The FBI has a new proposal afoot to require communications companies doing business in the US to make their communications technologies “wiretap-ready”, to avoid the “going-dark problem”. From Charlie Savage at the New York Times, six hours ago: The Obama administration, resolving years of internal debate, is on the verge of backing a Federal Bureau of [...]
Ace G-Man Knows All: FBI Agent Claims Power to Access Content of All Phone Calls Ever
by Alex Marthews on May 6, 2013
Citizen! Were you under the misapprehension that the terrorist-sympathizing Supreme Court had ruled long ago that law enforcement had to get an actual warrant before accessing the content of your phone calls? Has that thought been keeping you up at night, because it allows people to express potentially un-American thoughts without the FBI being able [...]
Drowning in Data, Starved for Wisdom: The surveillance state cannot meaningfully assess terrorism risks
by Alex Marthews on April 26, 2013
The NSA has just vigorously denied that their new Utah Data Center, intended for storing and processing intelligence data, will be used to spy on US citizens. The center will have a capacity of at least one yottabyte, and will provide employment for 100-200 people. With the most generous assumptions [200 employees, all employed only [...]
Panel Discussion on Privacy and Security, BU, April 24
by Alex Marthews on April 23, 2013
If you are in the BU area on Wednesday evening, come by to hear interesting speakers talking about privacy and security in the wake of the Boston Marathon attacks. Panelists will include Alex Marthews (that’s me!), James O’Keefe of the Massachusetts Pirate Party, and Gregg Housh. RSVP here.
The Fourth Amendment and the Boston Marathon Attacks: Racialized “Reasonable Suspicion” and the Search of the Saudi Marathoner’s Apartment
by Alex Marthews on April 20, 2013
The Boston Marathon attacks have brought to the surface some of the best and the worst in Massachusetts. On the one side, many news sources reported responsibly and refused to speculate too quickly and without foundation about who the bombers were or why they might have done what they did. There seems at this stage [...]
Security Mania and the Threat to Civic Life: Tom Brokaw, Edward Davis, and the West Stockbridge Zucchini Festival
by Alex Marthews on April 17, 2013
Tom Brokaw, who in his long career has received every accolade a TV news journalist could receive, reacted on Monday to the Boston Marathon attack as follows: Everyone has to understand tonight, however, beginning tomorrow morning early there’s going to be much tougher security considerations across the country. However exhausted we may be by them. [...]
The Boston Marathon: Generalized Surveillance Fails To Thwart Attack
by Alex Marthews on April 15, 2013
Headline updated [x2]. Today, by the finish line of the Boston Marathon, on the same city block as the church I go to, two bombs went off. I feel shocked and sad beyond belief. My thoughts and prayers are with those who died or were hurt, with their families, and with all the people stranded [...]
Microscope Monday: Analysis of Massachusetts’ proposed Liberty Preservation Act, H. 1428
by Alex Marthews on April 8, 2013
The newly formed Massachusetts chapter of PANDA is bringing forward legislation on Beacon Hill to prevent the indefinite detention of American citizens under the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA. The notion that the President should be allowed to detain US citizens without trial and without limit in time of war is a horrifying idea, [...]
Time to Gut CFAA Like The Rotten Fish It Is: Protests and Reform Proposals for Computer Crime, with Added Matthew Broderick
by Alex Marthews on April 4, 2013
It’s not usually our dealio here at CDFAR to weigh in on federal digital rights, because terrific organizations like EFF, Fight for the Future, Demand Progress and the ACLU generally do that heavy lifting for us. But so much has happened regarding prosecutions under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act that it’s worth focusing on [...]
Microscope Monday: Analysis of Massachusetts’ proposed Free Speech Act, S. 642 / H. 1357
by Alex Marthews on April 1, 2013
Have you ever wondered why your Mondays have become an unending bliss of delight, falling upon you like Zeus visiting Danae in a shower of gold? It must surely be because of Microscope Monday, your weekly look at notable surveillance-related bills on Beacon Hill. This week’s bill, tying in with our new Campaign to Close [...]