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How To Find Out If GCHQ and the NSA Spied On You, and How To Complain

Posted by samzenpus on from the stop-looking-at-me dept.

Mark Wilson writes: Privacy International has created a platform through which individuals and organizations can file complaints with GCHQ about surveillance of phone calls and internet usage. The charity has long concerned itself with government surveillance, particularly the sharing of data between the NSA and GCHQ. The legality of mass surveillance has been questioned by many, and it has already been determined that human rights organization Amnesty International was illegally spied on. Edward Snowden's NSA revelations have led to a huge increase in awareness of privacy issues, and now Privacy International is making it easier to find out if you were spied on, and to lodge an official complaint.

32 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. I have a simpler approach... by DougOtto · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Have you used the internet or a phone in the last 10 years?"

    Congratulations, you've been illegally spied upon!

    --
    Solving Unix problems since 1989...
    1. Re:I have a simpler approach... by reboot246 · · Score: 2

      More like, are you alive? Then you've been spied on.

      You don't even have to use a phone or the internet. There are cameras everywhere!

    2. Re:I have a simpler approach... by rmdingler · · Score: 1

      That's literally exactly what the page tells you.

      Sure you're right, but on a post with less than a hundred comments, it's statistically unlikely two people read the article.

      This would typically get an informative mod.. you know, for jumping on the grenade and saving the rest of us the trouble.

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

    3. Re:I have a simpler approach... by jrumney · · Score: 2

      10 years? I first noticed that traceroute was showing my connections bouncing around half a dozen addresses in Cheltenham on their way from one part of London to another in 2000.

  2. Obvious consequence by rippeltippel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Q: Hey, did you spy on me?
    A: Nope. But thank you for asking, we'll start right away.

    1. Re:Obvious consequence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The people who want to know if they've been spied on likely have something to hide. This is a easy way to figure out who to concentrate on.

    2. Re:Obvious consequence by DoctorBit · · Score: 1

      It's like the Streisand Effect.

    3. Re: Obvious consequence by ememisya · · Score: 2

      My advice to you is, "Don't." It's not just watching you that would irk the soul, it's what one can get away with outside the scope of reason. If I hired 5 people to take turns watching you 24/7 and tasked them to shoot your house with an ice pellet gun everytime you start reading a book, that can get pretty annoying after a few years. One could have a conversation about your day right beside you and you wouldn't ask because it would just be a couple of strangers talking amongst themselves. So yea, unless you got money and time to waste, it's not worth it, not going to make the world any better, just going to piss you off.

    4. Re:Obvious consequence by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      There's an old joke that if you ask the FBI if they keep a file on you, they may answer 'we do now.'

    5. Re:Obvious consequence by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      The people who want to know if they've been spied on likely have something to hide. This is a easy way to figure out who to concentrate on.

      A new twist on "if you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to worry about".

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    6. Re: Obvious consequence by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      I'd send in everyone you don't like... from a largely anonymous source, of course :)

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
  3. If by buck-yar · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If it says you were spied on, it means:
    - maybe you were spied on
    - maybe you weren't spied on

    If it says you weren't spied on, it means:
    - maybe you weren't spied on
    - maybe you were spied on

    In either case, you may now be on a list that is asking. What a clever way of narrowing down the list of people the NSA needs to keep tabs on (If you're doing something wrong, you'll probably want to know if the authorities are on to you).

    1. Re:If by tehcyder · · Score: 2

      If you're doing something wrong, you'll probably want to know if the authorities are on to you.

      Yes, probably. But if I were doing something wrong, I wouldn't be so stupid as to ask the authorities if they are watching me or not. That would be more than just a little daft.

      Ha! So if you DON'T ask whether you're being watched, then you definitely have something to hide, so they'll start watching you.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  4. Ello, I wish to register a complaint by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

    We're closin' for lunch.

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  5. Re:Tor costs them money! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Why make it hard for them? They're only after terrorists and drug dealers..

  6. Re:This is probably as useful as... by buck-yar · · Score: 1

    "The defendant also tried to destroy evidence by attempting to remove his data on ..."

  7. "I shall file a strongly worded complaint" LOLZ by rubycodez · · Score: 3, Insightful

    really, filing a complaint with a UK charity that has 8 employees?? Even I'm laughing hard, and I'm a victim of government spying. Word your complaint with boulders in the desert so it's visible from outer space while you're at it, it'll do fuck-all as much good

  8. Re:Repurcussions not worth it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Just repeatedly ask "Have you spied on me yet?" Eventually, they'll snap.

