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New Snowden Leaks Reveal More About NSA Satellite Eavesdropping (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Newly published documents from Edward Snowden have shed more light on American surveillance operations in the UK. The Intercept details how the NSA and GCHQ used information gathered by Menwith Hill Station, a massive but tightly sealed facility that intercepts satellite data transmissions worldwide. Among other things, the files appear to include evidence that links UK-based surveillance to American anti-terrorism campaigns outside official combat zones. While many surveillance efforts focus on the internet's connective "backbone" cables, Menwith Hill intercepts wireless signals, using an array of antennae and U.S. government satellites to capture up to 335 million pieces of metadata in a 12-hour period. Previous reports -- including an earlier Snowden leak -- have already revealed some of its capabilities. But The Intercept includes more details, particularly about the UK's involvement in "capture-kill" operations against suspected terrorists. It describes how the GHOSTHUNTER program traced the location of targets "when they log onto the internet," often in internet cafes. A different program called GHOSTWOLF, which let the NSA and GCHQ monitor traffic from Yemeni internet cafes, is part of a plan to "capture or eliminate key nodes in terrorist networks" by tracking their locations. This leak fuels existing suspicions that the UK's role in American covert drone strikes is greater than it admits -- potentially implicating it in the civilian deaths that have resulted. GCHQ told The Intercept that all its work "is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework," and "is entirely compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights."
if you can see the sky from inside you have lost.
The USA and UK are gathering intelligence for counter-terrorism? Who the fuck knew? We had listening stations in the UK throughout the Cold War, and before. We still have them now. The massive prick is holed up in Russia. He really needs to get a sense of perspective.
"is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework," and "is entirely compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights."
1: No one believes that.
2: You voted to leave the EU. Why even pretend at this point?
"is entirely compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights."
I like how they said "compatible" and not "compliant". How clever.
This is good. Why would you monitor "just within combat zones"? Terrorism is a global problem. Guess what? No one cares about you. Not the NSA, not the GCHQ. You are boring.
If it is Not illegal, then it is More charges of Treason against him.
Or, you might want to be more concerned about Obama's drone program that has murdered countless civilians, and maybe a few terrorists.
Your choice, amigo.
Plenty of folk have suspected what menwith hill has been up to for decades,snowxen missed out that the Uk allows the nsa access to the much smaller but more detailed electronic data gathered by the Brittann Norman islander aircraft as they circle at 10.000+ feet above London andotber major cities,there is one stationed at all times over London,in relay,from Northwood RAF base,just outside London,these aircraft can suck up ten of thousands of calls at once,and that's full info,who said what to who on which number,in which handset etc etc,they are up there listening in,probably reading this live as I type it,because I'm "a person of interest" because I watch watchers,and have had the pleasure of MI5 and MI6 etc etc watching us since at least since 2000,again,but have been in their sights for decades before that,mostly because I refused to work for or with the spooks when I was much younger and because I've lived an "interesting" life...they must have time,money and bodies to burn,they always give up from getting bored watching me do nothing,except grow a small bit of weed,and possible lab rat for experiments from porton down in the 60's/70's ,,stupid bastards couldn't catch anyone who knows what their doing,which is one of the reasons they watch me,they know that I could vanish for months,start all sorts of "interesting" events but leave nothing for them to trace...done before,scared I might do it again but not as a wind up this time,they appear to be under the delusion that amateurs like me can get access to almost anything !!!possibly if you have lots of cash/contacts,pity I have neither,I could,possibly would, cause plenty of embarrassment to our ruling elite if I did..and no I'm not some sad paranoid on lithium pills who should be in a nice soft cell...
He leaked to a pair of American journalists.
1: The ECHR is not related to the EU
2: It probably is compatible because the base is regarded as US Sovereign territory and what goes on there is technically not subject to British control similar to a foreign embassy. Hence it is compatible but not necessarily compliant.
In fact I grew up in Harrogate and have actually been on to the Menwith Hill base when I was a school kid for a party. They were extremely hospitable and even gave us Coca Cola imported from the US. At the time none of us British kids could understand why US coke tasted so bad compared to British coke and it was not until I was living the US ~10 years later that I heard of the "New Coke" debacle.
>> using an array of antennae and U.S. government satellites to capture up to 335 million pieces of metadata in a 12-hour period.
Among those 335 million pieces of metadata, how many of them actually pertain to anything related to terrorism? My guess..less than .000001%.
GCHQ always says that, but when we learn its legal definitions, they're crap, bogus.
There is an exemption from criminal law if they are acting under directions of a secretary of state. i.e. you cannot prosecute them if they are only following orders. Which their PR mans spins as "legal, full compliance with the law".
This bit: "is entirely compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights" is the "innocent" plea in a legal challenge to ECHR and ECJ. He *has* to make that claim, or they're admitting the illegality of bulk surveillance prior to the legal challenge.
http://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/%e2%80%98snoopers%e2%80%99-charter%e2%80%99-under-threat-from-ecj-interim-ruling/ar-BBuwdWy
"‘Snoopers’ charter’ under threat from ECJ interim ruling....The finding relates to strict legislation introduced by Theresa May in 2014, when she was home secretary, but could have an impact on the sprawling remit of the UK’s new investigatory powers bill, dubbed the Snoopers’ Charter, now going through parliament. The 2014 legislation compelled telecoms companies to scoop up metadata — the who, how and when of a customer’s phone or internet usage.....In the opinion, Henrik Saugmandsgaard Øe, one of the court’s advocates general, conceded some of these points and argued that bulk collection of metadata should be used for “only the fight against serious crime” rather than “ordinary offences”."
We can't at this point vote in a government without the watchful eye of GCHQ and NSA and the rapey astroturf of their attack dog JTRIG.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/20/us-uk-secret-deal-surveillance-personal-data
So they're busy spying on Brits, handing the data to NSA, who use it to ensure only compliant "Theresa May" style surveillance bots get elected. And somehow they've told themselves they're the good guys and this is all to protect Britain from terrorists who kill fewer people than Tesco's 2 for 1 donut deals.
"potentially implicating it in the civilian deaths that have resulted."
Oh. So the ppl that died was ACTUALLY the government's fault, NOT the terrorists.
Got it...
All this manpower and infrastructure to catching so called terrorists. They really do a fantastic job considering the situation in Europe and the middleeast today. But I guess that's not the focus of the operation.
this is high-tech and sexy and all but it tries to solve the problem too late. You'll never stop all of them that way. Look at the douchebag in France who murdered all those people by ramming them with a truck. How about they devote some of the megabucks they're spending on sexy space age surveillance on studying the causes like Saudi Arabia: http://www.salon.com/2016/01/0...
http://bnews.chopperguy.net/articles/2016/09/06/two-black-pistons-convicted-drug-charges
Are they hiring?
Tracy Johnson
Old fashioned text games hosted below:
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BT