A group of technology companies, including Facebook Inc. (FB), Google Inc. (GOOG) and Apple Inc. (AAPL), said the bill U.S. lawmakers plan to vote on today to limit National Security Agency spying doesnt go far enough.

The legislation has moved in the wrong direction, the Reform Government Surveillance coalition said in a statement yesterday. The coalition formed last year in an effort to distance Internet companies from perceptions that they willingly cooperated with government surveillance programs.

Objections by the companies, which also include Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO), come after Republicans in the House of Representatives negotiated in private with President Barack Obamas administration to alter the legislation. Its the only bill lawmakers from both major parties have been able to agree on to curb NSA powers almost a year after spying was exposed in documents leaked by former U.S. contractor Edward Snowden.

The latest draft opens up an unacceptable loophole that could enable the bulk collection of Internet users data, the coalition said. While it makes important progress, we cannot support this bill as currently drafted and urge Congress to close this loophole to ensure meaningful reform.

Protesters march to the U.S. Capitol to voice opposition to government surveillance of online activity and phone calls, on Oct. 26, 2013. Close

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Protesters march to the U.S. Capitol to voice opposition to government surveillance of online activity and phone calls, on Oct. 26, 2013.

The bill, H.R. 3361, is expected by congressional leaders to have enough votes to pass the Republican-controlled House. The opposition from the companies, while not helpful, wont doom the bill, said Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Obviously they have some influence but I dont see that as a deal killer, McCaul said in an interview.

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Facebook to Google Say NSA Spying Bill is Unacceptable

Carefully crafted legislation that would end the government's bulk collection of Americans' phone records is under fire after the White House requested last-minute changes that critics say would water down its protections.

A year after Americans learned from National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden that the NSA was secretly collecting vast amounts of telephone and email data, the House is preparing to vote this week on legislation intended to curtail domestic spying.

Although the bill is likely to pass Thursday, the changes hammered out in secretive negotiations over the last few days between the Obama administration and leaders on Capitol Hill have led some privacy groups and civil libertarians to withdraw their support. They warn that the revisions, including changes to what sort of government data searches would be permitted, could provide loopholes that would allow massive data collection to continue.

"I think it's ironic that a bill that was intended to increase transparency was secretly changed," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, which crafted the original legislation. "And it was altered in worrisome ways." She said she was unsure how she would vote.

So far, the changes appear modest enough to avoid tanking the bipartisan support needed for passage. But meddling with the accord poses inherent risks in a divided Congress where lawmakers have grown increasingly wary of intelligence operations. An unusual political alliance of liberal Democrats and small-government conservatives has thwarted earlier efforts to expand spy agencies' reach into Americans' private lives.

Many of those lawmakers remained undecided Wednesday, suggesting the final vote could be closer than the White House would like.

The White House insisted Wednesday that the changes were intended to meet the shared goal of the president and Congress to clip the vast collection of bulk "metadata," while ensuring against new directives that would impede routine investigations or efforts to combat terrorism.

Administration officials argued in the closed discussions, often held in the third-floor Capitol suite of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), that the bill's language originally approved by the judiciary and intelligence committees was drafted too narrowly and could limit non-bulk data collection operations.

"There was no effort to soften the ban on bulk collection," said National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden. "Our engagement was to ensure that the language of the USA Freedom Act would not have any unintended consequences for routine individual investigations."

Under the proposed legislation, the Justice Department and intelligence agencies would no longer be allowed to collect from telephone companies vast amounts of so-called metadata, including the times and lengths of calls but not the contents of conversations. Instead they would need to narrow searches by making "specific selection" requests based on certain criteria.

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White House's late changes to NSA spying bill shake support

AP

German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere told journalists in Washington that Holder has accepted an invitation from Berlin to explain how the US would curb spying on foreign nationals overseas.

"We will have this discussion together in Germany," he said.

The US Justice Department did not immediately confirm the trip and de Maiziere said that Holder's visit would not take place "before the summer recess."

In a speech in January, US President Barack Obama said he had taken "the unprecedented step of extending certain protections that we have for the American people to people overseas."

Obama directed the intelligence community and Holder to develop "safeguards" for the privacy of foreign citizens.

After meeting Holder on Wednesday, de Maiziere said details are still scarce, stressing that "no decision" has been made in Washington on what restrictions would apply to spying overseas.

But he welcomed plans to end the NSA practice of scooping up metadata from US telecoms companies, which will also apply to foreign citizens if their communications is routed through the US.

"It's going to be a long path, but I see some progress," he said.

Germans were outraged the revelations last year by rogue intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, of the vast surveillance programs run by the National Security Agency (NSA).

