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NSA Shares Intel On Americans With Israel

An anonymous reader writes "The U.K.'s Guardian newspaper is reporting that the NSA shares the raw intel collected on Americans with Israel. From the article: 'Details of the intelligence-sharing agreement are laid out in a memorandum of understanding between the NSA and its Israeli counterpart that shows the U.S. government handed over intercepted communications likely to contain phone calls and emails of American citizens. The agreement places no legally binding limits on the use of the data by the Israelis. ... The deal was reached in principle in March 2009, according to the undated memorandum, which lays out the ground rules for the intelligence sharing. The five-page memorandum, termed an agreement between the U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies "pertaining to the protection of U.S. persons," repeatedly stresses the constitutional rights of Americans to privacy and the need for Israeli intelligence staff to respect these rights. But this is undermined by the disclosure that Israel is allowed to receive "raw Sigint" – signal intelligence. The memorandum says: "Raw Sigint includes, but is not limited to, unevaluated and unminimized transcripts, gists, facsimiles, telex, voice and Digital Network Intelligence metadata and content."'

41 of 328 comments (clear)

  1. Legal and NSA by fustakrakich · · Score: 5, Informative

    are mutually exclusive

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    1. Re:Legal and NSA by kthreadd · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The solution will unfortunately be to fix the legal.

    2. Re:Legal and NSA by cayenne8 · · Score: 5, Insightful
      I think it is time to 'clean house' in Washington.

      PLEASE....vote out whoevers currently in office, and vote in anyone that will at least make lip service that this type of thing will end.

      Personally, I'm less worried about a terrorist attack ending my life, than I am of my govt running roughshod over my privacy and my rights.

      The giving it willingly to foreign countries' intelligence agencies is just painful icing on the cake.

      Why is there not more of an uproar over this? Are US citizens that scared? Or do they just not give a fuck anymore for the rights that so many have died for over the years to protect for us....?

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    3. Re:Legal and NSA by losfromla · · Score: 5, Funny

      I don't know but did you see the last episode of "Breaking Bad"?

      --
      Only I can judge you.
    4. Re:Legal and NSA by Gilmoure · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You can't vote out bureaucrats. They stay in place from administration to administration and really run things.

      --
      I drank what? -- Socrates
    5. Re:Legal and NSA by CanHasDIY · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Nah, we're just mostly trapped in a vicious cycle of debt that forces us to spend most of our time at jobs that treat us like serfs as well as instilling a fear that if we were to speak out and stand up for ourselves, our lives would be ruined by outside forces.

      Oh, then there's that whole extraordinary rendition/Gitmo stuff.

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    6. Re:Legal and NSA by ron_ivi · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You can't vote out bureaucrats. They stay in place from administration to administration and really run things.

      You can't vote them out because they and their partners have acccess to all this sigint on their competitors. I imagine any politician who did vote to defund such agencies would be quickly be labeled as a threat to national security and re-educated.

    7. Re:Legal and NSA by Gilmoure · · Score: 4, Informative

      Or bad things might happen. Suddenly a shared gmail account is made public, tax records come to light, etc. Everyone has something to hide.

      --
      I drank what? -- Socrates
    8. Re:Legal and NSA by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Fake debt, false concern.

      To WHOM is this debt owed? By whom?

      It is a macroeconomic fiction, perpetrated to manage large-scale social control, and to impose hierarchies of Elite governance, through feudal taxation models.

      You don't possess US Citizenship. You rent it, through various Federal taxes, and lose it through non-compliance with the collectors. Your supposed "citizenship" entitles you to no actual meaningful role in policy or governance, and is a dubious merit. Think of it as being a "Trustee" in the pen.

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
    9. Re:Legal and NSA by flyneye · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I love it, a completely frank leader.
      Weiner for president. (as long as he runs independent of the Repubmocrats)
      Put on a campaign shirt and show them your Weiner.
      Fly high the finger of foreign policy. Put Weiner in to relieve the stress.
      Hell, he's gonna be single now, so he won't be distracted from his stiff agenda.
      No one bats an eye at a single Weiner doing his job. A stable Weiner is ABOVE the nuts,with a powerful head.
      Women voters agree he ejaculates potent politics and they swell with pride for accepting Weiner.
      So please, open up and let Weiner in.

      --
      *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
  2. In other words... by shaitand · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is no different than our methods for torturing suspected terrorists by routing them to nations which are willing to do the dirty work for us. The NSA has determined they can tap all the calls and gather all the data but not search it without a warrant from the secret rubber stamp court. But all the data can (is?) passed to the Isreali's who can query it without even that oversight. Naturally, the NSA can ask them to do it a favor and query said data on their behalf without any warrant.

