Stating the obvious, while the WSJ's article covers significant detail regarding the NSA's Internet-related surveillance, the newspaper actually reports upon sources and information (i.e.: statements referencing AT&T, Narus and Boeing) where whistleblowers, such as former NSA senior employeee Bill Binney, have provided extensive information regarding the efforts of those firms to facilitate the NSA's domestic phone wiretapping/surveillance (content) dragnet.Previous reports have indicated that the NSA's surveillance of telecommunications lines in the U.S. focuses on international gateways and landing points. Other reports have indicated that surveillance of the U.S. telecom network was used to gather only metadata under a program that the NSA says ended in 2011.
The Journal reporting demonstrates that the NSA, in conjunction with telecommunications companies, has built a system that can reach deep into the U.S. Internet backbone and cover 75% of traffic in the country, including not only metadata but the content of online communications. The report also explains how the NSA relies on probabilities, algorithms and filtering techniques to sift through the data and find information related to foreign intelligence investigations...
(As I've documented the matter within this community in many posts, the reality that there's a domestic phone content dragnet surveilling the country has been noted by approximately 12 reliable sources sine 9/11. Much more about this last topic in the second part of this two-part post. I've been working on this aspect of the story for quite awhile; and, it appears that at least a few in the press--while still beating around the bush on this story, despite numerous credible verifications of it--are beginning to push the proverbial envelope with regard to moving beyond simple inferences about these greater truths, too. )
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Here are a few links to some of my recent posts documenting the rise of our surveillance state:
Greenwald on ABC: Low-Level NSA Analysts Read, Listen Via Database of "Trillions" of Emails, Calls (7/28/13)
Disturbing News on the Early Opening of the NSA's Utah Datacenter and the FBI(7/20/13)
Long before anyone ever heard of Edward Snowden, it was already time to fight the good fight (7/18/13)
Is America An Inverted Totalitarian State? Or, Is It On Its Way To Becoming One? (w/Poll) (7/11/13)
NYT: "In Secret, Court Vastly Broadens Powers of N.S.A." FISC almost "...parallel Supreme Court" (7/6/13)
"Non-lethal," Weaponized Drones Coming To A Town Near You. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? (7/4/13)
NYT Lead: C.I.A. Inspector General's "Report Finds Concerns With Ties to New York Police" (6/27/13)
Pyrrhic Insanity: The Full-Court Press On Snowden Intensifies; D.C. Goes Into Full Orwell Mode (6/24/13)
It's time we stopped mincing words... (Updated) (6/13/13)
"A Message From Your Friendly ECHELON/Total Awareness/Boundless Informant Surveillance System" (6/11/13)
A Stunning Lead In Sunday's NYT: "How the U.S. Uses Technology to Mine More Data More Quickly" (6/9/13)
Guardian Releases New, Top Secret Docs On NSA Data-Mining Tool, "Boundless Informant" (6/8/13)
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