The news that the National Security Agency was monitoring the telephones of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and many other foreign leaders is less shocking than the revelation that, for the first four and a half years of his Presidency, Barack Obama, the Commander-in-Chief, didn’t know anything about it. Can this be true? Read Here […]
By the time Tony Blair left office in 2007, he had built a surveillance state unrivalled anywhere in the democratic world. Parliament passed 45 criminal justice laws – more than the total for the previous century – creating more than 3,000 new criminal offences. That corresponded to two new offences for each day parliament sat […]
Always remember mornings like these, the next time police officers and politicians demand more powers to protect us from terrorism. They always sound so reasonable and so concerned for our welfare when they do. For who wants to be blown apart? Read here – The Spectator
The internet has contributed to unprecedented global connections, but its openness distresses some governments. Censorship takes many forms, and some nations even consider creating an exclusive system for their citizens, cutting off contact with the rest of the globe, notes John Negroponte, a Brady-Johnson Distinguished Fellow in Grand Strategy and senior lecturer in International Affairs […]
Acknowledging that better indigenous snooping capabilities may not be enough to protect India’s cyber security, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon has advocated formulating a set of “standard operating procedures” (SOPs) — ground rules for cooperation which would help India succeed in obtaining Internet information from major powers that control much of cyber space. Read Here […]
European security officials had finally gained the upper hand over privacy advocates when it came to intelligence sharing with the United States. But after revelations of the NSA‘s expansive European spying program, the pendulum is about to swing the other way. Read Here – Foreign Affairs
It would be perversely ironic if Edward Snowden’s crusade against the U.S. government Internet surveillance programs resulted in less Internet freedom in Russia. Read Here – Moscow Times
America’s chief intelligence officers have a longstanding history of untruthiness — testifying falsely and fearlessly. They are caught in a dilemma — sworn to secrecy yet sworn to tell the truth. Sometimes they get their facts wrong; that’s human error. But sometimes their untruths are conscious. Soldiers can die as a consequence. Read Here – Bloomberg
New Delhi’s undignified response to revelations that the U.S. spied on it is in sharp contrast to its stand on the same issue in the 1950s. Read Here – The Hindu
There is no doubt that Mr. Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who has leaked voluminous documents about U.S. programs to monitor communications, has damaged the United States, but not in the ways that he had anticipated. Read Here – Japan Times
looking beyond borders 