    1. Re:In other words... by Mitreya · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It kinda figures... but why pick Israel of all allies?

      I am guessing it is because there is no evidence (or it has not yet been released) of NSA handing over data to other allies. It is quite likely that everyone who asks nicely will get our data.

    2. Re:In other words... by shaitand · · Score: 5, Insightful

      We provide most of the Israeli arms. Their jets, missiles, guns, etc are largely supplied by the US. The United States gave Israel nuclear arms technology, an unprecedented move on the part of the US indicating they have the highest level of trust with the United States.

      You don't need to draw on any racist conspiracy theory to be aware that there is a huge Christian/Jewish political base in the United States. Additionally, there are a large number of wealthy Jewish families entrenched in the top tiers of US privatized banking system including most of the Federal Reserve board. That is a massive hammer of political and financial power that pretty much guarantees the US will never be in bed with any nation as tightly as Israel.

      None of this is a secret, it is a big part of why the US is now such a big target for Muslim terrorist groups. The US hasn't been fighting these groups directly but has been supplying arms, funds, technology, to prop up Israel against Muslim nations and in more recent times the "war on terror" has given the excuse for more direct involvement.

      This part is speculation, the above is well known, on the record, and not denied. If there is a magical wave of dissent suddenly springing out of nowhere in the past few years in the Muslim nations where the US has been taking interest and action I would be completely shocked. Recent events and unrest in Saudi Aradia, Egypt, Syria, etc definitely have the smell of the CIA with it's hands untied playing a lot of the same games it's already admitted to playing using other nations against the USSR in the cold war.

      Also, there is data sharing with common wealth nations exposed in other memos already leaked just not on this level. There could be similar sharing programs with them that aren't part of this particular set of leaked information.

    3. Re:In other words... by Valdrax · · Score: 3, Informative

      It kinda figures... but why pick Israel of all allies? Israel should have plenty of work to do themselves before bothering with NSA lists, and if the story breaks out like it just did, those theorizing that the USA is Israel's pet would have a field day. I'd have asked some Commonwealth country instead.

      We're already working with all the other major English-speaking countries in the Five Eyes program. Also Germany.

      --
      If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
    4. Re:In other words... by shaitand · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "Yes, you do."

      Really? Do tell, what conspiracy is required? Since when is conspiring needed for people to advance their own ideological goals?

      An atheist/agnostic who doesn't see a merit in advancing any particular line of genetic decent has precisely what reason to support the massive aid given to Israel rather than advocate staying neutral with regard to what is essential a dispute about race and/or religion in the area. So, if it is not religion and desire to advance a particular line of decent driving the political push to support Israel and arm them with nuclear weapons... what is it?

      Regardless of the source of the push, the fact that the US armed Israel with nuclear technology and spit in the face of all anti-proliferation stances clearly indicates political pressure to support Israel. So my overall point stands.

  3. Another submission. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Here is my submission:

    NSA is sharing personal data of americans and corporations with Israel. The secret deal places no legal limits on the use of data and only official US government communications are protected by the expectation of israeli agents removing such data as soon as it's identified. NSA insists that it complies with the rules governing privacy. There is now maybe less wonder that UNIT 8200 is driving the tech boom in Israel as they get to handle all the raw intelligence and insider information.

  4. General Petraeus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Made comments critical of Israel, next thing you know his Gmail documenting a fling with what's-her-name is brought out. Coincidence? I think not!

  5. How close is this to treason? by AtariEric · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The NSA is *spying* on us, and aiding a foreign country with the data. Seriously, what separates this from treason? The fact that they're not betraying the government, just the people?

    --
    Don't trust any concentration of power.
    1. Re:How close is this to treason? by stox · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It is only treason when someone who is not in power does it.

      --
      "To those who are overly cautious, everything is impossible. "
    2. Re:How close is this to treason? by LMariachi · · Score: 5, Informative

      Jonathan Pollard got life in prison for passing classified data to Israel.

    3. Re:How close is this to treason? by sconeu · · Score: 4, Informative

      Jonathan Pollard says hello.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  6. Re:What do you have to hide? by Xicor · · Score: 4, Insightful

    it isnt that we have something to hide. the reason we are all upset is that the NSA is spying on people illegally without any repercussions at all. it isnt any of the NSA's damned business what we are doing, and therefore they should not be able to obtain ANY data on ANYONE without a warrant from a judge in a NON SECRET court. there is no such thing as a secret organization that DOESNT abuse their secrecy. as long as the doings of the NSA continue behind closed doors, there will never be any real control over them and they will continue to abuse their power. why should the NSA be able to get away with spying on citizens illegally, but google gets huge fines for just using unsecured networks to transmit data for street view. sure, they are both illegal, but which one is worse, honestly?

