Saturday, April 29, 2017

U.S. spy agency abandons controversial surveillance technique

Via Billy

FILE PHOTO - An aerial view shows the National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters in Ft. Meade, Maryland, U.S. on January 29, 2010.       REUTERS/Larry Downing/File Photo


The U.S. National Security Agency said on Friday it had stopped a form of surveillance that allowed it to collect without a warrant the digital communications of Americans who mentioned a foreign intelligence target in their messages, marking an unexpected triumph for privacy advocates long critical of the practice.

The decision to stop the once-secret activity, which involved messages sent to or received from people believed to be living overseas, came despite the insistence of U.S. officials in recent years that it was both lawful and vital to national security.

The halt is among the most substantial changes to U.S. surveillance policy in years and comes as digital privacy remains a contentious issue across the globe following the 2013 disclosures of broad NSA spying activity by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

                                                                      More @ Reuters

5 comments:

  1. Does anyone believe they really stopped?

    Badger

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shut them down. No one threatens us. The US is huge. Only advantage of being huge is absolutely no one threatens us.

    The only problems America faces are the ones we create for ourselves.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The only problems America faces are the ones we create for ourselves.

      Damn if that don't say it all! :)

      Delete