NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] [Blog Version]: Dealing with Claims That the Government is Recording All Phone Calls
[Blog Version]: Dealing with Claims That the Government is Recording All Phone Calls
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/001025.html
You may have heard buzzing by now that the talking heads of cable news
are all aflutter over comments (on CNN) by a "former FBI
counterterrorism agent" implying that the federal government is
recording all domestic telephone calls, and need merely to go digging
into that archive to find "conversations of interest" related to the
Boston bombings.
OK, let's talk about this for a moment (no pun intended). Many years
ago, I publicly discussed the data requirements for "recording all
telephone calls" and postulated that it was becoming technically
feasible. This is not, however, the same as saying it is actually
being done. There are several considerations.
First, I take anything said by "former FBI counterterrorism"
operatives with more than a grain of salt. This whole sector -- like
the intelligence community in general -- is rife with layers of
purposeful misdirection and obfuscation. Never take anything you hear
from these spooks at face value. Never.
It is now fairly well known that NSA, et al. have for decades taken
the view that "merely" recording traffic is different from actually
examining it -- but this has been almost entirely in the scope of
international communications, and I know of no legal predicate under
which NSA (or FBI, or another government entity) could collect
*domestic* communications legally *en masse* as described. Of course,
laws can be broken.
But the biggest reason I am doubtful of these claims is that I find it
difficult to believe that surreptitious data collection of phone calls
on that scale is possible without a very noticeable dribble of very
explicit leaks. Somehow the same people who feel that the government
is incompetent at most things believe that the government could keep
all that data bottled up, with all those enticing phone calls (whether
related to national security or just phone sex), without leaks.
I'm not talking here about one guy with claims about a secret telco
cabinet.
There'd be so many people at various levels who would have to be
involved in such a massive operation as a vacuum cleaner recording of
domestic calls, that it's almost inconceivable there wouldn't be leaks
not only about specifics of the program but of actual calls. The
amount of money that would be offered by the gossip sites alone would
be astronomical.
Of course, there's another problem too. You can't explicitly *use*
any of the data from such a program without risking its exposure and
an enormous blowback against everyone involved. Even if you only use
the data to try track other leads, you risk massive unraveling if
anybody slips up on something of this scope.
Now, obviously, I could be wrong in my speculation. I have no inside
knowledge to impart. Perhaps somewhere inside the Beltway there are
guys sitting at giant screens in hidden basements reading this right
now and chuckling at my naivete.
Or perhaps, we're indeed being suckered by claims of capabilities that
do not actually exist.
We shall see in the fullness of time.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org/pfir-info
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
- Data Wisdom Explorers League: http://www.dwel.org
- Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren / Twitter: http://vortex.com/t-lauren
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
_______________________________________________
nnsquad mailing list
http://lists.nnsquad.org/mailman/listinfo/nnsquad