  7. Re:What do you have to hide? by kthreadd · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The "Americans" didn't make this happen. The American government did. You should ask them.

  8. "rights of Americans to privacy" . . . ? by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Right" . . . ? It's more like a "notion" now.

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  9. Re:that's not good. by TWiTfan · · Score: 5, Funny

    If it makes you feel any better, the Israeli government pinky-promised that they wouldn't use it for anything bad. And that's a PINKY promise, mister!

    --
    The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
  10. It is treason by Phoenix666 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What the NSA, White House, Congress, and Judiciary (ie. FISA courts) are doing is un-Constitutional, meaning you can't get more illegal and deserving of maximum penalty than that. Murder is terrible and wrong, but it does not rise to the level of undermining the basis for our very society and the social contract that binds people to government and vice versa. With murder, one person dies; with undermining our system of government you get chaos, civil war, deprivation, demise of the rule of law, and masses of men, women, and children dying. Which is worse?

    So what we're looking at right now, folks, and I mean all of us on the political Right and Left, is an entire government that has colluded to violate the Constitution, that is, the social contract that separates our country and society from Malthusian consequences. There can be no penalty harsh enough to punish them for what they have done. If we do not, as a People, levy that punishment on them now, immediately, then we deserve the misery of the slavery that meek acquiescence consigns us to.

    --
    Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
  11. Re:that's not good. by losfromla · · Score: 3, Insightful

    what's this got to do with anti-Semitism? Or, is it ok to give intel on American Citizens to other countries as long as the other countries are Israel?

    --
    Only I can judge you.
  12. Karma by gmuslera · · Score: 3, Funny

    Somewhat everyone in US tought that the wrong thing was the NSA could be watching their private phone calls and mails, while it was ok that fully spied in everyone else in the world. Now it should be ok that Israel can access all information from US people and companies, if they don't spy on their own citizens they wouldn't be breaking theirr laws.

  13. Read the MOA, it's about protecting U.S. Persons by ZahrGnosis · · Score: 3, Interesting

    My reading of this MOA is very different... The MOA is repeatedly clarifying that U.S. Person information is not to be SENT by the NSA (The NSA's Responsibility to ensure it is not in the data is clearly spelled out in the MOA, if it wasn't already explicit elsewhere). It ALSO indicates that IF Israel's ISNU find's U.S. Person data they must report the finding to the NSA and destroy the information.

    The MOA does not give any indication when or why raw SIGINT data would be sent to ISNU, and while it is clear that the NSA does share raw intel, it is also clear that there are cases where the raw data is "Minimized" by the NSA to remove U.S. Person information. The MOA does not guarantee ISNU any access to NSA data -- which data we share is obviously going to be controlled by other agreements and laws.

    So a) we share intel with Israel ... I'm pretty sure everyone should have assumed this, and b) we have documented safeguards to restrict that data to intel on NON-U.S. Persons. Really, read the memorandum, that's all it does... every page is devoted to protecting data on U.S. Citizens.

    How is this a bad thing? This document is obviously showing intent to avoid domestic spying. Good! If you want to argue that the NSA is not following its own guidelines, or failing to protect U.S. data, this is not good evidence of that.

  14. Re:that's not good. by CanHasDIY · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If it makes you feel any better, the Israeli government pinky-promised that they wouldn't use it for anything bad. And that's a PINKY promise, mister!

    Right; I mean, it's not like Mossad has a reputation for being disreputable or anything...

    --
    An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
  15. Re:Zionist Occupied Government by CanHasDIY · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yeah. We're pretty much the only nation on the planet that hasn't tried to corral and exterminate them.

    That's only believable if A) you live an utterly sheltered life, where the only world history you learn about comes from Liberty University, or B) you're completely bat-shit insane.

    --
    An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
  16. Meanwhile ... by PPH · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... Jonathan Pollard is sitting in his cell saying, "Guys? WTF?!"

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  17. Re:Let's pick on Israel by Pseudonym+Authority · · Score: 4, Insightful

    None of those other countries suck us dry, make us look bad on the world stage for backing them, or have a huge lobby to influence our government.

