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NSA's Former General Council Talks Privacy, Security, and Snowden's 'Betrayal'

Posted by Soulskill on from the i'll-bet-they-loved-it dept.

blottsie writes: In his first interview since retiring as general council to the NSA, Rajesh De offers detailed insights into the spy agency's efforts to find balance between security and privacy, why the NSA often has trouble defending itself in public, the culture of "No Such Agency," and what it was like on the inside when the Snowden bombshell went off. He describes the mood after the leaks: "My sense of it was that there were two overriding emotions among the workforce. The first was a deep, deep [feeling] of betrayal. Someone who was sitting next to them—being part of the team helping keep people safe, which is really what people at the agency think they are doing—could turn around and do something so self-aggrandizing and reckless. There was also a deep sense of hurt that a lot of what was in the media was not entirely accurate. Questioning the motives and legality of what NSA employees were being asked to do to keep Americans safe—all within the legal policy construct that we've been given—that was difficult for the NSA workforce."

4 of 212 comments (clear)

  1. "Policy construct we've been given" by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So as long as my boss tells me it's okay to torture people and routinely violate the Consittution, it's okay?

    Fuck you, cowardly anti-democratic traitor.

    1. Re:"Policy construct we've been given" by gweihir · · Score: 5, Insightful

      My grandparents on my mother's side where both part of some 3rd Reich organizations. They believed back then they were doing good and in hindsight never were sure they could have seen what they were really doing and supporting at the time they did it. Gave them a life-long extreme distaste for politics, because they realized it is easy to trick people into doing utter evil while they think that do good. The NSA workers that felt betrayed are lacking that insight, and they do so in a situation where finding out what it actually going on is much easier.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    2. Re:"Policy construct we've been given" by Tokolosh · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Ve vere yust followink orders!"

      Time to watch Dr. Strangelove again, which perfectly captures the atmosphere inside this little man's bubble.

      --
      Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
  2. Rajesh De by stox · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Your first and absolute responsibility is to the Constitution.

    The NSA has failed miserably in that role.

    --
    "To those who are overly cautious, everything is impossible. "