    Picture being the parent driving a car on a long trip with 300 million whiny children in the back seat. If even a small fraction start asking "are we there yet?" it will drive you to insanity.

    You don't win by killing your opponent. You win by breaking their will to live, while keeping them alive against that will. And you win bonus points the longer you string their futile existence along without explicitly preventing their suicide.

  9. I have my FBI file by Trax3001BBS · · Score: 3, Interesting

    After my clearance was issued I obtained it through the freedom of information act. Great reference material (we moved a lot).

    While this was mostly information I sent myself, there are the interviews of your reference's, spontaneous interviews, and what they have found.

    One would assume anything of importance from the NSA be included as well.

    1. Re:I have my FBI file by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 4, Informative

      One would assume anything of importance from the NSA be included as well.

      Bad assumption.

      First, Federal agencies aren't known for cooperating with one another by default.

      Second, the FBI come from Law Enforcement, the NSA's roots are Military. Military and Law Enforcement don't cooperate without a gun to their head (oddly enough, that's why there IS a CIA and NSA - Hoover's FBI wouldn't cooperate willingly with Army/Navy/etc intelligence agencies (and don't get me started on how the Army/Navy/Air Force intel shops don't talk to each other without a gun to their collective heads))....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    2. Re:I have my FBI file by Trax3001BBS · · Score: 2

      How do you feel about OPM's fiasco? Worried about China knowing everything about you?

      My information has been hacked two times (three but I can't remember who it was), as a veteran, and as a government employee. At least with OPM you know who has it.

    3. Re:I have my FBI file by Gr8Apes · · Score: 2

      At least with OPM you know who has it.

      Everyone?

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
  10. Re:Repurcussions not worth it by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 1

    So I can ask if they spied on me and then almost certainly be put on a government list somewhere of people who have something to hide and/or are doing illegal things. Super.

    Pretty sure using an Anonymous VPN Service will get the same result...
    One might even speculate that such a service would be a good thing to "operate" if you wanted to collect data.

    --
    You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
  11. Legal Standing? by ameline · · Score: 1

    If they confirm they have spied on you, does this give you legal standing to sue? If so, expect them to neither confirm nor deny anything.

    --
    Ian Ameline
    1. Re:Legal Standing? by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      If they confirm they have spied on you, does this give you legal standing to sue? If so, expect them to neither confirm nor deny anything.

      They're not exactly going to admit they illegally spied on you, surely? So what are you going to sue them for?

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  12. Re:Repurcussions not worth it by alexhs · · Score: 1

    Just repeatedly ask "Have you spied on me yet?" Eventually, they'll snap.

    Nah, they're an administration. They're experts. You will snap.

    --
    I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of killer sig, which this margin is too narrow to contain.
  13. Re:Tor costs them money! by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    Any such claimed secure system will attract illegal activity that would be quickly rounded up out in the open.

    As such, any of these systems will immediately become a stress test for government penetration.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  14. Complaints, eh? by msobkow · · Score: 1

    A complaint, eh?

    Well, regardless of whether we spied on you before, you can be assured we will now because clearly you have something you don't want us to know about.

    --
    I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
  15. Re:what's the point of complaining exactly? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    You want to complain! Look at these shoes. I've only had them three weeks and the heels are worn right through. If you complain nothing happens, you might as well not bother. Oh my back hurts, it's not a very fine day and I'm sick and tired of this office.

  16. A word of caution to the curious: by kheldan · · Score: 2

    From the 'Be careful what you ask for' department:
    A friend told me a story once about a friend of his: Someone he knows wondered if the FBI had a file on him. So he called the FBI and asked them flat out, "Do you have a file on me?". Their reply was "We do now". I believe this 100% applies here; if you inquire as to whether they've spied on you in the past, you're probably guaranteeing that they're going to spy on you in the future, just because you drew attention to yourself.

    --
    Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
    1. Re:A word of caution to the curious: by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Something tells me your friend is full of shit. Considering how hard they try to make it seem as if they're not spying on most citizens, I find it very hard to believe they would have an response like that when asked about it. That would amount to an admission that they're spying on citizens for no good reason, which they've been denying. How did your post get modded up? It is obvious bullshit.

      Even if true, it sounds more like a bored FBI guy having a laugh.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  17. Re:Suspicious by Sique · · Score: 2

    No one said you had to put all that information in the same request. Request only one information per attempt, and they are still disconnected.

    --
    .sig: Sique *sigh*