Tag Archives: surveillance

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden comes clean on why he turned over classified government documents to the press, just how much the intelligence community knows about us, and what his actions will likely cost him

By Mark | June 9, 2013

Earlier today, the identity of last week’s much-talked-about National Security Agency whistleblower was made public. His name is Edward Snowden, and he’s a former technical assistant for the CIA, who, most recently, worked for the NSA through the defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. If you haven’t seen it yet, I’d highly recommend that you watch […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Uncategorized | Also tagged Booz Allen Hamilton, Bradley Manning, Bush, China, Constitution, Courage, Dianne Feinstein, domestic spying, Edward Snowden, EFF, Electronic Frontier Foundation, espionage, Espionage Act, Facebook, FBI, FISA, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, Glenn Greenwald, Google, Microsoft, Nathan Hale, national security, National Security Agency, NSA, Obama, PalTalk, Patriot Act, patriotism, PRISM, privacy, Protect America Act, Skype, surveillance culture, Surveillance State, telecommunications, threats to Democracy, treason, Verizon, War on Terror, whistle blower, Yahoo, YouTube | 43 Comments

Guilty until proven innocent in the age of ubiquitous electronic surveillance

By Mark | June 6, 2013

Upon taking office, President Obama issued a memorandum on the subject of transparency: “My Administration,” he said, “is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged 9/11, 9/11 changed everything, Al Gore, AOL, Apple, Bernie Sanders, Bradley Manning, Bush, Constitution, Dianne Feinstein, domestic spying, EFF, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Facebook, FBI, FISA, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, Glenn Greenwald, Google, Microsoft, national security, National Security Agency, NSA, Obama, PalTalk, Patriot Act, PRISM, privacy, Protect America Act, Russ Feingold, Russell Tice, Skype, surveillance culture, Surveillance State, telecommunications, threats to Democracy, Verizon, war on drugs, War on Terror, whistle blower, Yahoo, YouTube | 35 Comments

I heard someone today say, “We know that he did it. We’ve seen the video. We don’t need a trial.”

By Mark | April 21, 2013

I should preface what I’m about to say by noting that I’m not a conspiracy theorist… at least when it comes to last week’s bombing in Boston. I suspect it’s probably the case, given what I’ve read thus far, that Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev carried out the attack that cost three individuals, one of whom […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Uncategorized | Also tagged bombs, Boston, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, innocent until proven guilty, putting innocent men to death, surveillance culture, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, terrorism, Timothy McVeigh | 54 Comments

I’m trying not to be paranoid, but I received the following email today…

By Mark | November 21, 2011

I should probably be upset that the folks at City Hall are just leaving my personal information up on their screens, for anyone to see, but, at the moment, I’m more curious as to why they’d been looking at my information to begin with. Could it be that they’re having me tracked? Could it be […]

Posted in Mark's Life, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Enemy of the State, parking passes, pepper spray, Surveillance State, tracking, Will Smith, Ypsilanti CIty Hall | 12 Comments

FBI reads Reddit, tracks Redditor without warrant

By Mark | October 10, 2010

Last week, a guy on Reddit posted a photo of a weird device that was found strapped beneath his roommate’s car. (A mechanic had found it while working on the car.) Well, it turned out to be a tracking device, and the FBI has since asked for the unit back. It would seem that the […]