MS Handed NSA Access To Encrypted Chat & Email

kaptink writes with the latest revelation from Edward Snowden: "Microsoft helped the NSA to circumvent its encryption to address concerns that the agency would be unable to intercept web chats on the new Outlook.com portal. The agency already had pre-encryption stage access to email on Outlook.com, including Hotmail. The company worked with the FBI this year to allow the NSA easier access via Prism to its cloud storage service SkyDrive, which now has more than 250 million users worldwide. Microsoft also worked with the FBI's Data Intercept Unit to 'understand' potential issues with a feature in Outlook.com that allows users to create email aliases. Skype, which was bought by Microsoft in October 2011, worked with intelligence agencies last year to allow Prism to collect video of conversations as well as audio. Material collected through Prism is routinely shared with the FBI and CIA, with one NSA document describing the program as a 'team sport.'"

Comments

Burying the lede

[andy1307]

Targeting US citizens does require an individual warrant, but the NSA is able to collect Americans' communications without a warrant if the target is a foreign national located overseas.

Re:Burying the lede

[cold fjord]

If you can't think of ways by which you could derive indicators of the nationality of a sender, and maybe a recipient, of a piece of email you aren't really trying.

I seem to recall that the revealed procedure for accidently accessing information from an American is that they have to file a report which is the basis for tracking incidents. I doubt that they have breached the Constitution since it is bigger than you probably think, and includes this entire section called Article II. You only arrest people if there is reasonable suspicion they have committed a crime for which there is no mitigating circumstance. You haven't proved that to be the case.

It seems pretty clear that they don't think "they can get away with anything," otherwise they wouldn't bother going to the courts, and ignore the FISA courts orders.