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Eric Holder To Discuss NSA Spying Scandal In Germany

May 22, 2014

United States Attorney General Eric Holder testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on oversight of the Justice Department and the reform of government surveillance programs, in Washington in this January 29, 2014 file photo. Reuters pic, May 22, 2014. US Attorney General Eric Holder will travel to Germany to discuss privacy concerns after the NSA spying scandal damaged relations between the two allies, Germany said yesterday.

German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere told journalists in Washington that Holder has accepted an invitation from Berlin to explain how the US would curb spying on foreign nationals overseas.

"We will have this discussion together in Germany," he said.

The US Justice Department did not immediately confirm the trip and de Maiziere said that Holder's visit would not take place "before the summer recess."

In a speech in January, US President Barack Obama said he had taken "the unprecedented step of extending certain protections that we have for the American people to people overseas."

Obama directed the intelligence community and Holder to develop "safeguards" for the privacy of foreign citizens.

After meeting Holder yesterday, de Maiziere said details are still scarce, stressing that "no decision" has been made in Washington on what restrictions would apply to spying overseas.

But he welcomed plans to end the NSA practice of scooping up metadata from US telecoms companies, which will also apply to foreign citizens if their communications is routed through the US.

"It's going to be a long path, but I see some progress," he said.

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us_general_eric_holder_surveillance_reuters.jpg

WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Rep. Justin Amash's latest bid to undermine the government's domestic spying programs became apparent this week after warning to amend the annual defense authorization bill.

Amash, R-Cascade Township, filed two amendments Monday to the National Defense Authorization Act, intended to starve the National Security Agency's funding to carry out controversial domestic surveillance practices. The amendments state no amount of funding allocated for the act may be used to carry out a warrantless, secret court order involving any record.

More: Amash's amendment one and amendment two (PDF files)

The amendments stop short of halting the NSA's activities completely. Instead, if a court finds records are needed, a warrant must be issued on the suspicion of terrorist activities. Phone call details are limited to no more than 180 days, and records must be destroyed if they are not related to such threats.

Amash's latest move is "substantially the same" as the so-called Amash Amendment narrowly defeated by the House last July, spokesman Will Adams said in an email. Lawmakers voted that proposal down, 217-205, after contentious debate that was closely watched as a barometer of legislative tolerance for NSA spying.

The amendments are positioned to fire up debate on the NSA as a more comprehensive bill garners support. Titled the "USA Freedom Act," the standalone legislation aims to curb the agency's ability to conduct communication sweeps and close a "back door" to warrantless information already collected by requiring a court order.

"We are offering amendments to the defense authorization bill to shut down the NSA's bulk collection of Americans' private information," Adams said. "We prefer to move comprehensive legislation like the USA Freedom Act, but if that legislation isn't considered by the House this week, we'll be ready with alternatives to force the debate."

The Hill reported Amash's amendments, in addition to other NSA-related items, will be examined Tuesday afternoon as NDAA is discussed.

Andrew Krietz covers breaking and general police/fire news for MLive | The Grand Rapids Press. Email him at akrietz@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter.

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NSA spying: Rep. Justin Amash renews effort to gut controversial surveillance tactics

Preface: Mass Surveillance Is Completely Unnecessary

Top security experts including the highest-level government officials and the top university experts say that mass surveillance actually increases terrorism and hurts security.

They say that our government failed to stop the Boston bombing because they were too busy spying on millions of innocent Americans instead of focusing on actual bad guys.

Moreover, high-level NSA executive Bill Binney - who created the agencys mass surveillance program for digital information - made it easy for the NSA to catch bad guys without spying on innocent Americans all while strengthening America against security breaches.

(Binney is a 32-year NSA veteran widely regarded as a legend within the agency. Binney was the senior technical director within the agency and managed thousands of NSA employees. Binney has been interviewed by virtually all of the mainstream media, including CBS, ABC, CNN, New York Times, USA Today, Fox News, PBS and many others.)

Binney's system automatically encrypted information about Americans ... but that information could be decrypted if a judge ordered that a specific American was a bad guy or was connected with a bad guy.

But after 9/11, the NSA instead switched to the current system which conducts mass surveillance on all Americans. Specifically, the system rolled out by the NSA after 9/11 used parts of Binney's system ... but stripped out all of the encryption which would have protected Americans' privacy absent a court order.

Why did the NSA switch from the privacy-protecting system which worked to catch terrorists to one that spied on all Americans in violation of their constitutional rights?

A very high-level congressional committee security staffer - Diane Roark - gave a hint on a Frontline show this month. Roark was the congressional staffer in charge of overseeing the NSA for the Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee.

Roark explains [ZH - I'd be grateful if someone tells me how to embed the linked video (it's Jwplayer) into an embedded video with start time and duration]:

Continued here:
NSA Spying Is a Power Grab

Tony DeTora On NSA Spying and 4th Amendment
Tony is asked about the NSA spying scandal and his thoughts on privacy and the 4th amendment.

