US Has Become "Endemic Surveillance Society"

[Hairbautt]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v383/Hairbautt/News%20Images/Anonymous.png"In a report released by Privacy International, a human rights group formed in 1990 as a watchdog on surveillance and privacy invasions by governments and corporations, the United States has dropped from an "extensive surveillance society" to an "endemic surveillance society," joining the ranks of Singapore, China, Russia, the UK, Malaysia, Thailand, and Taiwan.

The report runs over 1,100 pages and includes 6,000 footnotes, with more than 200 experts from around the world providing materials and commentary. Among its findings, Privacy International notes that, in terms of statutory protections and privacy enforcement, the US is the worst ranking country in the democratic world. In terms of overall privacy protection the United States has performed very poorly, being out-ranked by both India and the Philippines.

The highest-ranking countries in 2007 are Greece, Romania and Canada, though all three have only middle of the line rankings; on a scale of 1-5, no countries have a score above a 3."

:source: Source: Neowin.Net (http://www.neowin.net/news/main/07/12/31/us-has-become-endemic-surveillance-society)
:view: View: Privacy International Report (http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd%5b347%5d=x-347-559597)

[TheFoX]

I believe it is called 'control', and those in power want the control...

[maddoxro]

Romania FTW http://forum.torrents.ro/images/insane/smilies/rule1.gif

[LaoziSailor]

ECHELON has been in excistance for a long time, it's just people are not necessarily aware of it.


SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON#History

"Reportedly created to monitor the military and diplomatic communications of the Soviet Union (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union) and its East Bloc (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Bloc) allies during the Cold War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War) in the early sixties, today ECHELON is believed to search also for hints of terrorist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism) plots, drug-dealers' plans, and political and diplomatic intelligence. But some critics, including the European Union committee that commissioned the EU report, claim the system is being used also for large-scale commercial theft and invasion of privacy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy).
While details of methods and capabilities are highly sensitive and protected by special laws (e.g. 18 USC 798 (http://uscode.house.gov/uscode-cgi/fastweb.exe?getdoc+uscview+t17t20+483+0++%28%29%20%20AND%20%28%2818%29%20ADJ%20USC%29%3ACITE%20AND%20%28USC%20w%2F10%20%28798%29%29%3ACITE%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20)), gathering signals intelligence (SIGINT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIGINT)) is an acknowledged mission of the U.S. National Security Agency (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency). As of August 2006, their web site had a FAQ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FAQ) page on the topic,[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON#_note-5) which states:
“ NSA/CSS’s Signal Intelligence mission is to intercept and analyze foreign adversaries' communications signals, many of which are protected by codes and other complex countermeasures. We collect, process, and disseminate intelligence reports on foreign intelligence targets in response to intelligence requirements set at the highest levels of government. ... Foreign intelligence means information relating to the capabilities, intentions, and activities of foreign powers, organizations or persons. ”
In 2001, the STOA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_Technology_Options_Assessment) report (p. 19) recommended that citizens of member states routinely use cryptography (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptography) in their communications to protect their privacy.[8] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON#_note-6)"

Cheers!


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