Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor turned whistleblower, said Thursday that he saw both presidential candidates as authoritarian. Photo: Getty Images

A FORMER US security chief, who investigated NSA leaker Edward Snowden, says Australians should be alarmed by unchecked collection of personal information. Picture: HBO

A FORMER leading US security chief, who oversaw the investigation into NSA leaker Edward Snowden, has delivered a shocking warning over the unchecked collection of personal information by the private sector.

In an address to the National Press club today, former Deputy Director of Americans National Security Agency John Inglis said Australians should be more concerned about the collection of their data by private business than by the government.

I think we should never take our eye off the government, make sure we constrain them to the purpose for which they defined. But the private sector is running unchecked in this regard, said Mr Inglis who was with the NSA from 2006 to 2014.

Former Deputy Director of the U.S. National Security Agency John Inglis talks at the National Press Club in Canberra. Picture: AAPSource:AAP

Thats by design, you sign user agreements, you willingly give up the data, but the aggregation of that has stunning consequences. Theres very few secrets about your life, where you have been, what you have done.

Im not suggesting that is used maliciously but its a tremendous capability that can be used for good or evil.

You as a citizen may not care about the commercial efficiencies that drive from having all that information in the hands of someone who can put the right advertisement, the right product in front of you, you may care about your privacy you want greater control on that.

Mr Inglis said limits needed to be put on the actions of private enterprise.

We need to have some discussion about what are the appropriate standards for what

information can being a graded and aggregated and what degree of accountability should be effected upon those who aggregate it?

Edward Snowden leaked classified information from the NSA. Picture: HBOSource:Supplied

Im sure they will occasion a great hue and cry about the suppression of free action, perhaps liberty on the part of corporations. We trying to align the rights of individuals against the rights of groups of individuals. Its not taken in a way that fully addresses the implications of where were in the 21st century.

Is privacy dead? I dont think so. I think you can to some agree, modulate your own behaviour. You dont have to have a Facebook account, you dont need various social media accounts.

But its harder and harder. This is where government can assist. It shouldnt do so in a wet blanket way, but establishing the venue and the dialogue by which we can consider the matter and come to rational conclusions.

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Former National Security Agency Deputy Director John Inglis warns on data collection - NEWS.com.au

In 2014 US whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed the National Security Agency and GCHQ could turn on smartphones remotely, even when they were switched off. Now, three years later, several smartphone manufacturers have started introducing non-removable batteries. Is it a coincidence?

In June 2013, Snowden revealed the NSA was collecting the phone records ofmillions ofVerizon customers inthe US using a secret court order, and had also tapped the phones ofdozens ofworld leaders, including Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Snowden was threatened withprosecution inthe US, and fled toRussia, where he was granted asylum two years later.

The followingyear he gave an interview inwhich he explained how the NSA, and Britain's GCHQ, had the capability touse smartphones likebugs ina room.

They were able toswitch onpeople's phones and listen tothem remotely withoutthem being aware, he said.

"They can absolutely turn them onwith the power turned offto the device," Snowden said.

He said the intelligence agencies could gain access toa handset bysending it an encrypted text message and could even use the phone's camera withoutthe owner's knowledge.

The Washington Post had reported the NSA had introduced this feature tohelp US forces hunting al-Qaeda insurgents inIraq.

Earlier this year,WikiLeaks exposed a CIA program aimed athacking computers, mobile phones and even smart TVs fromcompanies likeApple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung, using techniques users could neither detect nor disable byresetting their devices.

After Snowden's little revelation some people who were extremely concerned aboutgovernment surveillance including criminals and terrorists began removing the batteries entirely fromtheir devices.

Now a number ofsmartphones, likethe Samsung A5, have come onthe market inthe UK, US and elsewhere, which have batteries which cannot be removed.

Some conspiracy theorists might jump tothe conclusion that they have been pressured bythe intelligence agencies toensure smartphones can always be spied on.

"Seemingly the main reason is waterproofing, butthey have already achieved that witha removable battery inthe S5," Tonny Be, a technology expert, told Sputnik.

"The heads ofGoogle and several other phone/tech manufacturers have been documented inthe media ashaving visited the White House duringthe Obama era," he told Sputnik.

