GCHQ

GCHQ And NSA Targeted Private German Companies

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Hinweise auf US-Überwachung von Merkels Handy
Merkel was an NSA target. But so too were private companies in Germany.

– ‘A’ for Angela Merkel: GCHQ and NSA Targeted Private German Companies (Der Spiegel, March 29, 2014):

Documents show that Britain’s GCHQ intelligence service infiltrated German Internet firms and America’s NSA obtained a court order to spy on Germany and collected information about the chancellor in a special database. Is it time for the country to open a formal espionage investigation?

The headquarters of Stellar, a company based in the town of Hürth near Cologne, are visible from a distance. Seventy-five white antennas dominate the landscape. The biggest are 16 meters (52 feet) tall and kept in place by steel anchors. It is an impressive sight and serves as a popular backdrop for scenes in TV shows, including the German action series “Cobra 11.”

Read moreGCHQ And NSA Targeted Private German Companies

The Most Evil And Disturbing NSA Spy Practices To-Date Have Just Been Revealed

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– The Most Evil And Disturbing NSA Spy Practices To-Date Have Just Been Revealed (Liberty Blitzkrieg, March 12, 2014):

In some cases the NSA has masqueraded as a fake Facebook server, using the social media site as a launching pad to infect a target’s computer and exfiltrate files from a hard drive. In others, it has sent out spam emails laced with the malware, which can be tailored to covertly record audio from a computer’s microphone and take snapshots with its webcam. The hacking systems have also enabled the NSA to launch cyberattacks by corrupting and disrupting file downloads or denying access to websites.

The man-in-the-middle tactic can be used, for instance, to covertly change the content of a message as it is being sent between two people, without either knowing that any change has been made by a third party.

– From Glenn Greenwald’s latest article: How the NSA Plans to Infect Millions of Computers with Malware

The latest piece from Greenwald and company on the unconstitutional spy practices of the NSA may represent the most dangerous and disturbing revelations yet. It’s hard for shadiness at the NSA to surprise me these days, but there was only one word that kept repeating over and over in my head as I read this: EVIL.

As a quick aside, Greenwald points out in the quote above how spam emails are used by the NSA to bait you into clicking dangerous links. This is a timely revelation considering I received one such email yesterday from a friend of mine. The email was sent to a wide list of let’s say “liberty-minded people” and webmasters associated with very popular sites. The link seemed shady so I texted him to ask if he had sent it. He hadn’t.

Read moreThe Most Evil And Disturbing NSA Spy Practices To-Date Have Just Been Revealed

GCHQ spied on millions of Yahoo video chats, harvested sexual images of chatters, compared itself to ‘Tom Cruise in Minority Report’

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– GCHQ spied on millions of Yahoo video chats, harvested sexual images of chatters, compared itself to “Tom Cruise in Minority Report” (Boing Boing, Feb 27, 2104):

NSA ragout 3

NSA ragout 1

A stunning new Snowden leak reveals that the UK spy agency GCHQ harvested images and text from millions of Yahoo video chats, including chats in which one or both of the participants was British or American. Between 3 and 11 percent of the chats they intercepted were sexual in nature, and revealing images of thousands of people were captured and displayed to spies. The programme, called OPTIC NERVE, focused on people whose usernames were similar to those of suspects, and ran from at least 2008 until at least 2010. The leak reveals that GCHQ intended to expand the programme to Xbox 360 Kinect cameras and “fairly normal webcam traffic.” The programme was part of a facial recognition research effort that GCHQ compared to “Tom Cruise in Minority Report.” While the documents do not detail efforts as widescale as those against Yahoo users, one presentation discusses with interest the potential and capabilities of the Xbox 360’s Kinect camera, saying it generated “fairly normal webcam traffic” and was being evaluated as part of a wider program. Beyond webcams and consoles, GCHQ and the NSA looked at building more detailed and accurate facial recognition tools, such as iris recognition cameras – “think Tom Cruise in Minority Report”, one presentation noted.

NSA ragout 4

Sexually explicit webcam material proved to be a particular problem for GCHQ, as one document delicately put it: “Unfortunately … it would appear that a surprising number of people use webcam conversations to show intimate parts of their body to the other person. Also, the fact that the Yahoo software allows more than one person to view a webcam stream without necessarily sending a reciprocal stream means that it appears sometimes to be used for broadcasting pornography.”

