
FBI doesnt want you to know it uses NSLs to correlate identities you use online - cinquemb
https://www.emptywheel.net/2015/05/31/fbi-doesnt-want-you-to-know-it-uses-nsls-to-correlate-all-the-identities-you-use-online/
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meesterdude
This is somewhere inbetween "duh" and "aha!". Obviously, you can foresee how
this data would be available. That they request so much of it is a bit
surprising, and that "anti-war" has the same meaning as "terrorist" is
certainly upsetting to hear.

I wonder how correlatable (totally a word) it is to identify something like a
persons HN identity is, given SSL. All that data should be entirely encrypted,
right? Only the URL's would be visible, so they could know you have an
account.

Let's not forget their suicide letter for martin luther king.
[https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/11/fbis-suicide-letter-
dr...](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/11/fbis-suicide-letter-dr-martin-
luther-king-jr-and-dangers-unchecked-surveillance)

For every one of these cases that come to light, there are certainly countless
that never have/never will. This is infused in their culture and mindset;
nobody that was around then is around now, but the behavior and attitude of
the organization clearly lives on. They have a strong "us vs. them" ethos,
like many organizations in government. They're in the trenches, fighting the
good fight, the righteous fight. An extreme example, but Nazi's thought the
same thing; it's an easy trap to fall into.

no amount of secrecy is enough for them, because the things they do/have done
would likely cause riots. When they say "for national security" that's really
what they mean - people would be _SO_ upset if they heard everything, that the
blowback could be disastrous both as a country as well as for the individuals
responsible.

But, people do mean well. At least most. People are easily lead astray, and
can do things at the beheast of sociopaths, criminals who have wiggled their
way into power, or simply from organizational inertia (see: police brutality).

It's easy to be angry about this stuff, and maybe you should be. But most
don't need punishment, just to be shown a better way.

Bonus: airplanes! [http://www.startribune.com/nighttime-flight-circles-low-
over...](http://www.startribune.com/nighttime-flight-circles-low-over-twin-
cities-for-hours/305398901/)

~~~
kw71
Anti War has always meant Terrorist to the FBI. This is a precedent going back
at least to World War I. (I don't know if any anti-war activists were
imprisoned before then.)

~~~
pmorici
The precedent goes back a lot further than that, It's almost an American
tradition it's been going on so long. There was a law passed in 1798, the
Alien & Sedition Acts, that was used to jail people who were against the so
called Quasi-war on the grounds they were dangerous to national security.
Howard Zinn discusses it in the book "A People's History of the United
States".

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasi-War](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasi-
War)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_and_Sedition_Acts](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_and_Sedition_Acts)

~~~
meesterdude
Great comment! I never knew about this before.

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teeray
NSL: National Security Letter

Just for the convenience of those who didn't know that acronym.

~~~
girvo
And if you're missing more context like I was, this link explains some
backstory: [http://www.wired.com/2010/08/nsl-gag-order-
lifted/](http://www.wired.com/2010/08/nsl-gag-order-lifted/)

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ck2
FBI has access to all your email older than six months without a warrant.

So if you use online email like gmail, yahoo, hotmail, etc. it already knows
who you are.

People forget about the massive abuse of that law which is far older than the
patriot act.

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marincounty
Note to Google mail; some of us share our devises with friends, and family.
Some of us do not have enough disposable income to buy separate devises.
Please don't assume every email address tied to a specific devise--IP, is a
single user who has multiple email accounts. On a larger note, don't assume
anything about your customers. In my world, we became customers--the day you
started collecting my ip data, and forcing us to view ads. Thanks!

