Snowden docs reveal British spies snooped on YouTube and Facebook

[Newsjock]

Source: NBC News

By Richard Esposito, Matthew Cole and Mark Schone, with Glenn Greenwald, Special Contributor

The British government can tap into the cables carrying the world’s web traffic at will and spy on what people are doing on some of the world’s most popular social media sites, including YouTube, all without the knowledge or consent of the companies.

Documents taken from the National Security Agency by Edward Snowden and obtained by NBC News detail how British cyber spies demonstrated a pilot program to their U.S. partners in 2012 in which they were able to monitor YouTube in real time and collect addresses from the billions of videos watched daily, as well as some user information, for analysis. At the time the documents were printed, they were also able to spy on Facebook and Twitter.

Called “Psychology A New Kind of SIGDEV" (Signals Development), the presentation includes a section that spells out “Broad real-time monitoring of online activity” of YouTube videos, URLs “liked” on Facebook, and Blogspot/Blogger visits. The monitoring program is called “Squeaky Dolphin.”

... Representatives of Facebook and Google, which owns YouTube, said they hadn’t given the British government permission to access data and were unaware the collection had occurred. A source close to Google who asked not to be identified when discussing company policy said the company was “shocked” to learn the U.K. could have been “grabbing” its data.

Read more: http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/27/22469304-snowden-docs-reveal-british-spies-snooped-on-youtube-and-facebook

[JDPriestly]

1. This is not the NSA, but it seems pretty irrelevant.

If they were monitoring websites that terror suspects watched, that would make sense. If they monitored videos that advocated violence that would make sense. I suspect that they are monitoring us on DU, our likes, our comments. And this is a pretty political website -- where we clearly are exercising our First Amendment rights.

There is no provision prohibiting the government form monitoring us as we exercise our First Amendment rights, but there probably should be. And they certainly should not be monitoring prominent politicians or would-be politicians. We don't know if they are.

[randome]

6. Well, the NSA is forbidden from spying on Americans so there is a provision.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]No squirrels were harmed in the making of this post. Yet.[/center][/font][hr]

[Maedhros]

8. Yet they do it anyway. That's why we're upset. [n/t]

[last1standing]

2. So what? Don't you know that "Comrade Eddie" just wants attention?

Illegal and unethical spying on civilians doesn't matter because Snowden's girlfriend was a stripper.

And he abandoned her.

And he fled to China.

And Russia.

And he should have stayed to be locked up like MLK.

And Ellsberg never hid (only he did).

And boxes - tons of boxes in his garage.

[DontTreadOnMe]

3. I have been saying this for years...

Corporations are spying on us MORE than governments... it's called marketing 101.

Don't like being "spied on"... get off the internet.

Now we have corporations trying to say the "government" has no right to spy on their "customers"... how funny is that?

[Maedhros]

9. So, in other words, JustLetThemTreadOnYou.

Don't make a fuss, just get on the bus.

[Demenace]

12. You do realize this is about the British government, though?

Just checking because it seems around everything is the NSA even when the story says otherwise!

[Maedhros]

16. The post I replied to was broader in scope. Go read it yourself.[n/t]

[Jesus Malverde]

4. Representatives have repeatedly said the NSA does not have "direct access"

to their servers.

Even Tim Cook was days ago bloviating about it.

They think we are not smart enough to parse their language...

[Demenace]

11. Again, in case you missed the story you are responding to...

This is about the British government demonstrating its capabilities to the Americans so how you make the leap to the NSA is what I am curious about?

[Jesus Malverde]

13. Consider reading the puzzle palace circe 1985...

http://www.amazon.com/The-Puzzle-Palace-Intelligence-Organization/dp/0140067485/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390861976&sr=8-1&keywords=puzzle+palace

It's well known the five eyes have worked in concert since WWII.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UKUSA_Agreement

Pretty much fundamental to the whole structure of the spying apparatus.

The agreement allows countries to put as many restrictions about spying on their own citizens in place and get around them.

[another_liberal]

5. "Shocked, I tell you!"

Yeah, right. In other words Google got a warning in the form of a National Security Letter, and they're afraid to say anything about it.

[treestar]

7. How do they spy on Facebook?

That is like spying on the town square.

[FSogol]

10. NSA also watched tv shows!

[Jesus Malverde]

14. Private messaging, location data..

Youtube and Facebook both allow Jihdist movements to post pages and propaganda on their services.

These pages act as honey pots for the intelligence services to see who visits them, engages in them and expresses solidarity with them.

Once the extremist are outed they can be monitored or exploited.

Using the analogy of the town square.

Seeing the content of a post on a bulletin board in the town square is different from having cameras surrounding the town square and seeing who read the posted notices. Hearing who recommended that post to their friends and seeing who liked or disliked it. That kind of knowledge is extremely powerful. Imagine if Nixon had those tools to use on the anti-war movement. Who is in control is less important than the capability exists.

The beauty of the internet is intelligence services can build extremely detailed dossiers about people. It's possible the NSA has stored things about you, you even forgot you did.

[WillyT]

15. K & R !!!