Snowdon is a dummy

The National Security Agency was blocked by a judge from carrying out plans tomorrow to begin destroying phone records collected for surveillance after a privacy group argued they are relevant to lawsuits claiming the practice is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White in San Francisco ordered the agency today to retain the records and scheduled a hearing for March 19 on whether they can be destroyed. The NSA had planned to dispose of the records following a March 7 ruling by the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in Washington.

The European Parliament's consent to the EU-US trade deal "could be endangered" if blanket mass surveillance by the US National Security Agency (NSA) does not stop, MEPs have warned.

The text of a resolution wrapping up a six-month inquiry into US mass surveillance schemes also called on the EU to suspend its bank data deal with the US and the Safe Harbour agreement on data privacy.

“The fight against terrorism can never justify secret and illegal mass surveillance,” the resolution said.
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The resolution called for the European Parliament to withhold its consent to the final Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal with the US unless it fully respects EU fundamental rights.
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The text also called for a "European whistle-blower protection programme", which should pay particular attention to the "complexity of whistleblowing in the field of intelligence". EU countries are also asked to consider granting whistleblowers international protection from prosecution.
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Within Europe, the resolution called on the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Poland to clarify the allegations of mass surveillance – including potential agreements between intelligence services and telecoms firms on access to and exchange of personal data and access to transatlantic cables – and their compatibility with EU laws.

Other EU countries, in particular those participating in the "9-eyes" (UK, Denmark, France and the Netherlands) and "14-eyes" arrangements (those countries plus Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Sweden), were also urged to review their national laws to ensure that their intelligence services are subject to parliamentary and judicial oversight and that they comply with fundamental rights obligations.
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Google says that they have begun encrypting users’ searches on a global scale as part of a broader effort to frustrate surveillance by governments and hackers.

The move will be particularly effective in countries where censorship is enforced on a national level. In China for examples citizens will be able to search for sensitive search terms such as “Tiananmen Square” without the authorities being automatically alerted.
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Google to encrypt searches globally in reaction to Edward Snowden revelations

Quote:

Google says that they have begun encrypting users’ searches on a global scale as part of a broader effort to frustrate surveillance by governments and hackers.

The move will be particularly effective in countries where censorship is enforced on a national level. In China for examples citizens will be able to search for sensitive search terms such as “Tiananmen Square” without the authorities being automatically alerted.
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You seem to be taking the “Mussolini made the trains run on time” approach on this issue now, Walter.

Frank Apisa wrote:

You seem to be taking the “Mussolini made the trains run on time” approach on this issue now, Walter.

Not at all - and I've all my life objected that "Hitler built the autobahn" vehemently as well.

What I did has been quoting and sourcing a report that Google will encrypt searches globally in reaction to Edward Snowden revelations.

You might have have that. (Same with the other reports, I quoted with source.)


The German parliament's "Snowden-NSA-affair investigation committee" will meet in April the first time, all parties in the Bundestag (Federal Parliament) decided yesterday.

Does the word "dastardly" have a jurisprudencial signifigance?

No...but it is one of my favorite words.

Top Democrat on House intelligence committee says details are still being worked on but proposal would end bulk collection

Supporters of a stalled congressional effort to end the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of Americans’ metadata are looking warily at an alternative proposal by a key NSA advocate purporting to seek the same goal.

This week, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger, who represents the Maryland district home to the NSA’s Fort Meade headquarters, came out in favor of a remedy for the controversial surveillance.

Ruppersberger, in interviews with the Washington Post, National Journal and Politico, said he was working to craft a proposal that would require court orders for government requests for Americans’ phone records – perhaps on an individual basis – from the telephone companies, without requiring the companies to expand retention of their customer records beyond current practice.

It’s an idea that on its face aligns with what privacy advocates have wanted since the Guardian exposed the NSA bulk phone records collection in June, thanks to leaks from Edward Snowden.

But his idea also attracted suspicion. Not only has Ruppersberger been a staunch advocate for the NSA – and a fervent critic of Snowden – but his proposal would compete with the civil-libertarian alternative, the USA Freedom Act, that has 163 co-sponsors in both congressional chambers and would go further than Ruppersberger’s effort, as initially described.
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For the first time the UK has been included on Reporters Without Borders’ ‘Enemies of the Internet’, an annual list produced by the press watchdog to draw attention to countries disrupting freedom of information through censorship and surveillance.

The USA also made the list for the first time, alongside stalwarts including North Korea, China, and Iran.