All overseas phone calls may have been tapped...

[LeftNYC]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/253223_spying23.html?dpfrom=thead


Spy net may pull in all U.S. calls overseas
Many Americans' privacy is at risk, some say

By CHARLIE SAVAGE
THE BOSTON GLOBE

WASHINGTON -- The National Security Agency, in carrying out President Bush's order to intercept the international phone calls and e-mails of Americans suspected of links to al-Qaida, has probably been using computers to monitor all other Americans' international communications as well, according to specialists familiar with the workings of the NSA.

The Bush administration formally defended its domestic spying program in a letter to Congress late Thursday, saying the nation's security outweighs privacy concerns of individuals who are monitored.

In a letter to the chairmen of the House and Senate intelligence committees, the Justice Department said President Bush authorized electronic surveillance without first obtaining a warrant in an effort to thwart terrorist acts against the United States.

"There is undeniably an important and legitimate privacy interest at stake with respect to the activities described by the president," wrote Assistant Attorney General William Moschella. "That must be balanced, however, against the government's compelling interest in the security of the nation."

--This means my conversations with my girlfriend when she was in Tokyo on business were probably listened too. They must have loved those.

[leftchick]

1. and my conversations when I was in Switzerland

with my hubby and boys back home? How very interesting! :eyes:

[LeftNYC]

3. Some of the calls

were pretty racy if you know what I mean. I hope Cheney loved it...bastards

[Douglas Carpenter]

2. my goodness

because of my work I am constantly calling between the U.S., Saudi Arabia and the Philippines. hmmmm

[LeftNYC]

4. You were definitely tapped

you Al Qaeda thug...:sarcasm:

[Douglas Carpenter]

6. I hope I have kept them entertained

[ticapnews]

5. Why do you hate America?

:sarcasm:

[Douglas Carpenter]

7. because of professional bowling

that negates all other redeeming qualities

[LeftNYC]

14. I thought it was rodeos. nt

[HysteryDiagnosis]

8. If your children have a toy phone and sort of pretend to

call the middle east... would they also come under suspicion and potential wiretaps?? Frightful!!!

[LeftNYC]

11. They could be arrested for mutilating Barbie

this activity poses a significant terrorist threat to Ken.
Young girls fight Barbie at home, so we dont have to face her in the store.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

13. Where is mister bill when you need him.... yes i mean BC. Good

one btw.... you little dickens.... funny stuff that. :)

[DBoon]

12. You children need a pink barbie toy wiretap kit

along with a genuine department of homeland security badge

[HereSince1628]

9. Anyone know how many overseas calls are made every day?

From the US to everywhere else in the world must be in the tens of millions per day. They are gonna be in scores of languages and dialects, and a large number of them are going to be encrypted. Although the NSA is potentially interested in every phone call, the capacity to have a human sit and listen to each is gonna be too limited to keep up with that volume don't you think? Because of that international voice communications are probably gonna be more regularly screened for who is being connected to whom rather than for content.

The content analysis which is gonna be much more resource intensive is likely to be focused on calls that belong to networks that look interesting for any of various reasons. Establishing links between phones that form "networks" of callers inside the telephone system isn't that tough to do with automation.

In other words I sort of doubt NSA is gonna have a paid human listener catching every mention of "what I'm gonna do to your XXXXX with my XXXXX when I see you again" although it isn't difficult to imagine some techy pervert doing that once in a while.

[Ian David]

10. Bush had MCI route domestic calls through Canada so he could spy on them

See related threads:

How to turn domestic calls into international calls.
Topic started by Dr.Phool on Dec-22-05 04:10 PM (18 replies)
Last modified by rfkrfk on Dec-23-05 09:22 AM
General Discussion: Politics forum
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5669978

Domestic Taps Smoking Gun? WorldCom Routed US-to-US Calls Through Canada!
Topic started by Dunvegan on Dec-21-05 01:02 PM (37 replies)
Last modified by xchrom on Dec-22-05 02:50 PM
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2326724

[Missy Vixen]

15. DH talks to London daily

His employer's headquarters is in London. We've also talked to each other when he's there on business. Even more comical, he calls home to talk to the cats when he's gone for more than a few days. Nice to know that someone actually thought it was important to waste US taxpayer dollars on monitoring conversations between a man and his felines...

Julie
Sheesh. One of these days, I'll learn English. :blush:

[LeftNYC]

17. Your cats are a national security threat...

so are mine, they keep scratching the furniture...:)

[Pavulon]

16. Puzzle Palace,

The NSA has and uses this capability. It has been doing this since the mid 30's (under a different name then)

The reality is manpower. At some point the information has to be examined by a person. The method on choosing what is important and what to dump is the real interesting part.

[mantis49]

18. And my daughter's conversations with her fiance

He's a Brit, a Londonite, so they probably checked him out for questionable connections. He's living here now, they're married, and they've started the process for permanent residency status here. I hope this doesn't make it more difficult than it would already be.

[mwooldri]

19. Hmmm... so if I file that FOIA thing,

would I get the phone number of that friend in New Zealand whose phone number I have lost?

Mark.

[gulliver]

20. What about the poor Bush voter in backwoods Missouri ...

... who just wanted to talk to a guy in Germany about getting a Ruger signed by Goebbels? Or poor Tom DeLay wondering about a laundered batch of euros? These are good Republicans! Surely they are entitled to privacy if no one else is.

[Blue_In_AK]

21. My daughter's boyfriend is Australian

and Muslim to boot. Yikes....