It’s not uncommon for Zellerbach to go missing when people need him. When Zellerbach ran the DA’s office, he was rarely there. The DEA found his office to be just as accommodating, with or without him, though. Although the DEA was supposed to run its wiretap warrant requests through federal judges and have them signed by the district attorney himself, it often found it easier to obtain a signature from whoever happened to be at the office and run them by Riverside County judge Helios Hernandez, who approved five times as many wiretap applications as any other judge in the US.The wiretap applications’ reach frequently exceeded their jurisdictional grasp, traveling far outside of Riverside County, California, to be deployed against suspects as far away as North Carolina. But that was only one issue with the warrants applications approved by Zellerbach’s office.
Category: Spying
In Bungled Spying Operation, NSA Targeted Pro-Democracy Campaigner
How a middle-aged pro-democracy activist was falsely accused of terrorism and placed on a top-secret NSA surveillance list.
Source: In Bungled Spying Operation, NSA Targeted Pro-Democracy Campaigner
How the U.S. Spies on Medical Nonprofits and Health Defenses Worldwide
The NSA spies on NGOs to help the U.S. dig up information on how targets respond to disease and weapons of mass destruction.
Source: How the U.S. Spies on Medical Nonprofits and Health Defenses Worldwide
Justice department ‘uses aged computer system to frustrate Foia requests’ | Politics | The Guardian
Lawsuit accuses DoJ of ‘failure by design’ through decades-old system and refusal to use new $425m software on freedom of information requests
Source: Justice department ‘uses aged computer system to frustrate Foia requests’ | Politics | The Guardian
Microsoft wins: Court rules feds can’t use SCA to nab overseas data | Ars Technica
Outlook.com e-mail on Irish servers not covered by Stored Communications Act.
Source: Microsoft wins: Court rules feds can’t use SCA to nab overseas data | Ars Technica
UK gov says new Home Sec will have powers to ban end-to-end encryption • The Register
Amber Rudd yet to emerge from blanket of ministerial double-speak
Source: UK gov says new Home Sec will have powers to ban end-to-end encryption • The Register
Leak Reveals Secret FBI Guidelines That Basically Give Them Free Rein To Spy On Journalists And Sources | Techdirt
This is the fox watching the henhouse. These are not restrictions, these are just the DOJ getting to ask itself if it really wants to spy on these journalists, and the DOJ telling itself “sure, go ahead.” There’s a further exception that if someone is a member of the media, but the FBI “suspects” they’re an intelligence officer or affiliated with a foreign intelligence service, “no additional approval requirements” are needed. So, as with the Rosen case, the FBI can just declare him a “co-conspirator” and voila, no approval necessary.
In “an unusual move,” US government asks to join key EU Facebook privacy case | Ars Technica
Decision likely underlines pivotal importance of the case for transatlantic data flows.
Source: In “an unusual move,” US government asks to join key EU Facebook privacy case | Ars Technica
DOJ Warns Calexico Police: Fix Institutional Problems Before Adopting Surveillance Tech | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Maybe the US government should take it’s own advice and follow it
Law enforcement agencies should not expand their electronic surveillance capabilities until they have addressed core problems of corruption, incompetence, poor oversight, and inadequate training. Echoing concerns long raised by EFF, that’s the message the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sent the Calexico Police Department (CPD) following a years-long investigation into alleged corruption by officers.
Scottish Law Enforcement Also Apparently Hooked Up To NSA/GCHQ’s Data Firehose | Techdirt
The documents confirm that a little-known policing body called the Scottish Recording Centre (SRC) was given access to information logs that includes millions of communications data including phone activity, internet histories, and social media behaviour on Facebook.The confirmation that UK state spy agency GCHQ ran a specific programmed, called “MILKWHITE”, to share data with devolved policing and tax authorities is the first Snowden leak to directly implicate Scottish authorities in the controversial policy of ‘bulk data’ collection.
Source: Scottish Law Enforcement Also Apparently Hooked Up To NSA/GCHQ’s Data Firehose | Techdirt