Facebook Is and Has Been Silently Listening to Everything You Say — Here’s How to Stop It

Facebook Is and Has Been Silently Listening to Everything You Say — Here’s How to Stop It

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/facebook-silently-listening-stop/

By: Jay Symopoulos
Date: 2016-06-19

Did you know that your Facebook mobile app has complete access to your phone’s microphone?

Recently, an expert has come out to claim that Facebook may be listening in on your conversations. Kelli Burns, a mass communication professor at the University of South Florida, believes the app might be using people’s microphones to gather data on the content of people’s conversations.

Facebook admits that the app is capable of listening to what’s happening around it — but claims the feature simply identifies what people are listening to or watching as means of conveniently posting about it.

Despite Post-Snowden Outcry, Report Details 'New Era of Secret Law'

Despite Post-Snowden Outcry, Report Details 'New Era of Secret Law'

Scores of legal memos, opinions, and letters from several agencies still being kept from public view

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/10/18/despite-post-snowden-outcry-report-details-new-era-secret-law

By: Nadia Prupis
Date: 2016-10-18

In the wake of 9/11, the U.S. government began creating what has now become an "unprecedented buildup" of secret laws, and even the recent public backlash against them has not stopped widespread use of covert rules that impact Americans' everyday lives without their knowledge, according to a new report from the Brennan Center for Justice.

The Department of Justice has kept classified at least 74 legal memos, opinions, and letters issued by the department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) from 2002 to 2009 on national security issues—from torture to mass surveillance—according to the report, The New Era of Secret Law (pdf), written by Elizabeth Gotein, co-director of the center's Liberty and National Security Program.

And the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court, which rules on intelligence collecting activities, is also hiding 25 to 30 opinions issued between 2003 and 2013 "that were deemed significant by the Attorney General." In fact, most of the significant case law written before National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden's 2013 revelations remains undisclosed.

Snowden Helped Reduce Surveillance and Strengthen Resistance: Report

Snowden Helped Reduce Surveillance and Strengthen Resistance: Report

Audit from the Department of Justice inspector general finds 2013 revelations attached 'stigma' to data collection requests

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/09/30/snowden-helped-reduce-surveillance-and-strengthen-resistance-report

By: Nadia Prupis
Date: 2016-09-30

Government surveillance of civilians has declined in large part due to National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden's 2013 revelations, according to the latest inspector general audit of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

The report (pdf), released Thursday, which covers the department's activities from 2012 to 2014, finds that technology companies grew increasingly resistant to sharing information with the FBI after Snowden exposed the government's mass surveillance programs—and that the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved far fewer FBI requests for civilians' "business records" than it did before the revelations. The records were requested under the controversial Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which the government relied on at the time to collect bulk communications data.

Between 2012 and 2014, the FISA court issued 561 orders known as National Security Letters (NSL), which subpoena records like email time stamps, senders and recipients, and other metadata without a warrant. In 2012, the court issued a nine-year high of 212 NSLs; by 2014, that had dropped to 170. By 2015, it was 142.

The Shadow Brokers Publish NSA Spy Tools, Demonstrating Possible Flaws in the NSA’s Approach to Security Vulnerabilities

The Shadow Brokers Publish NSA Spy Tools, Demonstrating Possible Flaws in the NSA’s Approach to Security Vulnerabilities

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/09/shadow-brokers-publish-powerful-nsa-spy-tools-demonstrating-flaws-nsas-approach

By: Rainey Reitman
Date: 2016-09-02

The Vulnerabilities Equities Process in Unaccountable, Secretive, and Nonbinding

A group calling itself the Shadow Brokers recently released powerful surveillance tools publicly on the Web and promises to publish more dangerous tools for the price of one million bitcoin – or to whomever makes the best offer, if they can’t get to a million.1

Snowden Calls 'Shadow Brokers' Hack of NSA Hackers 'Significant' Turn in Spy Wars

Snowden Calls 'Shadow Brokers' Hack of NSA Hackers 'Significant' Turn in Spy Wars

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/08/17/snowden-calls-shadow-brokers-hack-nsa-hackers-significant-turn-spy-wars

By: Nika Knight
Date: 2016-08-17

Calling leak of sophisticated spy tools unprecedented, whistleblower says things 'could get messy fast'

"This leak is likely a warning that someone can prove U.S. responsibility for any attacks that originated from this malware server," Snowden tweeted. "That could have significant foreign policy consequences." (Photo: AP/Patrick Semansky)

The National Security Administration (NSA) was allegedly hacked by a mysterious group calling itself "The Shadow Brokers," and the "most powerful espionage tools" of the NSA's elite hacker team, as the Washington Post put it, were leaked to the internet this weekend.

Smart Meters Driving Up Utility Bills For Customers

Vatic Note:   Yup, just got my new bill.  Over $200 for one months electric, and that is a giant rip off, since I use nothing more than I did in the same month, a year ago BEFORE THE SMART METERS WERE ARBITRARILY INSTALLED.  TIME TO GET SOLAR OR GENERATORS AND DUMP THESE UTILITIES.  iTS TIME FOR TESLAR TECHNOLOGY.

ALSO REMEMBER THE G20 MEETING WE PUBLISHED A BLOG ON, THAT RECOMMENDED SMART METERS TO CREATE A GLOBAL SPY GRID ON ALL CITIZENS FOR THE NEW WORLD ORDER. THEY NEVER DO ANYTHING FOR JUST ONE REASON, SO "GREED" IS THE OTHER REASON.  TIME TO RECALL THOSE ELECTED OFFICIALS WHO ARE ALLOWING ALL THIS.