The document estimates that between 3% and 11% of the Yahoo webcam imagery harvested by GCHQ contains “undesirable nudity”. Discussing efforts to make the interface “safer to use”, it noted that current “naïve” pornography detectors assessed the amount of flesh in any given shot, and so attracted lots of false positives by incorrectly tagging shots of people’s faces as pornography.

UK spy agency intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users [Spencer Ackerman and James Ball/The Guardian]

GCHQ’s Interception And Storage Of Yahoo Webcam Images Condemned

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Critics react angrily to revelation that GCHQ intercepted and stored millions of images of people not suspected of wrongdoing

GCHQ
GCHQ’s Optic Nerve surveillance program: ‘Orwell’s 1984 was supposed to be a warning, not an instruction manual’, one critic said. Photograph: EPA

– GCHQ’s interception and storage of Yahoo webcam images condemned (Guardian, Feb 27, 2014):

Politicians and human rights groups have reacted angrily to revelations that Britain’s spy agency intercepted and stored webcam images of millions of people not suspected of any wrongdoing with the aid of its US counterpart.

GCHQ files dating between 2008 and 2010 reveal that a surveillance program codenamed Optic Nerve collected images of Yahoo webcam chats in bulk and saved them to agency databases, regardless of whether individual users were an intelligence target or not.

Read moreGCHQ’s Interception And Storage Of Yahoo Webcam Images Condemned

CONSPIRACY FACT: Agents Infiltrate Websites Intending To ‘Manipulate, Deceive, And Destroy Reputations’

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The art of deception- GCHQ

– The Conspiracy Theory Is True: Agents Infiltrate Websites Intending To “Manipulate, Deceive, And Destroy Reputations” (ZeroHedge, Feb 24, 2014):

In the annals of internet conspiracy theories, none is more pervasive than the one speculating paid government plants infiltrate websites, social network sites, and comment sections with an intent to sow discord, troll, and generally manipulate, deceive and destroy reputations. Guess what: it was all true.

message delivery

And this time we have a pretty slideshow of formerly confidential data prepared by the UK NSA equivalent, the GCHQ, to confirm it, and Edward Snowden to thank for disclosing it. The messenger in this case is Glenn Greenwald, who has released the data in an article in his new website, firstlook.org, which he summarizes as follows: “by publishing these stories one by one, our NBC reporting highlighted some of the key, discrete revelations: the monitoring of YouTube and Blogger, the targeting of Anonymous with the very same DDoS attacks they accuse “hacktivists” of using, the use of “honey traps” (luring people into compromising situations using sex) and destructive viruses. But, here, I want to focus and elaborate on the overarching point revealed by all of these documents: namely, that these agencies are attempting to control, infiltrate, manipulate, and warp online discourse, and in doing so, are compromising the integrity of the internet itself.” Call it Stasi for “Generation Internet.”

Greenwald’s latest revelation focuses on GCHQ’s previously secret unit, the JTRIG (Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group).

Read moreCONSPIRACY FACT: Agents Infiltrate Websites Intending To ‘Manipulate, Deceive, And Destroy Reputations’

Britain’s GCHQ Engaged In Internet ‘False Flag’ Attacks

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– Spy Agency Engaged In Internet “False Flag” Attacks (Washington’s Blog, Feb 6, 2014):

Spy Agency “Masqueraded As An Enemy In A ‘False Flag’ Operation”

We’ve warned since 2009 (and see this) that the government could be launching cyber “false flag attacks” in order to justify a crackdown on the Internet and discredit web activists.

A new report from NBC News – based on documents leaked by Edward Snowden – appear to confirm our fears, documenting that Britain’s GCHQ spy agency has carried out cyber false flag attacks:

Read moreBritain’s GCHQ Engaged In Internet ‘False Flag’ Attacks

Chaos Computer Club Files Criminal Complaint Against The German Government

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– Chaos Computer Club files criminal complaint against the German Government (Chaos Computer Club, Feb 3, 2014):

On Monday, the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) and the International League for Human Rights (ILMR), have filed a criminal complaint with the Federal Prosecutor General’s office. The complaint is directed against the German federal government, the presidents of the German secret services, namely Bundesnachrichtendienst, Militärischer Abschirmdienst, Bundesamt für Verfassungschutz, and others. We accuse US, British and German secret agents, their supervisors, the German Minister of the Interior as well as the German Chancelor of illegal and prohibited covert intelligence activities, of aiding and abetting of those activities, of violation of the right to privacy and obstruction of justice in office by bearing and cooperating with the electronic surveillance of German citizens by NSA and GCHQ.

