NSA collecting millions of contact lists

[82Rigger]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Security Agency has been sifting through millions of contact lists from personal email and instant messaging accounts around the world — including those of Americans.
The Washington Post reported late Monday that the spy agency intercepts hundreds of thousands of email address books every day from private accounts on Yahoo, Gmail, Facebook and Hotmail that move though global data links. The NSA also collects about a half million buddy lists from live chat services and email accounts.
The Post said it learned about the collection tactics confirmed by senior intelligence officials. It was the latest revelation of the spy agency's practices.
The newspaper said the NSA analyzes the contacts to map relationships and connections among various foreign intelligence targets. During a typical day last year, the NSA's Special Source Operations branch collected more than 440,000 email address books, the Post said. That would correspond to a rate of more than 250 million a year.
A spokesman for the national intelligence director's office, which oversees the NSA, told the Post that the agency was seeking intelligence on valid targets and was not interested in personal information from ordinary Americans.
Spokesman Shawn Turner said the NSA was guided by rules that require the agency to "minimize the acquisition, use and dissemination" of information that identifies U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
While the collection was taking place overseas, the Post said it encompassed the contact lists of many American users. The spy agency obtains the contact lists through secret arrangements with foreign telecommunications companies or other services that control Internet traffic, the Post reported.
The collection of contact lists in bulk would be illegal if done in the United States, but the Post said the agency can get around that restriction by intercepting lists from access points around the world.
The newspaper quoted a senior intelligence official as saying NSA analysts may not search or distribute information from the contacts database unless they can "make the case that something in there is a valid foreign intelligence target in and of itself."
Commenting on the Post story, Alex Abdo, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in an emailed statement: "This revelation further confirms that the NSA has relied on the pretense of 'foreign intelligence gathering' to sweep up an extraordinary amount of information about everyday Americans. The NSA's indiscriminate collection of information about innocent people can't be justified on security grounds, and it presents a serious threat to civil liberties."

[reconeil]

Since sadly proven often enough lately that The American People CANNOT TRUST many ideologue rulers in U.S. Administration, Congress, Department of Justice, IRS and other quite powerful agencies,...why on earth should: "We The (Schnook$)" blindly TRUST another extremely powerful agency and/or the National Security Agency (NSA), with even more tonnage of our personal information?

Are we stupid orrrrrrrr just perpetual gluttons for punishment?

Some of those alluded to: "Take the fifth" like Mafia or Mob Criminals, and won't even answer important personal questions UNDER SUPOENA.

We also have a president whom has spent about 2 Million$ to lawyers to keep much of his background and personal data and information secret.

WHY-IN-THE-HELL IS THAT???

Also, how come only privacy of Ruling Elite (re. both elected & appointed Lords & Ladies) is so-damn-sacrosanct in America and "They" alone can selectively shrug-off parts of The U.S. Constitution as if gods or goddesses,...whereas We Peasants would most likely be jailed for even doing less?

Neil

[82Rigger]

Brother Neil,

Seems like we can't learn from our mistakes.

Rigger

[reconeil]

I figure America and Americans STILL being suckered by rulers quite differently, Rigger.

It just can't be that we don't learn from our mistakes, since MOST Americans don't even realize how bad the first mistake of electing HBO II orJr. & Chicago Mob or Clique to power and control actually was.

MOST Americans are SOLELY SELECTIVELY informed by the Obama Adoring ABC, CBS or NBC mainstream press/media, and not as quite differently infored by Totally Honest FNC or the Fox News Cable channel.

In general and according to most all news reporting by ABC, CBS & NBC, "His Barackness", his party and all rest of his duplicitous ACORN Dem Community Organizers can do no wrong,...AMAZINGLY Even After MANY TIMES Caught Redhanded rigging THOUSANDS of registrations and actual votes.

Thus and since MOST Americans remain so badly and purposefully MISinformed by such charlatans and an actually Quite Supportive Press, most U.S. Taxpayers won't know just how bad they've been Big Brother Deceived/Shafted,...UNTIL MUCH TOO LATE!

I sure hope I'm wrong, Steve.

Neil

[82Rigger]

"You can fool SOME of the people ALL of the time.

You can fool ALL of the people SOME of the time.

But you can't fool ALL of the people ALL of the time."

- Abraham Lincoln

[reconeil]

That's true enough, Rigger.

But and back in Lincoln's day, both political career ruling elite electees and appointees didn't: "Take The Fifth", flat-out-Lie and try to quite purposefully deceive: "We The (Schnook$)" and/or The U.S. Citizen/Taxpayer,...as Obama Clique & Obamacrats have quite lordly done for about the last 5 years.

Hell. Way-back-when even the most pompously-audacious of America's dictatorial rulers actually Honored their oaths, U.S. Constitution, and most promises made to The People.

Today ideologues calling-the-shots don't know what the word: "HONOR" actually means.

REPEATEDLY DENYING AID to Americans slaughtered at Benghazi pretty-much-proves what I've stated about those obviously and typically having very little honor.

In fairness, at least the Brave Americans left to be killed at Benghazi wasn't blamed on Bush (their norm).

Neil