"Advancement ofnon-removable batteries started toinvade the mobile market coincidence or plan tokeep everyone onthe grid while milking money outof them withneutered devices while keeping those same devices 'always on' tobe spied uponby the powers that be?" Mr. Be said.

"You decide: conspiracy theory lunacy or nice, complete, neatly-wrapped package ofevidence being touted ascoincidence?" he added.

"I figure if the powers that be ever admit toit being a collective effort that was forced uponmanufacturers or possibly agreed uponto be tactically put inplay, they'll spin it inas a preventive terrorist measure," Mr. Be concluded.

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Phone Companies Introduce Non-Removable Batteries After Edward Snowden Warning - Sputnik International

Edward Snowden criticized a decision made Sunday by Russian President Vladimir Putinto ban technology that helps users circumvent censored web content.

Millions of peoplewithin Russiacan no longer lawfully utilize virtual private networks (VPNs)because of the new decree, which was already endorsed by Duma, the legislative body. VPNs empower users with the ability to navigate the web anonymously through an encrypted, secure connection.

Snowden, the former NSA contractor turned whistleblower who fled the U.S. in 2013, laid out his arguments against such a dictatorially-imposed mandatein a series of tweets one of his primarymethods of communication while taking refuge in Russia.

Snowden even referred to the lawas a tragedy of policy.

Its no surprise that Putin would be aiming to block their proliferation, Ryan Hagemann,director of technology policyat the think tank, the Niskanen Center, explained to The Daily Caller News Foundation (TheDCNF). While hes probably concerned about the use of VPNs in accessing non-Kremlin-approved web content, his greater worry is their use in circumventing the FSB [Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation] and other Russian security agencies.

Those agencies tend to keep pretty tight tabs on state dissidents and even run-of-the-mill journalists and activists who object to his regimes ill-treatment of the press and basic civil liberties, he added. Limiting access to VPNs means Putins opponents have fewer channels to communicate and share information that may reflect poorly on his regime.

William Rinehart, director of technology and innovation policy at American Action Forum, agrees with Hagemanns contentions, adding that it will also likely harm enterprises ability to operate and develop.

Businesses especially have taken to VPNs because they allow for employees to gain secure access to the corporate network while outside the office, Rinehart told TheDCNF. While Putins intent might be to disrupt political opposition, the bigger consequence could be to hamper businesses day-to-day operations.

VPNs are usuallyemployed in the U.S. for the exact reason Rinehart cited.Employees not within the confines of the business property or network, for example, are often not allowedto gain entry because of the respective cybersecurity protocol. (RELATED: Bipartisan Senators Introduce Bill To Stop Police From Snooping On People Without A Warrant)

But outside America and many other Western nations, VPNs are mostly used to accessparts of the web that are blocked.

Russia isnt the only nation state to implement such a prohibitory policy. China directed telecommunications companies earlier in July to obstruct users from accessing VPNs.Apple very recentlysurrenderedto the countrysorders, removing all of the major VPN apps from its uniqueChina-based store.(RELATED: China Battles For Internet Hegemony After America Gives Up Control)

Snowden thinks that becausetwo of the biggest and most powerful countries in the worldadopted the authoritarian measure, it is not only a loss for global freedom, but may geopolitically inspire others to follow suit.

Russias ban of VPNs isset to take effect in November. China is giving the quasi-private companies untilFeb. 1, 2018 to comply with its orders.

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'Tragedy Of Policy': Snowden Calls Out Putin For Ban On Portion of Internet - The Daily Caller

Amnesty International has denounced a new Russian law banning the use of Internet proxy services -- including virtual private networks, or VPNs -- as a "major blow to Internet freedom" in the country.

The criticism from the global rights watchdog on July 31 came a day after the Russian government formally published the new law, which President Vladimir Putin signed on July 29.

The law was also criticized by Russia's most famous asylum recipient, former U.S. security consultant Edward Snowden, who leaked a trove of classified U.S. documents on government surveillance before fleeing to Russia.

The main provisions in the new law are set to take effect on November 1, just months before a March 2018 presidential election in which Putin is widely expected to seek and win a new six-year term.

The law will require Internet providers to block websites that offer VPNs and other proxy services. Russians frequently use such websites to access blocked content by routing connections through servers abroad.