  18. It's called globalization. by boorack · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As globalization is (mostly) perceived in business and financial spheres (big corporations becoming supranational), lots of other aspects are moving along with this process, including bad ones: spying and security apparatus becoming global, tax enforcement becoming global, propaganda apparatus is becoming global (eg. news media in Poland producing basically the same crap and lies as US media about latest Syria debacle). Opression apparatus is also becoming global. Nation states are becoming obsolete, surpassed by moneyed interests. Politicians all around the world are propably blackmailed by NSA/GCHQ/8200 aparatchics who in turn are taking orders from big business bozos. This is why we see such fiascos as latest Obama &Kerry blunder. Not Obama nor Kerry are so stupid to make such suicidal mistakes - someone is firmly holding them by the balls. Exceptions to this rule (that is, not taking orders from NSA boys) are mercilessly pounded in our "objective" media (Putin being prime example) and their countries attacked from various angles and often outright invaded (see Libya, now Syria).

    Dark times ahead, folks. With democratic processes basically defunct - at least as defined in traditional terms of national states, truly global backlash and exposing those fucks like Snowden or Greenwald are the our only hope of reversing our quick slide to (new) dark ages. This is serious, folks. It's not about principles (as our media whores try to convince us), it's about survival. It's about ordinary people NOT being crushed by multinationals and NOT becoming serfs in neo-feudal age. We need a thousand Greenwalds and two thousands Snowdens.

  19. Still waiting for US Govt to clarify 'acts of war' by X.25 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    US said they consider cyber-attacks to be an act of war, so I am wondering when will US Government clarify who gave them authorization to declare war on so many countries, including 'allies'.

    Because what NSA has been doing for years were acts of war, according to US Government.

  20. I don't know yet, and I don't want to find out. by Valdrax · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seriously, Americans? What do you care? What do you have to hide!?

    I don't know yet. Personally, I don't want to find out after the fact that there was something I would have wanted hidden. Maybe I'm doing nothing wrong by today's standards, but who knows how we'll think about ourselves 10, 20, or 40 years from now?

    Think of how many older people you know/knew who lived through the days when racism was still openly practiced and encouraged. Think of people who have mellowed their views about homosexuality only in the past decade. Think of how people used to smoke in their homes around their children. Or how they used to spank children that misbehaved. Or let them ride in the back of a truck with no seat belt. Or let them run around naked and even take pictures of it.

    If you grew up in a rural area, you probably remember someone having hunting rifles on a gun rack in the back of their truck at school or maybe you even carried a pocketknife to school. Maybe you used to be the kind of geek that wore a trenchcoat before Columbine killed that fashion off.

    So who knows what innocent thing I'm doing today that will be disapproved of later? Maybe it'll just be embarrassing. Maybe it'll be blackmail worthy. Maybe it'll even be grounds for suspecting me as some kind of future or current criminal. I mean, how many Muslims in America thought their social networks would be under heavy scrutiny before 9/11?

    We shouldn't have to live in perpetual fear of the future or of the judgment of our peers. We need a personal space in which to unwind and to develop our thoughts before they're ready to take before public scrutiny. We need privacy to become ourselves and not just an empty reflection of what others expect from us.

    --
    If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
  21. Re:Once again we see who actually runs our country by St.Creed · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yeah, I see what you mean: the old "communists and jews eating our babies" conspiracy again - aka the Blood libel. It's not an explanation, it's a rambling collection of bullshit that traces right back to the Tsarist Ochrana and even darker times before that.

    --
    Therefore, by the (faulty) logic you're using, you're just a cow with a keyboard - osu-neko (2604)
  22. It's funny but it's not by erroneus · · Score: 3, Funny

    I for one welcome our Zionist overlords.

  23. Re:CAN WE ALL AGREE NOW? by Gilmoure · · Score: 4, Funny

    Call for a vote of no confidence and then vote in a strong leader who can take control of the bureaucracy and create a grand army of the republic?

    --
    I drank what? -- Socrates
  24. Coming next week; Isreal shares with.... by tekrat · · Score: 3

    Isreal shares with Russia, Germany, Romania and China.

    And anyone else with money.
    In fact *everyone* has your information EXCEPT YOU.

    Land of the free (snicker)
    I think it's time for torches and pitchforks, we the people are being royally screwed by our amoral treasonous government.

    --
    If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
  25. Re:that's not good. by Savage-Rabbit · · Score: 5, Funny

    If it makes you feel any better, the Israeli government pinky-promised that they wouldn't use it for anything bad. And that's a PINKY promise, mister!

    Right; I mean, it's not like Mossad has a reputation for being disreputable or anything...

    And, one should keep in mind that Israel is basically the 51st state so It's not as if the NSA is sharing this data with foreigners.

    --
    Only to idiots, are orders laws.
    -- Henning von Tresckow