The average surveillance reform article irks me. Most if not all tend to miss the fact that privacy protections take effect when the data is accessed. NSA has intentionally toyed with the definition of the word collect to mean access to data that has already been intercepted and stored.[0]
In other words: every U.S. citizen's private domestic communications have been rotting in Bluffdale, Utah for the past five years—and likely will remain there indefinitely along with all future communications. If rogue actors (insiders or otherwise) are able to get side-channel access, the fact privacy protections exist will mean precisely nothing.
The best thing for domestic surveillance reform—short of every elected official suddenly having the entirety of their intercepted digital communications leaked—would be for the Trump administration to wantonly abuse the NSA's domestic capability in a completely untactful manner, and getting caught red-handed doing it.
The last Bush administration abused the hell out of it, but they were at least somewhat careful in doing so.[1]
I have observed an astonishing correlation between leaks of information about the Whitehouse and officials associated with Internet Surveillance, and a bipartisan interest in curbing the various agencies responsible for collecting that information.
Oh come on that's not astonishing at all. Nothing ever changes until it hits the lawmakers personally, that's why we don't do jack about poverty and why people in those positions get up on podiums and tell us $1,000 more gets every family a new car.
Ubiquitous surveillance is inevitable. The prices of sensors, computing and storage keep dropping, the number of sensors is exploding and people are becoming less sensitive about their privacy.
The real question is if the it will be only the powerful surveilling the private lives of the masses, or if the surveillance is more bidirectional.
Apple does far less tracking than Google. That's not their primary business model, and its part of the Apple tax.
Unless you run a rooted device (with the attached risks) plus Android without GApps. You'd end up running all kind of out-of-date software from F-Droid.
It seemed like the law enabling them to capture the data is expiring and they are adding in some controls about how an agency can access the collected data. Doesn’t seem like mass surveillance is curbed in any way really. If anything it seemed like they are intent to continue surveillance.
In other words: every U.S. citizen's private domestic communications have been rotting in Bluffdale, Utah for the past five years—and likely will remain there indefinitely along with all future communications. If rogue actors (insiders or otherwise) are able to get side-channel access, the fact privacy protections exist will mean precisely nothing.
The best thing for domestic surveillance reform—short of every elected official suddenly having the entirety of their intercepted digital communications leaked—would be for the Trump administration to wantonly abuse the NSA's domestic capability in a completely untactful manner, and getting caught red-handed doing it.
The last Bush administration abused the hell out of it, but they were at least somewhat careful in doing so.[1]
[0] https://www.eff.org/nsa-spying/wordgames#collect
[1] http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/wp-content/uploads/BF.0112.T... (Skip to 00:48:26)