Lawmakers who promoted the law said it is needed to prevent the spread of extremist materials and ideas.

Critics say Putin's government often uses that justification to suppress political dissent. Russian authorities in recent years have carried out a broad crackdown on web content deemed extremist.

"This is the latest blow in an assault on online freedom which has seen critical sites blocked and social-media users prosecuted solely for what they post online, under vaguely written antiextremism legislation," Denis Krivosheev, deputy director for Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International, said in a July 31 statement.

"The ban on VPNs takes this shameful campaign a whole step further," he added.

Putin signed another law on July 29 that will require operators of instant messaging services, such as messenger apps, to establish the identity of those using the services by their phone numbers.

Snowden, meanwhile, called the new restrictions a "violation of human rights" https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/891822030810697728 and a "tragedy of policy."

"Banning the 'unauthorized' use of basic Internet security tools makes Russia both less safe and less free," Snowden, who continues to reside in Russia, wrote on his Twitter feed.

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Amnesty, Snowden Decry New Russian Internet Restrictions - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty

Filmmaker Bryan Fogel set out to make a gonzo documentary about dopingand ended up unearthing the largest, most unbelievable sports scandal in recent memory. The entire saga is captured in Icarus, a Sundance darling that made waves this January when Netflix acquired it for $5 millionone of the highest sums a doc has ever fetched at the festival.

The story begins with Fogel, a cyclist as well as a documentarian, investigating the effects of performance-enhancing drugs by injecting himself with those very substances. His goal is to prove how simple it is for even an amateur like him to evade anti-doping tests. For assistance, he reaches out to Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, the Russian doctor in charge of drug testing at Moscows Olympics lab . . . and, as Fogel soon finds out, the mastermind behind the state-approved doping program that boosted his nations performance at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and beyond; as the film reveals, up to 99 percent of Russian athletes are guilty of doping.

As Fogel and Rodchenkov become more closely entwined, more and more details about the Russian doping program emerge, even as Russia denies that its Sochi medals were ill-gottenand the doctor gradually begins to realize that his insider knowledge has put a target on his back. Things come to a head in the pivotal scene youll find above, exclusively on Vanity Fair, in which Rodchenkov compares himself to Edward Snowden.

Icarus premieres on Netflix August 4.

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From Getty Images.

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2016 Getty Images

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Icarus: See the Chilling Moment Russia's Doping Doctor Realizes His Life Is in Danger - Vanity Fair

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden argues that Russia's decision to outlaw VPNs is a "tragedy of policy".

Edward Snowden has laid into the Russian government for banning the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) and other tools that people can use to circumvent censorship and surveillance.

Russian president Vladimir Putin signed the law on Sunday, prompting a Twitter tirade from Snowden, the US National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower who has been sheltering in Moscow since 2013.

Snowden called the decision a "tragedy of policy" that would make Russia "both less safe and less free". He also linked the government's move to China's crackdown on VPN technology, which led Apple to pull dozens of VPN apps from its Chinese App Store over the weekend.

"Whether enacted by China, Russia, or anyone else, we must be clear this is not a reasonable 'regulation,' but a violation of human rights," Snowden wrote, arguing that, "If the next generation is to enjoy the online liberties ours did, innocuous traffic must become truly indistinguishable from the sensitive."

He also appeared to urge tech industry workers to push back against the anti-VPN trend.

Linking Russia's move to China's crackdown on VPN technology, Snowden urged tech workers to be vigilent.

Snowden is these days the president of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. In line with his 2013 decision to expose the NSA's mass-surveillance activities, he has long been an advocate of individuals being able to protect their communications and online activities.

However, he has previously warned against people relying too much on VPNs, because their operators may be vulnerable to hacks or subpoenas that could expose users.

The former NSA contractor originally fled from the US to Hong Kong, where he famously started working with newspapers to expose the agency's activities.

Then, while apparently trying to fly to Latin America, Snowden found himself stranded at a Moscow airport because the US had cancelled his passport. The Russians granted him asylum, which was extended for "a couple more years" in January this year.

During his stay there, Snowden has occasionally voiced strong criticism of Russia's surveillance policies.

In mid-2016, when the Russian government introduced a data-retention law and forced communications providers to help decrypt people's messages, the American said the legislation was "an unworkable, unjustifiable violation of rights that should never have been signed".

