Donald Trump is still convinced that former president Barack Obama ordered wiretapping of Trump Tower last year, despite a congressional investigation and multiple intelligence agencies stating unequivocally there is no evidence of his claim. But that didn’t stop our Cheeto-in-Chief from reviving this old, tired…
Much to the delight of Americans who love honesty and competence, Representative Devin Nunes will no longer lead the congressional investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election. Donald Trump must be bummed, though.
Meet Devin Nunes. The Republican congressman from California is the chair of the House Intelligence Committee and earned his badge of infamy this week when he claimed that President Trump and his associates were “incidentally monitored.” On Friday, Nunes backed down from that claim. Very embarrassing.
Appearing before the House Select Committee on Intelligence today, FBI director James Comey couldn’t offer a shred of evidence to support Donald Trump’s outlandish and totally unsubstantiated claim that former President Obama wiretapped his phones at Trump Tower during the election.
There’s no need to be coy, cute, or caustic: Sean Spicer isn’t doing well. After the heads of both the Senate and House Intelligence Committees said they found no evidence former President Obama secretly wiretapped Trump Tower during last year’s election, the White House press secretary was asked on Thursday to…
Last night, Kim Kardashian released video snippets of Kanye West talking to Taylor Swift on the phone about lyrics in his then upcoming song “Famous.” But because West apparently didn’t inform Swift that he was recording the call, he may have broken federal wiretapping law.
A formerly-secret report on the NSA’s warrantless surveillance was published yesterday evening. It’s a detailed look into the history of the Stellarwind surveillance program—one that makes it clear that government officials repeatedly questioned its legality and efficacy.
Spy cameras are probably the most axiomatic gadgets when we talk about intelligence-gathering techniques. But intercepting and decoding messages is just as important as taking pictures. Here's a look at all the devices spies have used to tap into voice, mail, phone, radio, morse, electronic messages, and other…
Wiretapping used to be straightforward. Potential drug lord? Bug his phone! But the proliferation of online chat options is making it hard for law enforcement officials and intelligence agents to carry out court-ordered wiretaps.
There's a story in the New York Times today that details how the NSA hasn't just been tracking communications to and from (potential) foreigners of interest—it's actually tracking all emails and text messages that potentially mention these targets. That dragnet just got a lot wider. This is the actualization of the…
Uncle Sam might soon be spying on you with a vast, computerized network. At least that was the eerie prophecy of The Atlantic in 1967.
Last night, the Washington Post and Guardian dropped concurrent bombshell reports. Their subject was PRISM, a covert collaboration between the NSA, FBI, and nearly every tech company you rely on daily. PRISM has allowed the government unprecedented access to your personal information for at least the last six years.…
United States law enforcement agencies are requesting user information such as "text messages, caller locations and other information" at an alarming rate—at least 1.3 million requests last year alone—according to cellular carriers.
NSA chief General Keith Alexander faced tough - and funny - questions from Congress Tuesday stemming from Wired's story on the NSA's capabalities and warrantless wiretapping program.
According to China publication Apple Times, the Chinese government has installed surveillance devices on up to 20,000 cars with dual China/Hong Kong plates, claiming the tags are just for inspection. However, they have the capability to pickup and transmit conversations.
Current law mandates that telecoms allow the government to snoop on you when deemed necessary. But with blazing advances in what telecoms offer, the government is left behind. They want to catch up. Their solution? Tougher law.
Here's today's jarring news from the NY Times: federal law enforcement and national security officials want to force companies like Facebook, Skype, and BlackBerry to let them wiretap your accounts.
In the last year alone, Sprint turned over users' GPS data to authorities 8 million times. While that number is misleadingly high—this could translate to under a thousand individual users—it's still terrifying. But wait, it gets even better!
So much for change: Wired reports that Obama's administration is lining with Bush on supporting the warrantless-eavesdropping program, urging the courts to drop a case against it. Paraphrasing Stewart: It's only f*ck*ng day one.
In a textbook display of checks and balances, the House of Representatives defied President Bush and the Senate yesterday by passing their version of a surveillance bill without legal immunity for telcos. The bill passed by only 16 votes, far from the 2/3 majority needed to override Bush's inevitable veto. It looks…