After months of press releases about mass surveillance by secret services and offensive attacks on information technology systems, we now have certainty that German and other countries’ secret services have violated the German criminal law. With this criminal complaint, we hope to finally initiate investigations by the Federal Prosecutor General against the German government. The CCC has learned with certainty that the leaders of the secret services and the federal government have aided and abetted the commission of these crimes.

Read moreChaos Computer Club Files Criminal Complaint Against The German Government

Watch Guardian Editors Destroying Snowden Hard Drives Under The Watchful Eye Of GCHQ (Video)

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– Footage released of Guardian editors destroying Snowden hard drives (Guardian, Jan 31, 2014):

GCHQ technicians watched as journalists took angle grinders and drills to computers after weeks of tense negotiations

New video footage has been released for the first time of the moment Guardian editors destroyed computers used to store top-secret documents leaked by the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Under the watchful gaze of two technicians from the British government spy agency GCHQ, the journalists took angle-grinders and drills to the internal components, rendering them useless and the information on them obliterated.

Read moreWatch Guardian Editors Destroying Snowden Hard Drives Under The Watchful Eye Of GCHQ (Video)

GCHQ Taught NSA How To Monitor Facebook, Twitter In Real Time

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– GCHQ taught NSA how to monitor Facebook, Twitter in real time – Snowden leak (RT, Jan 27, 2014):

British intelligence officials can infiltrate the very cables that transfer information across the internet, as well as monitor users in real time on sites like Facebook without the company’s consent, according to documents leaked by Edward Snowden.

The internal documents reveal that British analysts gave instruction to members of the National Security Agency in 2012, showing them how to spy on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube in real time and collect the computer addresses of billions of the sites’ uploaders.

Read moreGCHQ Taught NSA How To Monitor Facebook, Twitter In Real Time

NSA And GCHQ Tap Data Streaming From Smartphone Apps

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– Spy Agencies Tap Data Streaming From Phone Apps (New York Times, Jan 27, 2014)

When a smartphone user opens Angry Birds, the popular game application, and starts slinging birds at chortling green pigs, spies could be lurking in the background to snatch data revealing the player’s location, age, sex and other personal information, according to secret British intelligence documents.

In their globe-spanning surveillance for terrorism suspects and other targets, the National Security Agency and its British counterpart have been trying to exploit a basic byproduct of modern telecommunications: With each new generation of mobile phone technology, ever greater amounts of personal data pour onto networks where spies can pick it up.

Read moreNSA And GCHQ Tap Data Streaming From Smartphone Apps

NSA Collects Millions Of Text Messages Daily In ‘Untargeted’ Global Sweep

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Texting on BlackBerry mobile phone
The NSA has made extensive use of its text message database to extract information on people under no suspicion of illegal activity.

– NSA collects millions of text messages daily in ‘untargeted’ global sweep (Guardian, Jan 16, 2014):

• NSA extracts location, contacts and financial transactions
• ‘Dishfire’ program sweeps up ‘pretty much everything it can’
• GCHQ using database to search metadata from UK numbers

The National Security Agency has collected almost 200 million text messages a day from across the globe, using them to extract data including location, contact networks and credit card details, according to top-secret documents.

The untargeted collection and storage of SMS messages – including their contacts – is revealed in a joint investigation between the Guardian and the UK’s Channel 4 News based on material provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Read moreNSA Collects Millions Of Text Messages Daily In ‘Untargeted’ Global Sweep

Glenn Greenwald: More Israel Disclosures In Snowden’s Trove Of ‘Significant Stories’

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– More Israel disclosures in Snowden’s trove of ‘significant stories’ – Greenwald (RT, Jan 7, 2013):

Glenn Greenwald, the investigative journalist who first published Edward Snowden leaks, said that the NSA whistleblower still has “a huge number of very significant stories to reveal,” including those relating to Israel.