In 2014, he also denounced the so-called Blogger's Law, which imposed restrictions on what bloggers can write.

The latest law, banning VPNs, will come into effect in November this year. It is mainly intended to stop Russians viewing websites that are on the official state blacklist.

See more here:
NSA whistleblower Snowden: VPN ban makes Russia 'less safe and less free' - ZDNet

Four years ago, the deep state was the enemy. Edward Snowden had just revealed its machinations. The head of the NSA was angrily catcalled during his Black Hat keynote. Wehackers, individualists, and/or everyone in tech who hopes were building a better futurereadied for a battle against surveillance capitalism and the surveillance state. How hopelessly wrong we were.

Four years later, the deep state seems much more like the enemy of our enemy. The cultural and political battle which has actually arisen is one against bizarrely, surreally 19th-century style ethno-nationalism; against people who want to forcibly deport millions from their homes, people who want to oppress minorities of all kinds, and, not least, outright white nationalists. It seems that angry, scared, insecure men and women worldwide have responded to ever-increasing complexity and interconnectedness by resorting to the old-fashioned simplicities of racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia, and other forms of hate.

And, uh, Im sorry to say this, but while I know that in our heart of hearts we all imagine ourselves as the true iconoclastic rebel heroes boldy and bravely standing up to The Man, courtesy of years of Hollywood in this battle, the other side thinks of themselves in exactly the same way. There is no shortage of hackers / iconoclasts / individualists among the white supremacists. Consider Weev, once quasi-respected for his trolling skills, once a semi-hero/martyr in the hacker world for his (admittedly bullshit) conviction for the crime of incrementing a URL, now an outright neo-Nazi. Consider Curtis Yarvin. Consider former tech journalist Milo Yiannopolous.

We, or at least too many of us, are still operating with the same, wrong, mindset. That old battle against The (Surveillance) Man wont help much if we lose this new battle first. Strong crypto is not an especially good defense against street police brutality, immigration bans, bans on military service, and ethnic cleansing in the form of mass deportations. This isnt so much a battle against Authority as it is a battle of ideas. (So lets keep in mind that it looks really really bad, in the arena of ideas, when we appear to be opposed to free speech even when the speech in question is despicable.)

This new confrontation is still a very technical one. You only need to scan the headlines from the last year to realize that this is in large part a battle of hacks and leaks, ranging across the spectrum from personal to nation-state, and a battle of information operations. Check out this remarkable slide from this years Black Hat keynote, courtesy of Facebook CSO Alex Stamos:

So maybe we need to stop trying to adopt the Snowden-era mindset, that of cyberpunks sticking it to evil governments and corporations, to this age of Trump and Brexit. His battle is not todays battle. Maybe we need to think a little less about crypto, 0-days, and surveillance, and a little more about epistemology, information ops, and winning hearts & minds. Most controversially of all, maybe we need to stop being so reflexively anti-government / anti-megacorp, and take a more nuanced view of massive organizations and their many tentacles and subdivisions. They might become tomorrows enemies of freedom, as ever more power accrues to them; but todays enemies are an entirely different, and far more dangerous, popular movement.

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When Snowden mattered - TechCrunch

Guest Name(s): Danielle Bizier

Danielle Bizier is a former intelligence specialist and instructor whos worked in the Defense Intelligence Agency, and she joins us in studio as Jack Murphy hosts this informative, entertaining, and at times laugh-out-loud hilarious episode of SOFREP Radio. Danielle personally worked in intelligence with Edward Snowden, which she wrote an article for us at SOFREP.com on. She even made a recommendation for him long before any of us heard that name. Find out what her experience was working with Snowden, and her immediate reaction to learning that her former colleague had leaked massive amounts of classified NSA documents.

With Snowdens working with the Chinese of course, we then get into the subject of China, which Danielle has vast knowledge and stories on. Danielle currently works as a consultant on the private side for Black Site International, and we hope to have her back on. You can check out some behind the scenes pictures from this episode in studio on our Instagram @SOFREPRadio.

