Slashdot Mirror
Vodafone Reveals Warrantless Wiretapping
Charliemopps writes "According to Vodafone, multiple governments have installed equipment that collects data on its customers without a warrant. This includes metadata, location data, and voice. They say, "In a small number of countries, agencies and authorities have direct access to communications data stored within an operator’s network. In those countries, Vodafone will not receive any form of demand for communications data access as the relevant agencies and authorities already have permanent access to customer communications via their own direct link." It's a rather long, and very interesting report. Vodafone also criticized the transparency process: "In our view, it is governments – not communications operators – who hold the primary duty to provide greater transparency on the number of agency and authority demands issued to operators. We believe this for two reasons."'
Exactly. The Western world is becoming more and more like Moa's China and the USSR. These western governments are perpetrating all the same crimes that we condemn all the banana republics for:
1) Extrajudicial killings
2) Massive surveillance
3) Widespread censorship
The list goes on. The West has no moral high ground anymore.
Nah, the 4th amendment very clearly makes it blatantly illegal. They just redefined the meaning of "search" to mean something completely different. It now means when they attempt to use the data against you rather than when they actually gather it.
You know, it's kind of like when you lose your keys. You don't "search" for them around the house. That would be silly. You're simply "acquiring" them. When you insert the key you already have into your door and turn it... THAT is searching! Or, how about a better example: when a policeman runs up to you, begins frisking you and stealing your possessions, without warrant or probable cause, again that's just "acquiring" your stuff. It's only after he's already conducted his sear--I mean, acquiring, that he can then get a warrant to search you.
From all the noise here, it seemed pretty clear that ONLY the NSA did this kind of stuff and not any other government in the world. Isn't that why we're all supposed to toe the "NSA is evil" line?
The government is like a child.
I tell my 6yr old that throwing sticks at people is wrong.
He says "Look! Philip, Lacey and Clancy are throwing sticks!"
I tell him "I'm not their parent. I can't tell them what to do. I can only teach you what's right or wrong. It's not acceptable for my child to throw sticks. I'll talk to the other parents about their kids."
I'm an US citizen. I can't vote the UK's government out of office. I'm in charge of my own government and it's NOT acceptable for them to do this.
This story is about other countries. It's good to let the other parents know what their governments are up to so they can discipline them.
It's not that hard of a concept. Perhaps you should read this?
It helped my kid.
.....this was always the case. When it came to national security, governments pretty much always did what they wanted.
Case in point; Pre-2001, if the US wanted to spy on American citizens, all the did was ask Canada or Australia to tap them, then shared the information back to them in exchange for the same favor when those countries needed the same.
2 things have now changed:
#1 They do not bother pretending anymore.
#2 We now have the ability to learn about it thanks to the internet (for now). Previously if a whistle blower wanted to leak this info, the gov could easily silence the mega media corps (also known as their propaganda departments).
Other countries could very well be totalitarian states. Atleast we are not China, is not a point in favour of NSA.
I'm an US citizen....I'm in charge of my own government
That's funny that you actually believe that voters get any say in these types of programs. The US government does whatever it wants without repercussions, regardless of which party is in power - and it's been that way for a long time. They only bother with elections to provide the illusion that you're in control in order to keep the populace pacified.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." ~Thomas Jefferson
That's a wonderful call to inaction you've got there. It would be a shame if you had to live with it.
No, people need to get off their asses and actually do something. The government and politicians will listen eventually, and all it takes is a lot of letter-writing and actual voting. But if you sit back on your apathetic butt and complain that the system is rigged and do nothing but whine about it, yeah, it will continue to be ruled by the people who do vote and do communicate with their representatives.
We don't have control because people like you throw up your hands and say "There's nothing we can do! Big evil people are in control!"
I can't say that I've never had that opinion. But I'll not my apathy ruin the world for my son. Whats wrong is wrong. My rage may amount to nothing, but at least I speak out. At the very least, in the future my son can look back and know that his father was not ok with this. I'll not vote for anyone that supports this sort of thing. I'll not remain friends with anyone that defends this. I'll not be a part of building a prison for our children. This is THE civil rights issue of our generation.
The voters have _all_ the say. The voters can elect whoever they want. The problem is not a lack of control, the problem is that about half the people abdicated their responsibility and control, a large percentage of the remainder do not actually study the issues in depth, and the remainder are too fractured in their opinions to agree on any one candidate or set of policies.
If we could get everyone in the US to agree that NSA surveillance was bad, and then only support candidates who agreed with that position, then we could end it about 5 minutes after the next election. (Well, about 5 minutes after the new people got sworn in anyways.) The problem is not the system, the problem is the people. And sadly it's probably harder to fix that problem than it would be to reform the system.
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
I do vote and write to representatives - I'm just not foolish enough to think it actually makes a difference.
If you believe voting is a no-op, then why do you expend the mental and physical energy to do so? That seems irrational.