“There definitely are stories left that involve the Middle East, that involve Israel. The reporting is going to continue at roughly the same pace that has been happening,” the former Guardian journalist said in an interview with Channel 10 television station that aired Monday night.

Read moreGlenn Greenwald: More Israel Disclosures In Snowden’s Trove Of ‘Significant Stories’

‘Scary’ NSA Will Spy On You – Every Which Way They Can

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– Appelbaum: ‘Scary’ NSA will spy on you – every which way they can (RT, Dec 30, 2013):

Security researcher Jacob Appelbaum revealed what he calls “wrist-slitting depressing” details about the National Security Agency’s spy programs at a computer conference in Germany on Monday where he presented previously unpublished NSA files.

Appelbaum is among the small group of experts, activists and journalists who have seen classified United States intelligence documents taken earlier this year by former contractor Edward Snowden, and previously he represented transparency group WikiLeaks at an American hacker conference in 2010. Those conditions alone should suffice in proving to most anybody that Appelbaum has been around more than his fair share of sensitive information, and during his presentation at the thirtieth annual Chaos Communication Congress in Hamburg on Monday he spilled his guts about some of the shadiest spy tactics seen yet through leaked documents.

Read more‘Scary’ NSA Will Spy On You – Every Which Way They Can

NSA Spied On Allies, Aid Groups And Businesses

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– N.S.A. Spied on Allies, Aid Groups and Businesses (New York Times, Dec 20, 2013):

Secret documents reveal more than 1,000 targets of American and British surveillance in recent years, including the office of an Israeli prime minister, heads of international aid organizations, foreign energy companies and a European Union official involved in antitrust battles with American technology businesses.

While the names of some political and diplomatic leaders have previously emerged as targets, the newly disclosed intelligence documents provide a much fuller portrait of the spies’ sweeping interests in more than 60 countries.

Read moreNSA Spied On Allies, Aid Groups And Businesses

NSA Uses Google Cookies To Pinpoint Targets For Hacking

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– NSA uses Google cookies to pinpoint targets for hacking (Washington Post, Dec 10, 2013):

A slide from an internal NSA presentation indicating that the agency uses at least one Google cookie as a way to identify targets for exploitation. (Washington Post)

The National Security Agency is secretly piggybacking on the tools that enable Internet advertisers to track consumers, using “cookies” and location data to pinpoint targets for government hacking and to bolster surveillance.

The agency’s internal presentation slides, provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, show that when companies follow consumers on the Internet to better serve them advertising, the technique opens the door for similar tracking by the government. The slides also suggest that the agency is using these tracking techniques to help identify targets for offensive hacking operations.

Read moreNSA Uses Google Cookies To Pinpoint Targets For Hacking

Edward Snowden’s ‘Doomsday Cache’ Has British And US Intelligence Officials Worried

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– Spies worry over “doomsday” cache stashed by ex-NSA contractor Snowden (Reuters, Nov 25, 2013):

British and U.S. intelligence officials say they are worried about a “doomsday” cache of highly classified, heavily encrypted material they believe former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has stored on a data cloud.

The cache contains documents generated by the NSA and other agencies and includes names of U.S. and allied intelligence personnel, seven current and former U.S. officials and other sources briefed on the matter said.

The data is protected with sophisticated encryption, and multiple passwords are needed to open it, said two of the sources, who like the others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

Read moreEdward Snowden’s ‘Doomsday Cache’ Has British And US Intelligence Officials Worried

US And UK Struck Secret Deal To Allow NSA To ‘Unmask’ Britons’ Personal Data

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– US and UK struck secret deal to allow NSA to ‘unmask’ Britons’ personal data (Guardian, Nov 20, 2013):

The phone, internet and email records of UK citizens not suspected of any wrongdoing have been analysed and stored by America’s National Security Agency under a secret deal that was approved by British intelligence officials, according to documents from the whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Read moreUS And UK Struck Secret Deal To Allow NSA To ‘Unmask’ Britons’ Personal Data

The Internet Is Now Weaponized, And You Are The Target

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– The Internet Is Now Weaponized, And You Are The Target (ZeroHedge, Nov 15, 2013):

By now, thanks to Edward Snowden, it is common knowledge and not just conspiracy theory, that every bit of information sent out into the wired or wireless ether is scanned, probed, intercepted and ultimately recorded by the NSA and subsequently all such information is and can be used against any US citizen without a court of law (because the president’s pet secret NISA “court” is anything but). Sadly, in a country in which courtesy of peak social networking, exhibitionism has become an art form, the vast majority of Americans not only could not care less about Snowden’s sacrificial revelations, but in fact are delighted the at least someone, somewhere cares about that photo of last night’s dinner. However, it turns out that far from being a passive listener and recorder, the NSA is quite an active participant in using the internet. The weaponized internet.

