By Gilbert Falso :: 7:44 PM
In a discovery that leaves privacy advocates and many Americans reeling, for the second time in as many days, a National Security Agency (NSA) program that gathers data on U.S. citizens has been uncovered.
The NSA along with the FBI have been given the ability to tap directly into the databases of nine major online services and Internet companies in the United States. The highly classified project is known by the code name PRISM, and includes the following companies: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, and Apple. The companies are listed in the order they were placed into the PRISM program.
The spy agency is increasingly relying on the data it gathers from these online services via the PRISM program. The Washington Post cites sources that claim the President’s Daily Brief has sourced PRISM data in 1,477 articles over the past year. The data is used in roughly 1 out of every 7 intelligence reports the agency puts together.
In addition to the nine companies who already participate in the program, the NSA is getting ready to add another company to its roster, cloud storage service DropBox.
Intelligence officers have access to all data that streams through participating company servers and databases. The most popular types of data pulled out for analysis are emails; chat transcripts; videos; photos; stored data, such as files and documents; VoIP calls and logs; file transfer contents; and time, length, and location of user login information.
Microsoft was the first company to join the program, on September 11, 2007. Yahoo joined in March of 2008, Google in January of 2009, Facebook in June 2009, PalTalk in December 2009, YouTube in September 2010, Skype in February 2011, AOL in March 2011, and Apple in October 2012.
The approximate cost of the PRISM collection program is $20 million per year, according to slides obtained by the Washington Post.
By Cynthia Herbert :: 11:31 AM
The video below shows an altercation between a truck driver, and a man who makes a living as a bodyguard. It happened on Tuesday, June 4 on the 405 freeway in Los Angeles.
When bodyguard allegedly cut in front of or cut off the truck driver in traffic, the truck driver jumped out of his cab and attacked the body guard in his car with a large metal pipe.
The bodyguard was able to overpower the truck driver and knock him to the ground, and that’s when the person shooting the video happened upon the scene and taped the ensuing fight for evidence purposes. The cameraman removes the metal pipe from in front of the duo in the first few seconds of footage.
Other witnesses called the California Highway Patrol, who responded to the scene about eight minutes later and arrested the truck driver.
By Gilbert Falso :: 11:57 PM
Major U.S. telephone and wireless service provider Verizon has been under a court order to provide the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) with data showing all information regarding telephone calls made from the U.S. to foreign countries or between two parties located in the U.S.
This information came to light late Wednesday night, after U.K. newspaper The Guardian ran a story with the details of the NSA order to Verizon. Under terms of the order, Verizon cannot comment on, or even acknowledge the NSA’s request for telephone call data.
Such an order is the most broad reaching government request for U.S. citizen data ever noted. It runs from April 25 through July 19, and covers all data points related to phone calls, including caller and called party location data, duration of the call, telephone numbers involved, and the time and duration of the calls. The only thing it does not cover is the content of the calls – what was said between the participating parties.
Under the terms of the order, the records of all telephone communications over Verizon’s networks originating in the U.S., regardless of whether the participants are suspected of a crime, are being captured and handed over to the federal government.
While Verizon is the only U.S. carrier that The Guardian found an NSA order for, many analysts suspect that other major U.S. telecommunications companies have also been given similar orders. Because the order explicitly prohibits Verizon from notifying customers or the general public about its existence, it is likely that other carriers have orders with the same clause.
When news of the unprecedented order came to light late in the evening, Twitter users quickly shared the information long before traditional news outlets covered it. Some even turned to humor despite the gravity of the situation, and started the hashtag #CallsTheNSAKnowsAbout and mentioned some of their more mundane telephone conversations. See below for some popular Twitter quips.
The millions of calls placed tomorrow to cancel Verizon service. #CallsTheNSAKnowsAbout
— William J. Moner (@williamj) June 6, 2013
Most of the phone calls I get are from Sallie Mae, chastising me for late student loan payments #callstheNSAknowsabout
— Audrey Watters (@audreywatters) June 6, 2013
I don’t call my dad enough. #CallsTheNSAKnowsAbout
— Andy Carvin (@acarvin) June 6, 2013
I accidentally said “love you” at the end of a long Time Warner Cable service call. #CallsTheNSAKnowsAbout
— Josh Greenman (@joshgreenman) June 6, 2013
When I call home to talk to my cat. It doesn’t say anything back, I just want it to hear my voice at least 3x per day #CallsTheNSAKnowsAbout
— Kat Reysen (@shinyraptors) June 6, 2013
By Paul Thomson :: 10:09 PM
The photo above is a screen capture from a Google Maps image, taken as the Google Maps car drove by an automated police radar trailer in Granby, Connecticut.
Snapped in 2007, the photo shows the display of the radar trailer reading 36 MPH, with the speed limit sign for the road listed at 30 MPH. Probably a slight speeding infraction for the Google Maps car, but certainly not an egregious error.
The incident was first noticed by Reddit user pntbaler154 earlier today, and posted to the site. Other Reddit users quickly got to work and confirmed the legitimacy of the image, and provided the Google Maps link as evidence. The building immediately to the right of the road and radar trailer is Wells Road Elementary School.
To be fair to the Google Maps car driver, it was only 6 miles over the limit, the road was clear and dry, and there were no children present in the picture. The shadows cast by nearby trees suggest the photo was taken in late evening, long after school had let out for the day.
[Google maps link]
By Cynthia Herbert :: 9:41 PM
If you’ve ever wondered what electronic music group Daft Punk looks like without their trademark helmets, than wonder no longer.
The photo above was snapped by another electronic music group, The Knocks, as both groups enjoyed a friendly game of beer pong at the offices of their record label.
It was posted to The Knocks’ Facebook page, but removed a few minutes later, with the comment, “Guess we weren’t supposed to post that pic.”
Guess not. But, as many know, you can’t erase something from the Internet.
So there you have it, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, de-helmetted for all to see.