How USA and UK espionage defeats internet privacy
The Guardian and the New York Times had the following:
Revealed: How US and UK spy agencies defeat internet privacy and security
• NSA and GCHQ unlock encryption used to protect emails, banking and medical records
• $250m-a-year US program works covertly with tech companies to insert weaknesses into products
• Security experts say programs ‘undermine the fabric of the internet’US and British intelligence agencies have successfully cracked much of the online encryption relied upon by hundreds of millions of people to protect the privacy of their personal data, online transactions and emails, according to top-secret documents revealed by former contractor Edward Snowden.
The files show that the National Security Agency and its UK counterpart GCHQ have broadly compromised the guarantees that internet companies have given consumers to reassure them that their communications, online banking and medical records would be indecipherable to criminals or governments. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/05/nsa-gchq-encryption-codes-security
The National Security Agency is winning its long-running secret war on encryption, using supercomputers, technical trickery, court orders and behind-the-scenes persuasion to undermine the major tools protecting the privacy of everyday communications in the Internet age, according to newly disclosed documents.
The agency has circumvented or cracked much of the encryption, or digital scrambling, that guards global commerce and banking systems, protects sensitive data like trade secrets and medical records, and automatically secures the e-mails, Web searches, Internet chats and phone calls of Americans and others around the world, the documents show.
Many users assume — or have been assured by Internet companies — that their data is safe from prying eyes, including those of the government, and the N.S.A. wants to keep it that way. The agency treats its recent successes in deciphering protected information as among its most closely guarded secrets, restricted to those cleared for a highly classified program code-named Bullrun, according to the documents, provided by Edward J. Snowden, the former N.S.A. contractor.
Beginning in 2000, as encryption tools were gradually blanketing the Web, the N.S.A. invested billions of dollars in a clandestine campaign to preserve its ability to eavesdrop. Having lost a public battle in the 1990s to insert its own “back door” in all encryption, it set out to accomplish the same goal by stealth. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/us/nsa-foils-much-internet-encryption.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Despite being unconstitutional, and sometimes deemed so by USA courts (see NSA illegally and unconstitutionally collected data on US residents), the espionage against internet users continues.
FWIW, I never believed that the encryption programs were safe and not subject to government espionage.
Yet, oddly, the head of the NSA recently said that it was not violating the privacy of US residents (see What will likely come from the NSA debate?).
I disagreed then, and I disagree now. Notice also:
6 September 2013
Exactly four weeks ago, President Obama stood before the White House press corps and assured them that the NSA’s surveillance practices weren’t so troubling after all.
“I’m comfortable that if the American people examined exactly what was taking place, how it was being used, what the safeguards were, that they would say, you know what, these folks are following the law and doing what they say they’re doing,” he said. However, to put the public further at ease, he proposed some modest new oversight measures, and gave some tips about how the American people could better safeguard their own privacy.
“As technology develops further, technology itself may provide us some additional safeguards,” said the president. “So for example, if people don’t have confidence that the law, the checks and balances of the court and Congress, are sufficient to give us confidence that government’s not snooping, well, maybe we can embed technologies in there that prevent the snooping regardless of what government wants to do. I mean, there may be some technological fixes that provide another layer of assurance.”
What the president didn’t mention is that the National Security Agency has been working to undermine those “technological fixes” for over a decade. http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/09/06/nsa-undermines-privacy-fixes-suggested-by-obama/
There have been a lot of government lies (see Area 51, surveillance denials, and other government lies), and lying is wrong (cf. Revelation 21:8). Despite what many like to claim, the USA is most definitely NOT “the land of the free.” It is the land of the regulated and spied upon. It is more and more becoming NOT “the home of the brave,” but the home of the “politically correct.”
A few years ago, I read my family much of the Declaration and commented upon how the current USA federal, state, and local governments had committed most of the same actions that the USA’s revolutionary leaders objected to from the British king against our family (directly and/or indirectly) within that year or so.