Because as Wired reports, “The internet backbone — the infrastructure of networks upon which internet traffic travels — went from being a passive infrastructure for communication to an active weapon for attacks.” And the primary benefactor: the NSA – General Keith Alexander massive secret army – which has now been unleashed against enemies foreign, but mostly domestic.

Enter the QUANTUM program….

Read moreThe Internet Is Now Weaponized, And You Are The Target

Mass Surveillance (Violates EU Law) And Europe’s Police State

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– Mass Surveillance and Europe’s Police State (Global Research, Nov 10, 2013):

A new study says so. It’s titled “Mass Surveillance of Personal Data by EU Member States and its Compatibility with EU Law.”

Sergio Carrera is a Spanish jurist. Francesco Ragazzi is Netherlands-based Leiden University Professor of International Relations.

They co-wrote the study. They did so with Didier Bigo, Nicholas Hernanz, Julien Jeandesboz, Joanna Parkin, and Amandine Scherrer.

The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs commissioned it.

Read moreMass Surveillance (Violates EU Law) And Europe’s Police State

UK Spies Continue ‘Quantum Insert’ Attack Via LinkedIn, Slashdot Pages

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– UK spies continue “quantum insert” attack via LinkedIn, Slashdot pages (Ars Technica, Nov 10, 2013):

Targets included engineers at Global Roaming Exchange providers and OPEC

According to a new report (German) by Der Spiegel, the British signals intelligence spy agency has again employed a “quantum insert” technique as a way to target employees (Google Translate) of two companies that are GRX (Global Roaming Exchange) providers.

The lead author of the story in the German magazine is Laura Poitras, one of the journalists known to have access to the entire trove of documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

GRX is roughly analogous to an IX (Internet Exchange), and it acts as a major exchange for mobile Internet traffic while users roam around the globe. There are only around two dozen such GRX providers globally. This new attack specifically targeted administrators and engineers of Comfone and Mach (which was acquired over the summer by Syniverse), two GRX providers.

Der Spiegel suggests that the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the British sister agency to the NSA, used spoofed versions of LinkedIn and Slashdot pages to serve malware to targets. This type of attack was also used to target “nine salaried employees” of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the global oil cartel.

Read moreUK Spies Continue ‘Quantum Insert’ Attack Via LinkedIn, Slashdot Pages

GCHQ And European Spy Agencies Worked Together On Mass Surveillance

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Related info:

– WTF? NSA Chief Says Phone Records Were Swept Up As Part Of A NATO Defence Program, Not NSA Spying

If the elitists really want to create a New World Order then the spy agencies have to work together in order to eventually become one big brother spy agency, ..

… but that is a conspiracy, right?

“We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order.”
– David Rockefeller

– Vice President Joe Biden: The ‘Affirmative Task’ Before Us Is To ‘Create A NEW WORLD ORDER’ (Video, April 5, 2013)

– BARACK OBAMA: BRITAIN AND US WILL FORGE NEW WORLD

– German Chancellor Angela Merkel Calls For NEW WORLD ORDER (ARD – Tagesthemen, June 4, 2011)

– President Obama’s New World Order: ‘We have to shape an international order that can meet the challenges of our generation’

– Mikhail Gorbachev: Uprisings Signal an Emerging ‘NEW WORLD ORDER’

– Pope Benedict XVI Calls for NEW FINANCIAL ORDER With ‘Real Teeth’

– Gordon Brown Praises New World Order (19 Feb 2010)

Edward Snowden papers unmask close technical cooperation and loose alliance between British, German, French, Spanish and Swedish spy agencies


In this photo illustration, the logos of intelligence agencies the NSA, BND, GCHQ, DGSE are displayed on folders. Photograph: Ulrich Baumgarten via Getty Images

– GCHQ and European spy agencies worked together on mass surveillance (Guardian, Nov 1, 2013):

The German, French, Spanish and Swedish intelligence services have all developed methods of mass surveillance of internet and phone traffic over the past five years in close partnership with Britain’s GCHQ eavesdropping agency.