If you liked this article, tell someone about it

Ian Scotto is an award winning radio producer who has had on-air and behind the scenes radio experience since 2006. He holds a degree in Radio from Hofstra University. He got his start at WRHU, the flagship station of The New York Islanders, where he hosted and did imaging for various shows on the platform, and for the station at large. He later worked for Sirius XM on various radio programming including Fangoria Radio with legendary rock icon Dee Snider, The Wilkow Majority with Andrew Wilkow, and produced Senator Bill Bradley's American Voices. He is now the producer and co-host for the leading Special Operations military podcast, SOFREP Radio, with best selling authors Brandon Webb (former Navy SEAL sniper instructor) and Jack Murphy (former Army Ranger and Green Beret.) Ian can also be found on Appetite for Distortion talking Guns N' Roses and doing voiceover work for various clients. Outside of radio, he is a fitness enthusiast with a focus on weight training and running.

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Episode 269: Former DIA specialist Danielle Bizier talks China and personally working with Edward Snowden - SOFREP (press release) (subscription)

VIA TOBY ZIEGLER

We ran a big report today on the latest implosion associated with the administration of U.S. president Donald Trump. It involved Trumps new White House communications directorAnthony Scaramuccibasically losing his mind while speaking with a reporter.

Scaramucci was upset over leaks emanating from the White House, which reminded us of one of our favorite scenes (above) from The West Wingstarring Richard Schiff as White House communications director Toby Ziegler.

We know what youre probably thinking

This is the real world. Syrupy mellifluousness creating momentary feel-good vibes isnt a realistic long-term strategy for addressing systemic breakdowns in intelligence security.

And youd be correct

Obviously anyone caught maliciously leaking information from within the White House should be prepared to lose their jobs. Of course that reminds of us another favorite West Wing scene involving a leaker

(Click to view)

(Via: YouTube)

Again, we know things are vastly different in Hollywoods fantasy White House than they are in real life. But still, there is something to be said for an approach like this.

Seriously, leaks happen. From Teapot Dome to Watergate to Monica Lewinsky to Edward Snowden to the present day. The challenge is weighing their significance and (assuming the leaker is identified) dealing with them properly based on the content and intention of the information that was disseminated without authorization.

Not all leakers are the same, either. Some like Snowden are heroes. Others like many senior staffers in the Trump White House, it would appear are purely self-interested.

Politics is a game of addition. As is life. Subtraction is often necessary and justified but in many cases there is far greater power to be found in measured consideration than reflexive condemnation (i.e. the currency of those who go all in).

Politics and life are also examples of the long game, something were still learning after more than a decade of covering it here in our rough-and-tumble home state of South Carolina.

Anyway were not foolish enough to belief the leak responses encapsulated in these clips are necessarily applicable to modern-day Washington, D.C., but we certainly wouldnt commend Scaramuccis approach, either.

Got something youd like to say in response to one of our stories? In addition to our always lively comments section (below), please feel free to submit your own guest column or letter to the editor via-email HERE or via our tip-line HERE

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Another Way To Address Leaks - FITSNews

Documents published by WikiLeaks purporting that the CIA hacked devices made by the likes of Apple and Samsung look legitimate but are "reckless beyond words," whistleblower Edward Snowden said.

"Any hacker can use the security hole the CIA left open to break into any iPhone in the world," Snowden said on Twitter.

WikiLeaks released 8,761 documents on Tuesday allegedly detailing the CIA's hacking methods. NBC has been unable to independently verify the documents.

Apple, Samsung and Microsoft reacted to the revelations on Wednesday, while Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor known for leaking a massive trove of classified documents in 2013, said that the dump looks authentic.

The documents appear to detail how the CIA used "zero-day exploits" vulnerabilities in software to hack Apple's iOS operating system and Google's Android. The vulnerabilities were not passed on to the technology firms so they could patch them up, a move that Snowden said was dangerous.

Technology firms reacted to the revelations. Read their comments here.

Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Signal, two encrypted messaging apps, were also named in the documents. But the two were not hacked. Instead, according to the WikiLeaks documents, because the CIA was able to exploit Android and iOS, they were able to collect audio and message traffic from these apps before they became encrypted. Snowden said that the fact iOS and Android got hacked is a "much bigger problem".

Excerpt from:
Edward Snowden-WikiLeaks-CIA hacks: US gov reckless beyond ... - CNBC