[Cryptography] An NSA mathematician shares his from-the-trenches view of the agency's surveillance activities

[Eugen Leitl]

----- Forwarded message from ianG <iang@iang.org> -----

Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 10:16:30 +0300
From: ianG <iang@iang.org>
To: cryptography@metzdowd.com
Subject: Re: [Cryptography] An NSA mathematician shares his from-the-trenches view of the agency's surveillance activities
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On 18/09/13 00:56 AM, John Gilmore wrote:
> Forwarded-By: David Farber <dave@farber.net>
> Forwarded-By: "Annie I. Anton Ph.D." <aianton@mindspring.com>
> 
> http://www.zdnet.com/nsa-cryptanalyst-we-too-are-americans-7000020689/
> 
> NSA cryptanalyst: We, too, are Americans


Speaking as a non-American, you guys have big problems concerning the
nexus of cryptography and politics.

...
> The rest of this article contains Roger's words only, edited simply for formatting.

I really, really doubt that.  I don't really wish to attack the
author, but the style and phraseology is pure PR.  Ordinary people do
not write PR.  Nor do they lay out political strategies and refer to
their commander-in-chief as the supreme leader.  Nor indeed are
employees of military and intelligence *permitted to talk to the
press* unless sanctioned at high level.


> ...  Do I, as an American, have any concerns about whether the NSA
> is
illegally or surreptitiously targeting or tracking the communications
of other Americans?
> 
> The answer is emphatically, "No."

Of course, Americans talking to Americans might be one debate.  But
then there are Americans talking to the world, and people talking to
people.

It should be remembered that espionage is illegal, and the activities
of the NSA are more or less illegal *outside their borders*.  I give
them no permission to monitor me or mine, and nor does any of the laws
of my land(s).

The fact that we cannot stop them doesn't make it any less legal.  The
fact that there is a gentleman's agreement between countries to look
the other way doesn't make it any less palatable to us
non-gentlepersons excluded from the corridors of powers.

And all that doesn't make NSA mathematicians any less a partner to the
activity.  Any intelligence agent is typically controlled and often
banned from overseas travel, because of the ramifications of this
activity.


...

> A myth that truly bewilders me is the notion that the NSA could or would spend time looking into the communications of ordinary Americans....
> 
> There's no doubt about it: We all live in a new world of Big Data.


In two paras above, and the next two paras below, this 'mathematician'
lays the political trap for Americans.  The collection by the federal
government of data is almost certainly unconstitutional.  Yet,
everyone acts as if that's ok because ... we live in the new world of
Big Data?


> Much of the focus of the public debate thus far has been on the amount of data that NSA has access to, which I feel misses the critical point.

Unless one subscribes to the plain wording of your (American)
constitution...


> In today's digital society, the Big Data genie is out of the bottle. Every day, more personal data become available to individuals, corporations, and the government. What matters are the rules that govern how NSA uses this data, and the multiple oversight and compliance efforts that keep us consistent with those rules. I have not only seen but also experienced firsthand, on a daily basis, that these rules and the oversight and compliance practices are stringent. And they work to protect the privacy rights of all Americans.

ditto, repeat.

Although, to be honest, we-the-world don't care about it;  the USG's
temptation to rewrite the constitution in the minds of its subjects is
strictly a domestic political affair.  For most other countries, the
Big Data genie is truly out of the bottle, and there's precious little
we can do about it.

...
> As this national dialogue continues, I look to the American people to reach a consensus on the desired scope of U.S. intelligence activities....

Good luck!

> .... The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Security Agency/Central Security Service.


I seriously doubt that.



iang

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Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
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