Many leaders of the new country suspected that the Declaration and the US Constitution as written would not be enough. So, in order to try to further protect the rights of the citizens of its new nation, the Bill of Rights came into effect as Constitutional Amendments on December 15, 1791.
People such as Edward Snowden, despite whatever flaws he may have, have pointed out some of how the USA violated portions of the Bill of Rights, such as the 4th-6th amendment rights. So, he has been in hiding for that (currently in Russia). Here is what those amendments were supposed to protect (some of which have been mishandled related to him personally by the US government):
- Fourth Amendment – Protection from unreasonable search and seizure.
- The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
- Fifth Amendment – due process, double jeopardy, self-incrimination, eminent domain.
- No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
- Sixth Amendment – Trial by jury and rights of the accused; Confrontation Clause, speedy trial, public trial, right to counsel
- In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Interestingly, if it was written today and adopted, I suspect that the USA Supreme Court would probably rule the Declaration unconstitutional as it starts out with the following statements:
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
And the Declaration ends with the following statement:
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
Also, the Bill of Rights has tended to be viewed as intending to provide citizens minimalist protection by the US Supreme Court, which is in violation of its intent. 21st century America does not include a court system or a country that is particularly keen on keeping the government out of most peoples’ lives.
Because of what the USA and UK have done, and the fact that its President Obama has declared that he would share espionage secrets, techniques, and findings with the Europeans in general and the Germans in particular, this is setting the stage for even greater surveillance which will come from the emerging Beast power in Europe (cf. Revelation 13:16-18).
Watch.
Will USA Spying Help the Beast Power? Various allegations have surfaced about the United States government spying on its own citizens as well as its supposed allies in the European Union. Whether or not all the espionage allegations are true, and the main ones have not been publicly denied by the government of the USA, the reality is that this does have prophetic ramifications and will help the Beast of Revelation. This video provides quotes from the Bible showing how this is so. The USA is placing itself in a position to be taken over and its response to the allegations will make it easier for the Europeans to do so.
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe?
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first?
Will the Anglo-Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people? Here is a link to a video titled Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves?
Will the UK Lose Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands? Spain wants Gibraltar and Argentina wants the Falklands (also known as the Malvinas). Does the Bible give clues as to what will happen with these ‘sea gates’? A related video would be Will the UK Lose Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands? A version in Spanish is ¿Perderá el Reino Unido a Gibraltar y las Islas Falkland (Malvinas)?
Canada in Prophecy: What Does Bible Prophecy, Catholic Prophecy, and other Predictions Suggest About the Future of Canada? There are prophecies that suggest involvement with Canada. And many are not positive about its future.
Protestant and Church of God views of the United States in Bible Prophecy Is the USA mentioned in Bible prophecy? Some Protestants say yes, while others say no. What does the Bible really teach? Learn the truth about this. There is also a video available: Is The United States Mentioned In Bible Prophecy?
Who is the King of the West? Why is there no Final End-Time King of the West in Bible Prophecy? Is the United States the King of the West? Here is a version in the Spanish language: ¿Quién es el Rey del Occidente? ¿Por qué no hay un Rey del Occidente en la profecía del tiempo del fin?
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Edition for Second Obama Term This is a 160 page book for people truly interested in prophecies related to Barack Obama and the United States, including learning about many that have already been fulfilled (which the book documents in detail) and those that will be fulfilled in the future. It also has a chapter about a Republican choice. This book is available to order at www.barackobamaprophecy.com. The physical book can also be purchased at Amazon from the following link: Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States: Is Barack Obama Fulfilling Biblical, Islamic Catholic, Kenyan, and other America-Related Prophecies? What About Republican Leaders? Second Edition for Second Obama Term.
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Term-Amazon Kindle edition. This electronic version is available for only US$2.99. And you do not need an actual Kindle device to read it. Why? Amazon will allow you to download it to almost any device: Please click HERE to download one of Amazon s Free Reader Apps. After you go to for your free Kindle reader and then go to Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Term-Amazon Kindle edition.
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