people to agree on anything.
NSA to Senators: Yes.
As the earlier Techdirt article (Video: Candidate Obama Debates President Obama on Civil Liberties & Government Surveillance) shows, the lying goes all the way to the top. Obama Lied & Privacy Died.