Saturday, November 23, 2013

A 2012 Secret Document Reveals An NSA Strategy To Gain Even More Surveillance Powers

An undated aerial handout photo shows the National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters building in Fort Meade, Maryland. Credit: Reuters/NSA/Handout via Reuters

N.S.A. Report Outlined Goals for More Power -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — Officials at the National Security Agency, intent on maintaining its dominance in intelligence collection, pledged last year to push to expand its surveillance powers, according to a top secret strategy document.

In a February 2012 paper laying out the four-year strategy for the N.S.A.’s signals intelligence operations, which include the agency’s eavesdropping and communications data collection around the world, agency officials set an objective to “aggressively pursue legal authorities and a policy framework mapped more fully to the information age.”

Written as an agency mission statement with broad goals, the five-page document said that existing American laws were not adequate to meet the needs of the N.S.A. to conduct broad surveillance in what it cited as “the golden age of Sigint,” or signals intelligence. “The interpretation and guidelines for applying our authorities, and in some cases the authorities themselves, have not kept pace with the complexity of the technology and target environments, or the operational expectations levied on N.S.A.’s mission,” the document concluded.

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My Comment: When this document was produced in 2012 the NSA was already in a position where they were operating extensive surveillance/tracking programs. The idea that they wanted to expand their surveillance powers even more is disturbing to say the least.

1 comment:

Intelligence.Architecture.Infrastructure said...

NSA is NOT the only "authorities themselves, [that] have not kept pace with the complexity of the technology and target environments."

Almost all major principals-&-agencies from NSA, FBI, CIA, ATF, DOJ, DEA, SEC, FINRA, CFPB, OMB are all woefully inadequate in COGNITIVE STRATEGY & CMPLEXITIES let alone TECHNOLOGICAL TACTICS & SUPERIORITY.

If you don't have the BRAINS to go after BANKERS, then having the technology to go after TRADERS is foot-soldiering in a lost battle.

Sort of like Lumberjacks in Forest Fires complaining about Broken Chainsaws when they really need a Boeing Dreamlifter to drop Fire Retardants. Not even remotely in the league.

Reminds me also of the low-wage workers fighting for a 25cent increase in minimum wages as if that will alter their equation in life.

And to think these are the people who are well employed, wealthy, and offered happy families, healthy environments and a good life!