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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.

14 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 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 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.

  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. "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

  5. 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.
  6. 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!
  7. 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*