The bulk monitoring is carried out through direct taps into fibre optic cables and the development of covert relationships with telecommunications companies. A loose but growing eavesdropping alliance has allowed intelligence agencies from one country to cultivate ties with corporations from another to facilitate the trawling of the web, according to GCHQ documents leaked by the former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

The files also make clear that GCHQ played a leading role in advising its European counterparts how to work around national laws intended to restrict the surveillance power of intelligence agencies.

The German, French and Spanish governments have reacted angrily to reports based on National Security Agency (NSA) files leaked by Snowden since June, revealing the interception of communications by tens of millions of their citizens each month. US intelligence officials have insisted the mass monitoring was carried out by the security agencies in the countries involved and shared with the US.

The US director of national intelligence, James Clapper, suggested to Congress on Tuesday that European governments’ professed outrage at the reports was at least partly hypocritical. “Some of this reminds me of the classic movie Casablanca: ‘My God, there’s gambling going on here,’ ” he said.

Read moreGCHQ And European Spy Agencies Worked Together On Mass Surveillance

Leaked memos reveal GCHQ efforts to keep mass surveillance secret

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Exclusive: Edward Snowden papers show UK spy agency fears legal challenge if scale of surveillance is made public


GCHQ fears a legal challenge under the Human Rights Act if evidence of its surveillance methods becomes admissable in court. Photograph: Barry Batchelor/PA

– Leaked memos reveal GCHQ efforts to keep mass surveillance secret (Guardian, Oct 25, 2013):

The UK intelligence agency GCHQ has repeatedly warned it fears a “damaging public debate” on the scale of its activities because it could lead to legal challenges against its mass-surveillance programmes, classified internal documents reveal.

Memos contained in the cache disclosed by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden detail the agency’s long fight against making intercept evidence admissible as evidence in criminal trials – a policy supported by all three major political parties, but ultimately defeated by the UK’s intelligence community.

Foremost among the reasons was a desire to minimise the potential for challenges against the agency’s large-scale interception programmes, rather than any intrinsic threat to security, the documents show.

The papers also reveal that:

Read moreLeaked memos reveal GCHQ efforts to keep mass surveillance secret

GCHQ Accused Of Monitoring Privileged Emails Between Lawyers And Clients

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See also:

– NSA Collects Millions Of Email Address Books Globally

– GCHQ accused of monitoring privileged emails between lawyers and clients (Guardian, Oct 13, 2013):

Allegation relates to eight Libyan nationals and comes in wake of Guardian’s revelations about GCHQ and Tempora programme

GCHQ is probably intercepting legally privileged communications between lawyers and their clients, according to a detailed claim filed on behalf of eight Libyans involved in politically sensitive compensation battles with the UK.

The accusation has been lodged with Britain’s most secret court, the investigatory powers tribunal (IPT), which examines complaints about the intelligence services and government use of covert surveillance. Most of its hearings are in private.

Read moreGCHQ Accused Of Monitoring Privileged Emails Between Lawyers And Clients

MI5 Chief: GCHQ Surveillance Plays Vital Role In Fight Against Terrorism

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FYI.

Related info:

– NSA Chief Admits: ‘Only One Or PERHAPS Two’ Terror Plots Stopped By Spy Program

Sir Andrew Parker mounts strident defence of UK intelligence and denies MI5 seeks ‘all-pervasive security apparatus’


The Snowden files revealed GCHQ, pictured, was harvesting vast quantities of personal information from mobile phones and apps. Photograph: GCHQ/MoD/EPA

– MI5 chief: GCHQ surveillance plays vital role in fight against terrorism (Guardian, Oct 9, 2013):

The new head of MI5 launched a robust defence of the techniques used by Britain’s intelligence agencies in his first speech since taking the job and warned they would not be able to sustain current levels of counter-terrorism work without the help of surveillance from GCHQ.

However, Sir Andrew Parker also acknowledged that the growth of the internet, technology and big data was “transforming our society” and that significant choices had to be made about which capabilities were required to track terrorists in this new and different world.

Read moreMI5 Chief: GCHQ Surveillance Plays Vital Role In Fight Against Terrorism