Legislation drafted by Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin to update the 1917 Espionage Act has angered public disclosure advocates who say the proposal would make it harder for federal employees to expose government fraud and abuse.
The bill would clarify a murky area of law to ensure that anyone who publicly leaks classified material could be prosecuted criminally, which is not necessarily the case today. The proposal also would make it illegal for government employees to violate nondisclosure agreements.
Watchdog groups say the measure would make it harder to uncover secret military programs — such as domestic surveillance — because it doesn’t provide protection for whistleblowers and ignores a broadlyheld view that the Pentagon and other agencies are overzealously classifying material.
“The truth is that not everything that is classified is deserving of protection,” said Steven Aftergood, who tracks intelligence issues for the Federation of American Scientists. “Moldy old secrets from decades past are still classified.”
Depending upon who you listen to, GPS tracking shouldn’t be your only concern when you are out and about on the streets. The ACLU hammered license plate scanners as ‘logging our every move,’ a different investigative report concluded your car is spying on you, and some even claim the street lights are out to get you.
The ACLU reported on the “widespread tracking of citizen’s movements” via the use of automated license plate readers (ALPRs). “It has now become clear that this technology, if we do not limit its use, will represent a significant step toward the creation of a surveillance society in the United States.” The ACLU does, of course, regard GPS tracking without a warrant as intrusive on privacy, but license plate reader “technology is rapidly approaching the point where it could be used to reconstruct the entire movements of any individual vehicle.” Some might call that paranoid, but the ACLU said of such accusations, that it is always “amazed by the speed and consistency with which our worst fears for these kinds of technologies turn into reality.”
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – Protesters started complaining about the police attention on Facebook. They say police are not being fair.
We know occupy protestors are on the radar of albuquerque police. We’ve seen the arrests and the confrontations.
“Spying? I think the police are watching us very carefully,” said Erica Estes of the Occupy Albuquerque group.
Occupy protesters suspect police are going too far. The group decided their next move with APD in mind.
Their last efforts were stalled when the protesters were met at the Coronado Mall by security and police.
They did have the meet time posted online. But it was Black Friday and the Occupiers thought they’d blend in with the large crowds.
“I would say that they recognized my face, they saw me and they were like, that’s one of them,” said Estes.
Estes says APD appears to be circulating her mug shot and pictures of the protesters. They’re not surprised police could be following their moves, but say there’s a clear line between simple police work and profiling.
“I feel it’s definitely a violation of our rights. I put that in the realm of stalking,” said Occupier Michael Palombo.
A spokesperson for APD says the department respects the Occupiers’ right to protest, still pointing out that the group’s online postings and updates are available to anyone.
Protesters we spoke with say they are preparing a response.
“It’s a formal complaint that’s being drafted right now against APD,” said Palombo.
The Occupiers say the formal complaint will be in the form of a petition sent to the Sheriff’s Department and the Mayor’s Office. They say they hope APD will back off.
Protesters are also taking a different approach for future events. Details for the next one will not be posted on their website.
GATINEAU, Que. ” Corporate espionage ” ranging from Dumpster diving for industrial secrets to plying vulnerable employees of competitors with booze, drugs and sex in exchange for information — is a common tactic in Canada for companies to get ahead, says a former CSIS spy and private investigator.
Tuesday, at the Canadian Industrial Security Conference, Ron Myles said that Canadian companies often perceive corporate spying and infiltration as something out of Hollywood and insists the amount of cases that are exposed is but a mere fraction of the problem in this country.
“As Canadians, we undervalue our abilities in research and development, we’re a little bit naive in the sense that the rest of the world is doing this (but not in Canada),” Myles said in an interview after presenting to a packed room on the opening day of the two-day conference. “We carry that attitude into our business and I think it costs Canadian businesses quite a bit.
“I don’t think even the tip of the iceberg is showing. (Corporate espionage) is more prevalent in small- and medium- sized companies because they’re often just starting up and don’t have massive (security) budgets.”
Myles, who was a CSIS officer for 13 years before working another 13 years as a private investigator, said a number of methods are used by competing interests in terms of stealing ideas and other intellectual property — noting the technology sector is targeted most.
In addition to rummaging through another company’s trash with the hope of acquiring secrets, he said other, more involved techniques are employed.
Long-term infiltration, by which a person that is compensated by a competing company, lands a job with the target group and feeds information back as trust is gained.
The uproar surrounding an app made by California-based Carrier IQ, which apparently transmits piles of private data from users smartphones, has reached all the way to top of the US government and the wireless industry.
After the covert piece of software was discovered by Android developer Trevor Eckhard last week, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) today issued a letter to Carrier IQ, asking the company to clarify what, exactly, its so-called “diagnostics” software was transmitting, and to whom the private information — data that appears to include all keystrokes logged on the phone, the contents of incoming text messages, location data (even when location sharing was expressly forbid), phone numbers called — is sent.
In addition, a growing number of companies in the smartphone industry have responded to the report, either confirming or denying their use of Carrier IQ. So, are you one amongst the unlucky millions affected by Carrier IQ’s invasive — if not illegal — secret software? Here’s a list of all those who have admitted to using the software, or denied it.
concluded your car is spying on you, and some even claim the street lights are out to get you.