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Tag: NSA

Bulk Data Collection Reform: A Tale of Two Legislative Proposals

25 Mar 2014

Late Monday night, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Guardian each reported on what will inevitably be new competing efforts to reform the NSA’s bulk telephony metadata surveillance program.

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Bulk Data Collection Reform: A Tale of Two Legislative Proposals
25 Mar 2014
Bulk Data Collection Reform: A Tale of Two Legislative Proposals

NSA: In your country, recording all your calls

20 Mar 2014

The U.S. government has developed and deployed a surveillance system that records every single telephone call made in an unnamed country outside the U.S. for up to 30 days.

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NSA: In your country, recording all your calls
20 Mar 2014
NSA: In your country, recording all your calls

After mass surveillance revelations, Europe calls for privacy

12 Mar 2014

Today, the European Parliament adopted its report and recommendations stemming from its investigation of the mass surveillance programmes of the NSA and GCHQ on E.U. citizens. The report, which was drafted over the course of 15 inquiry hearings conducted by the European Parliament civil liberties (LIBE) committee, heard testimony about the impact of the programmes revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden on the fundamental rights of European citizens.

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After mass surveillance revelations, Europe calls for privacy
12 Mar 2014
After mass surveillance revelations, Europe calls for privacy

US surveillance program under scrutiny by UN Human Rights Committee

12 Mar 2014

This week the United States will stand before an expert body at the United Nations and be forced to face difficult questions regarding its human rights record, including its performance on the right to privacy. Among the list of issues prepared by the Human Rights Committee for the review and shadow reports by human rights organizations is mass government surveillance and the U.S.’s refusal to recognize the extraterritorial application of human rights obligations.

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US surveillance program under scrutiny by UN Human Rights Committee
12 Mar 2014
US surveillance program under scrutiny by UN Human Rights Committee

EP’s report on NSA and GCHQ mass-surveillance activities, “Privacy is not a luxury right”

13 Feb 2014

Yesterday, the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) presented its final report on the activities of the American and British spy agencies surveillance programmes and their impact on E.U. citizens’ fundamental rights.

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EP’s report on NSA and GCHQ mass-surveillance activities, “Privacy is not a luxury right”
13 Feb 2014
EP’s report on NSA and GCHQ mass-surveillance activities, “Privacy is not a luxury right”

Top 10 things you wouldn’t believe the NSA is doing on the Internet:

11 Feb 2014

In 2013, the world learned that the NSA’s reach into our privacy extends further and deeper than we ever could have imagined.

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Top 10 things you wouldn’t believe the NSA is doing on the Internet:
11 Feb 2014
Top 10 things you wouldn’t believe the NSA is doing on the Internet:

Mass Surveillance Bingo: State of the Union

28 Jan 2014

Watch the U.S. State of the Union tonight and play along with the Access team: We’re bringing you SOTU 2014 Mass Surveillance Bingo.

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Mass Surveillance Bingo: State of the Union
28 Jan 2014
Mass Surveillance Bingo: State of the Union

US privacy oversight board slams legality & usefulness bulk data collection

23 Jan 2014

Access sees the PCLOB’s recommendations as a major step toward ending the practice of indiscriminate bulk collection of user data. While the report is limited in its scope, it makes bold statements casting doubt on both the legality and the utility of the NSA’s mass surveillance programs.

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US privacy oversight board slams legality & usefulness bulk data collection
23 Jan 2014
US privacy oversight board slams legality & usefulness bulk data collection

Anticipated PCLOB reports: Classified? Toothless?

14 Jan 2014

Last week, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) released a statement detailing plans to release not just one, but two reports on NSA surveillance programs. The Board will release one report on metadata collection under PATRIOT Act Section 215 and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), expected in late January or early February, and a second report on the targeting of non-US persons under FISA Section 702, with an indeterminate release date. These reports come on the heels of a parallel report by the President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies, released in December 2013.

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Anticipated PCLOB reports: Classified? Toothless?
14 Jan 2014
Anticipated PCLOB reports: Classified? Toothless?

MLAT: a four-letter word in need of reform

9 Jan 2014

One of the many recommendations in the President’s Review Group report on the NSA surveillance programs released last month was for the review of MLATs, or Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties. This was the second time that MLATs made the news in December: at the beginning of the month, eight major internet companies issued a series of principles for reforming government surveillance that including improving the MLAT system. Clearly MLATs are an issue, but what does this four-letter word mean, and why are they so desperately in need of reform?

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MLAT: a four-letter word in need of reform
9 Jan 2014
MLAT: a four-letter word in need of reform