domestic spying

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Big Power Company Hit With Strange Spy Scandal
Big Power Company Hit
With Strange Spy Scandal
Longform
Jul 2, 2023 11:41 AM CDT

Big Power Company Hit With Strange Spy Scandal

Former Southern Co. exec and his girlfriend were under surveillance

(Newser) - When you think of one of the largest power providers in the country, Georgia-based Southern Co., it's unlikely that any cloak-and-dagger escapades come to mind. But in a detailed report by Katherine Blunt of the Wall Street Journal , things are that strange. Southern has been dealing for over a...

9 in 10 Messages NSA Spies on Aren't From Targets
9 in 10 Messages NSA
Spies On Not From Targets
INVESTIGATION
Jul 6, 2014 10:25 AM CDT

9 in 10 Messages NSA Spies On Not From Targets

Agency is casting much wider net, Snowden messages show

(Newser) - Still living in the dream world where the NSA only monitors foreign nationals located outside our borders? The Washington Post , armed with a four-month investigation and a vast trove of 160,000 intercepted messages courtesy of Edward Snowden, reveals that the spy agency in fact casts a much wider net....

France Spies On Its People, Too
 France Spies On Its People, Too 
Report
Jul 4, 2013 9:25 AM CDT

France Spies On Its People, Too

Newspaper alleges that DGSE keeps massive database of 'who is talking to whom'

(Newser) - Looks like America isn't the only country with a massive surveillance hobby . France is monitoring its people's phone calls, emails and social media activity as well, the Le Monde newspaper reported today, according to Reuters . France's external intelligence agency, the DGSE, intercepts signals from phones and computers...

If NSA Trusted This Guy, Why Should We Trust It?

Farhad Manjoo: Edward Snowden seems like poor choice for security clearance

(Newser) - Forget the constitutional questions surrounding the NSA program for a second, and ask yourself this: Can we trust our secrets in the hands of an agency that would trust the likes of Edward Snowden? Snowden "sounds like a thoughtful, patriotic young man," Farhad Manjoo allows in Slate . But...

FDA's Vast Email Spying Targeted 'Enemies List'

Agency looked at confidential information, made 'enemies list'

(Newser) - The email monitoring by the Food and Drug Administration started out as an investigation of five scientists suspected of leaking confidential documents to Congress and the press. But it soon grew into a wide-ranging "enemies list" against those pushing negative information about the FDA, peeking at thousands of emails...

NYPD Infiltrated Liberal Groups
 NYPD Infiltrated Liberal Groups 
investigation
Mar 23, 2012 11:11 AM CDT

NYPD Infiltrated Liberal Groups

Undercover officers kept files on them: AP investigation

(Newser) - Looks like Muslims aren't the only ones the NYPD has spied on . The AP has uncovered documents showing that undercover NYPD officers infiltrated liberal political organizations, attending meetings and keeping intelligence files on activists. The effort ranged well outside their jurisdiction; in April 2008, for example, an officer was...

CIA to Examine Its Own Ties With NYPD

Agency helped police monitor Muslim communities

(Newser) - Newly minted CIA director David Petraeus says the agency’s inspector general is investigating the agency’s role in helping the NYPD gather intelligence in Muslim neighborhoods, the AP reports. The NYPD’s unit, revealed in this AP investigation , was set up beginning in 2002 with the help of an...

CIA Helping NYPD Spy on Muslims: Report


 CIA Helping NYPD 
 Spy on Muslims 
SAYS REPORT
Aug 24, 2011 1:34 PM CDT

CIA Helping NYPD Spy on Muslims

Investigation uncovers huge domestic spying program

(Newser) - Ever since September 11, the NYPD has been running a massive domestic intelligence operation with the help of the CIA, an AP investigation has discovered. The department has sent undercover officers to monitor Muslim neighborhoods, and assigned so-called “mosque crawlers” to listen in on sermons without any evidence of...

Bush-Era FBI Put Liberal Activists on Terror List
Bush-Era FBI Put Liberal Activists on Terror List
JUSTICE DEPT. REPORT
Sep 20, 2010 2:21 PM CDT

Bush-Era FBI Put Liberal Activists on Terror List

PETA, Greenpeace, others unfairly targeted

(Newser) - The FBI investigated and monitored a variety of liberal activist groups without proper cause during the Bush Administration, the Justice Department concluded today. Though the Inspector General cleared the FBI of the most serious allegation against it—that it targeted the groups based on how they exercised their First Amendment...

Wiretap Whistleblower Reflects on Fateful Leak

Fmr. Justice official wrestles with effects of NYT call

(Newser) - The government lawyer who blew the whistle on the Bush administration’s domestic wiretapping program has wrestled with the consequences of his decision, but he felt obligated to tell the truth, Newsweek reports. “I thought this (secret program) was something the other branches of the government—and the public—...

'Sweeping' House Deal Would Expand Spy Powers

Long-awaited compromise would offer telecoms immunity

(Newser) - House leaders brokered a long-awaited compromise on spy powers today, bringing much of the post-9/11 NSA activities—illegal at the time—under law and granting a qualified immunity to telecom companies that participated in the extra-FISA program, the Wall Street Journal reports. The “most sweeping rewrite” of spy law...

Domestic Spying Shuts Down US Foundation

But offers no evidence, in 4 years, for 'aiding terrorists' charges

(Newser) - The Al-Haramain foundation was wiretapped, raided, closed down, and had its accounts frozen 4 years ago for allegedly funding terrorists. The Ashland, Ore. group's leaders landed in legal and financial jeopardy, but to this day have not seen the evidence against them. Salon dissects the case as an example of...

Government's Spy Powers Up, But Terror Arrests Down

Civil-liberty groups squawk; feds say numbers don't tell whole story

(Newser) - Big Brother is watching … but hasn’t found much, the Los Angeles Times reports. Despite vastly increased domestic spying activities, terrorism prosecutions have plummeted 50% since 2002; last year alone saw a 19% drop, despite a 9% increase in eavesdropping warrants. The Bush administration, meanwhile, is pushing for even...

NSA Spying Branches Out
NSA Spying Branches Out
Mar 10, 2008 2:50 PM CDT

NSA Spying Branches Out

Domestic calls, email, financial transactions under scrutiny—all without a warrant

(Newser) - Traditionally charged with foreign surveillance, the NSA has increasingly been analyzing data collected domestically, reports the Wall Street Journal—on a scale comparable to that of a Pentagon proposal Congress killed 5 years ago. "When it got taken apart, it didn't get thrown away," says a former government...

Separate FBI Raids Net 4 Alleged Spies

DoD analyst, ex-Boeing engineer accused of selling secrets to China

(Newser) - The FBI arrested a Defense Department employee and three others today on charges of spying for China, the Washington Post reports. The Virginia-based  DoD weapons analyst and two accomplices in New Orleans were coincidentally busted on the same day as an ex-Boeing engineer in Southern California, Justice Department officials in...

Senate Brokers Truce With Bush on Domestic Spying

Includes immunity for phone companies

(Newser) - Senate Democrats and Republicans have brokered a deal on legislation regarding the White House domestic spying and wiretapping program—including a highly controversial grant of immunity to telecommunication companies that co-operated with warrantless wiretaps. The deal marks a victory for the White House because Democrats had to kill a House...

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