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NSA Is Building a New Datacenter In San Antonio

Posted by kdawson on from the panopticon-economy dept.

An anonymous reader writes in with an article from a Texas paper on the NSA's new facility in San Antonio. "America's top spy agency has taken over the former Sony microchip plant and is transforming it into a new data-mining headquarters... where billions of electronic communications will be sifted in the agency's mission to identify terrorist threats. ... [Author James] Bamford writes about how NSA and Microsoft had both been eyeing San Antonio for years because it has the cheapest electricity in Texas, and the state has its own power grid, making it less vulnerable to power outages on the national grid. He notes that it seemed the NSA wanted assurance Microsoft would be here, too, before making a final commitment, due to the advantages of 'having their miners virtually next door to the mother lode of data centers.' The new NSA facility is just a few miles from Microsoft's data center of the same size. Bamford says that under current law, NSA could gain access to Microsoft's stored data without even a warrant, but merely a fiber-optic cable." The article mentions the NRC report concluding that data mining is ineffective as a tactic against terrorism, which we discussed a couple of months back.

9 of 119 comments (clear)

  1. Terrorism? by MindlessAutomata · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The article mentions the NRC report concluding that data mining is ineffective as a tactic against terrorism
    Anyone wanna bet that Obama won't do a damn thing about these obvious attempts to spy on American citizens?

    1. Re:Terrorism? by theaveng · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This isn't about terrorism.

      This is about catching other types of criminals like people distributing images of child sex, people discussing marijuana growing, people discussing anti-government ideas (i.e. like the LP), and so on. It's a way to circumvent the Constitution's requirement for a search warrant.

      --
      FOX NEWS.com should be BANNED from television and internet. Have the Congress take it over and give us Truespeak.
    2. Re:Terrorism? by Haeleth · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Anyone wanna bet that Obama won't do a damn thing about these obvious attempts to spy on American citizens?

      I find your paranoia (and that of many other Slashdotters) interesting. Why are so many Americans so certain that everything their government does is an attempt to oppress them? NSA's mission is foreign intelligence. That means that most of what they do is about spying on people who are not American citizens. Believe it or not, the world out here is really quite big. Did you know that there are actually more non-Americans than Americans on the Internet? There's plenty of non-American data for NSA to mine, if data mining is what they want to do.

      You are not the centre of the universe. You are not the only thing your government cares about. You are not being spied on with satellite mind-control rays. Get over yourselves and drop the conspiracy crap, please.

      Or, you know, go and collect loads of guns and hole yourself up in a log cabin in the mountains while you wait for the Rapture. They can't eavesdrop on your communications if you're only communicating with the Lord!

      (Oh noes! I have disagreed with teh groupthink! Negative mods coming in 3... 2... 1...)

    3. Re:Terrorism? by Mikkeles · · Score: 5, Insightful

      'Why are so many Americans so certain that everything their government does is an attempt to oppress them? '

      Six thousand years of historical evidence about governments.

      --
      Great minds think alike; fools seldom differ.
  2. SaaS? by JeffSh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If any business needs yet another reason to stay away from SaaS, this is the one to pay attention to.

    Businesses and their IP are becoming increasingly important. Any time your business IP crosses onto someone elses network, it's susceptible to snooping either by corporate espionage or now government eyes.

    If your company has a market advantage caused by proprietary information, SaaS is not for you. Why else would the NSA be shacking up next to a Microsoft data center?

    1. Re:SaaS? by HangingChad · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Any time your business IP crosses onto someone elses network, it's susceptible to snooping either by corporate espionage or now government eyes.

      I'm not sure your business critical data is the real risk. Like a lot of things, it's the unintended consequences that may have bigger implications. If other countries are afraid of communications flowing through US relays being monitored, whether that fear is legitimate or not, they may be tempted to utilize more advanced encryptions schemes or develop relays that don't route through the US.

      Sort of like the laptop confiscations by TSA. Some companies stopped coming here to do business. That probably wasn't the only reason, but for a few it was the last straw. Those that did come were sudden converts to advanced encryption and off-site file storage.

      I think there's a certain level of trust that used to be there that the US could be trusted with your data because no one could access it without a warrant. Probably not the protection they imagined but still a reasonable assurance. Take that away and nothing really separates us from the most heavy-handed and tyrannical governments on the planet.

      Ultimately, I think that's the greatest blow to the US from the 6 years of right wing rule. The realization that another Bush could rise up and trample on our ideals and flout the law with little real consequence and even get enthusiastic support from a substantial minority of the population. Suddenly nothing is beneath us. Spying on friend and foe alike, unilateral military action, seizure of bank funds and property without due process, indefinite imprisonment without access to a lawyer, torture, racial profiling...nothing is out of bounds if we feel the justification is there. We can no longer be trusted to respect the rule of law. A perception we have, unfortunately, worked hard to deserve.

      --
      That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
  3. Re:It won't be shut down because there's no outcry by jcr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The once Senator & future President has expressed a desire to shut down some of the most egregious abuses of power that Mr. Bush came up with.

    I am highly skeptical that he'll do anything of the kind. I hope I'm wrong.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  4. The statement that the NSA could "access" by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Microsoft's data under today's laws "without a warrant" is simply false... unless Microsoft voluntarily cooperates. And the article did make it sound like they were voluntarily cooperating...

    which all adds up to yet another reason to boycott Microsoft and use Linux or OS X, and Open Source business software.

  5. Re:If anyone claims to care about this at all... by fangorious · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The problem is that according to testimony by engineers at the co-operating telecom facilities, the surveillance technology intercepts all traffic, not just requested traffic. So the NSA is intercepting domestic communications between citizens of no interest, without a warrant. That is in direct violation of the law. Develop a system that intercepts only the communications of interest, obtain a warrant for those streams that need it, and all will be will. Continue the dragnet approach and people will continue, rightfully, to protest the crime.