“The biggest danger through PRISM, said Edward Snowden, is getting caught in the sights of the NSA. The NSA will collect data on everything. And everyone. Everywhere. They’ll even transcribe voice communications and index them,” Rixstep writes. “That’s a lot of data. The long term danger is they have the data and won’t be getting rid of it anytime soon. Their Bluffdale complex will hold half the universe.”
“And if they ever get you on the radar, you’ll be cooked whether you think you did anything ‘wrong’ or not,” Rixstep writes. “But first they have to get you on the radar. They have to notice you. There’s just too much data out there otherwise. Of course they have search filters to look for the more common telltale signs – if you’re part of one of the infrequent terrorist groups that pop up.”
“But make no mistake. And don’t listen to charlatans like Eric Schmidt who insist that you have nothing to fear if you’ve done nothing ‘wrong,'” Rixstep writes. “At the end of the day, it’s not about that at all. It’s about the data being out there in the first place. It’s about your privacy. In the US, it’s about abiding by amendments to the constitution.
Rixstep writes, “You have a right to your privacy.”
“Be especially suspicious of Microsoft. Not only is their lack of security legendary, but they’re colluding with the NSA in a very special way – giving the NSA access to your Skype traffic under your encryption layer,” Rixstep writes. “Get Off Windows!
Truer words were never spoken. They’re repeated year after year after year. Almost every concerned white hat security expert in the world has unequivocally condemned Windows – and not just for its current condition, but for its endemic weaknesses, being an ‘ad hoc’ system not built for Internet use and not built with security in mind… It’s much more difficult to attack an OS X box or a Linux box remotely. Apple’s OS X might have its foibles, as Apple’s infamous ‘user experience engineers’ are continually hatcheting away at security in the name of ‘user friendly’, but OS X is still a Unix (a FreeBSD).”
So how do you stay under the radar?
1. Are you on Facebook? GET OFF. NOW.
2. Get a webmail account you can trust.
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: United States Constitution, Amendment IV:
“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.”Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
Join The Electronic Frontier Foundation in calling for a full congressional investigation here.
Related articles:
NSA can read email, online chats, track Web browsing without warrant, documents leaked by Edward Snowden show – July 31, 2013
Momentum builds against U.S. government surveillance – July 29, 2013
U.S. House rejects effort to curb NSA surveillance powers, 205-217 – July 24, 2013
Obama administration scrambles to shut down imminent U.S. House vote to defund NSA spying – July 24, 2013
Obama administration demands master encryption keys from firms in order to conduct electronic surveillance against Internet users – July 24, 2013
Apple, Google, dozens of others push Obama administration to disclose U.S. surveillance requests – July 19, 2013
Secret court agrees to allow Yahoo to reveal its fight against U.S. government PRISM requests – July 16, 2013
How Microsoft handed U.S. NSA, FBI, CIA access to users’ encrypted video, audio, and text communications – July 11, 2013
DuckDuckGo search engine surges 33% in wake of PRISM scandal – June 20, 2013
Yahoo: Since December 2012, we have received up to 13,000 U.S. gov’t requests for customer data – June 18, 2013
Apple: Since December 2012, we have received U.S. gov’t requests for customer data for up to 10,000 accounts – June 17, 2013
Nine companies, including Apple, tied to PRISM, Obama to be smacked with class-action lawsuit – June 12, 2013
U.S. lawmakers urge review of ‘Prism’ domestic spying, Patriot Act – June 10, 2013
PRISM: Do Apple, Google, Facebook have an ethical obligation not to spy on users? – June 8, 2013
Plausible deniability: The strange and unbelievable similarities in the Apple, Google, and Facebook PRISM denials – June 7, 2013
Google’s Larry Page on government eavesdropping: ‘We had not heard of a program called PRISM until yesterday’ – June 7, 2013
Seecrypt app lets iPhone, Android users keep voice calls, text messages away from carriers, government eyes and ears – June 7, 2013
Obama administration defends PRISM data-collection as legal anti-terrorism tool – June 7, 2013
Facebook, Google, Yahoo join Apple in sort-of denying PRISM involvement – June 7, 2013
Report: Intelligence program gives U.S. government direct access to customer data on Apple servers; Apple denies – June 6, 2013