By: Tony DeTora

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Tony DeTora On NSA Spying and 4th Amendment - Video

Cisco Systems' CEO John Chambers has written to U.S. President Barack Obama, asking for his intervention so that U.S. technology sales are not affected by a loss in trust as a result of reports of surveillance by the U.S. National Security Agency.

The letter follows reports that even as the U.S. warned customers that Chinese networking equipment may be used to spy on them, the NSA physically intercepted routers, servers and other network equipment to plant surveillance tools before repackaging the devices with a factory seal and sending the products to international customers.

[ PathSolutions solves the network monitoring maze -- and nets an InfoWorld Test Center Editor's Choice. | Pick up expert networking how-to advice from InfoWorld's Networking Deep Dive PDF special report and Technology: Networking newsletter. ]

"We simply cannot operate this way, our customers trust us to be able to deliver to their doorsteps products that meet the highest standards of integrity and security," Chambers wrote in the letter to Obama, dated May 15, which was published by news website Re/code. "We understand the real and significant threats that exist in this world, but we must also respect the industry's relationship of trust with our customers."

A Cisco spokesman confirmed Sunday that the letter had been sent to Obama.

Referring to the reports, including a photograph of what appeared to be a Cisco package being tampered with, Chambers said if the allegations are true, the actions will weaken confidence in the ability of technology companies to deliver products worldwide.

Chambers asked the Obama administration to take a leadership role and ensure that guidelines and reforms are put into place that "can be honored across the globe."

Referring to the reports that IT products including from Cisco were being compromised on their way to customers, Cisco's General Counsel Mark Chandler wrote in a blog post last week that the company complies with U.S. laws, like those of many other countries, which limit exports to certain customers and destinations.

"We ought to be able to count on the government to then not interfere with the lawful delivery of our products in the form in which we have manufactured them," he added.

In December, eight top technology companies including Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Yahoo called for the reform around the world of government surveillance laws and practices, and asked the U.S. to take the lead. Some Internet companies were charged in disclosures last year by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden of providing to the NSA real-time access to contents on their servers, which the companies denied. There were also reports that the agency was tapping into communications links between the data centers of Yahoo and Google.

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Cisco CEO tells Obama: NSA spying impacts technology sales

IDG News Service - Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers has written to U.S. President Barack Obama, asking for his intervention so that U.S. technology sales are not affected by a loss in trust as a result of reports of surveillance by the U.S. National Security Agency.

The letter follows reports that even as the U.S. warned customers that Chinese networking equipment may be used to spy on them, the NSA physically intercepted routers, servers and other network equipment to plant surveillance tools before repackaging the devices with a factory seal and sending the products to international customers.

"We simply cannot operate this way, our customers trust us to be able to deliver to their doorsteps products that meet the highest standards of integrity and security," Chambers wrote in the letter to Obama, dated May 15, which was published by news website Re/code. "We understand the real and significant threats that exist in this world, but we must also respect the industry's relationship of trust with our customers."

A Cisco spokesman confirmed Sunday that the letter had been sent to Obama.

Referring to the reports, including a photograph of what appeared to be a Cisco package being tampered with, Chambers said if the allegations are true, the actions will weaken confidence in the ability of technology companies to deliver products worldwide.

Chambers asked the Obama administration to take a leadership role and ensure that guidelines and reforms are put into place that "can be honored across the globe."

Referring to the reports that IT products including from Cisco were being compromised on their way to customers, Cisco's General Counsel Mark Chandler wrote in a blog post last week that the company complies with U.S. laws, like those of many other countries, which limit exports to certain customers and destinations.

"We ought to be able to count on the government to then not interfere with the lawful delivery of our products in the form in which we have manufactured them," he added.

In December, eight top technology companies including Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Yahoo called for the reform around the world of government surveillance laws and practices, and asked the U.S. to take the lead. Some Internet companies were charged in disclosures last year by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden of providing to the NSA real-time access to contents on their servers, which the companies denied. There were also reports that the agency was tapping into communications links between the data centers of Yahoo and Google.

Following the controversy surrounding Snowden's various disclosures about NSA surveillance, Obama announced in January some changes in the surveillance by the NSA, including in the controversial collection by the agency of phone metadata of U.S. citizens. He also called for new transparency and oversight into U.S. surveillance programs, privacy protections for foreigners, and promised to stop surveillance of leaders of allied countries except if there was a significant national security justification.

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Cisco CEO tells Obama that NSA spying hits tech sales

Fox Guest Says Obama Doesn #39;t Take Security Threats Sesriously
http://www.newshounds.us - All that drone stuff and NSA spying is just for show, eh? More discussion and comments welcome at http://www.newshounds.us/fox_s_peters_the_obama_administration_doesn_t_take_any...

By: cheldemedo

Original post:
Fox Guest Says Obama Doesn't Take Security Threats Sesriously - Video