This below, is our new reality and why?   To EXTRACT WHAT LITTLE REMAINING WEALTH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ENJOY, that is needed to make us into desperate slaves to the elite for their SATANIC NEW WORLD ORDER.   Its amazing just how far they will take GREED, in order to control and rule the world. Add to that the "depopulation" factor for our old people who would freeze to death without heat. 

They need the profits to pay off the corrupt congressmen and senators and probably many in the Justice and court system.  Who knows, but this is way beyond ridiculous.  Instead of raising taxes, they buy into the  utility companies and then extract what little we have left to line their own petty thieving pockets, since now they have leverage, where they didn't before.  If we do not pay, we don't get service, well, that can be a great way to show them just how creative we are.

Lets set a new goal:  To be energy independent and utility free.   Lets make our own energy and prove they do not control the American people.   We, here at Vatic Project, just began publishing "HOW TO" articles on solar energy that we make ourselves, and solar ovens that we can also make ourselves. etc.   They say we are dumb, but soon we will know who the dumb ones are.   Don't get me started...... ooops too late.  By the way,  I like this womans way of thwarting the smart meters.   Looks like fun and uses aluminum foil, that is way cheaper than anything else we could use.  I am going to give it a go and see how it works. Will let you know in a blog. 
   
ANYONE WITH ANY IDEAS, OR EXPERIENCES THAT THWART THESE GUYS, LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS SECTION AND WE WILL PASS IT AROUND FOR YA TO OTHERS.  LETS UNITE TOGETHER IN FIGHTING THIS RIP OFF BY THE ARROGANT AND STUPID BANKERS.  We could not have asked for a better incentive than this to unite us all as a people.  We should thank those stupid bankers for this... UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL.  THIS WILL UNITED US INCLUDING THE SHEEP.   ITS A WAY TO WAKE THEM UP HARD AND FAST.  PASS THIS AROUND EVERYWHERE.
  

Smart Meters Driving Up Utility Bills For Customers
http://technocracy.news/index.php/2015/10/25/smart-meters-driving-up-utility-bills-for-customers/
By Hussain / Red Dirt Report, October 25, 2015

Facebook is a giant spying machine: Facebook tracks your every move, even after logging out

Facebook is a giant spying machine: Facebook tracks your every move, even after logging out

http://www.naturalnews.com/033713_Facebook_tracking.html

Wednesday, September 28, 2011 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer,  Natural News

(NaturalNews) The social media empire Facebook has unveiled some new "features" on its platform in recent days that many allege are a total and compete privacy-breaching nightmare. But one hidden feature, discovered by Nik Cubrilovic, an Australian entrepreneur and writer, that few people are aware of is the fact that Facebook now monitors your online activity, even when you are not logged in to the service.

With each new change Facebook makes, users' privacy becomes a little less ... nonexistent, if you will. The most recent "News Feed" modifications, for example, display everything you say and do on the site to all of your "friends," and even to the public. And now, even after logging out of Facebook, permanent "cookies" track all your movements on websites that contain Facebook buttons or widgets.

Foreign report: Israel has one of world's largest 'eavesdropping' intel bases

The base, near Kibbutz Urim, is central to the activities of the main Israel Defense Forces signals intelligence unit, 8200, according to report in Le Monde Diplomatique.
By Yossi Melman
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/foreign-report-israel-has-one-of-world-s-largest-eavesdropping-intel-bases-1.312198

Israel has one of the largest signals intelligence (SIGINT) bases in the world in the western Negev, Le Monde Diplomatique reported. The base, near Kibbutz Urim, is central to the activities of the main Israel Defense Forces signals intelligence unit, 8200, the report says.

According to the report, the base has 30 antennas and satellite dishes of different sizes and types, capable of eavesdropping on telephone calls and accessing the e-mail of "governments, international organizations, foreign companies, political groups and individuals."

One of the base's main purposes is to listen to transmissions from ships passing in the Mediterranean, the report says. The base is also the center of intelligence activity that "taps underwater communication cables, mostly in the Mediterranean, connecting Israel with Europe."

The Government Can Use GPS to Track Your Moves

Vatic Project:    The lesson we have to continually remember is that "HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF, BECAUSE TYRANTS ALWAYS USE WHAT WORKED IN THE PAST, AND THEY LACK CREATIVITY".  Once we understand that,  then what is going on here, becomes familiar.  We look at history to see how things let up to the final massacres of millions of citizens and we see a pattern.  First the slow errosion of rights based on some obscure threat to frighten the people.  ZBIG KNEW THAT AND PUT THAT IN HIS BOOK, THE GRAND CHESSBOARD TO KEEP US FRIGHTENED SO WE WOULD READILY GIVE UP THOSE RIGHTS, and that was in 1997, one year later Cheney and his neocon zionists draft the PAX AMERICANA  paper incorporating all the salient recommendations by Zbig into that document.  All the recommendations follow exactly what happened in Nazi Germany and elsewhere. A PEARL HARBOR TYPE EVENT,  which happened,  then the slow steady errosion of our Bill of Rights, and finally the manipulation of our gun rights and ammo, which will result, once completed in the confiscation of our guns,  ARRESTING OUR DISSIDENTS TRACKED BY GPS,  and the finally the unencumbered slaughter of our Christians and who knows probably even muslims.  This is how history shows us what they will do when elements of yesterday are included in todays actions.  That is exactly what we have here.  PULL YOUR GPS FROM YOUR CAR AND THROW IT AWAY.    That is sending a definitive message that you are NOT waiving your right to privacy.   We don't do these enough and there are so many places we can do this.   For instance when you go to renew your license,  stuff your cheeks and jaw with cotton and then have them take your picture.... why?  Because they intend to digitize your face for facial recognition techology they now have.   Why?  Because they have no other way of controlling exactly where you go and tracking were you are every minute of every day and thus keep you from RESISTING THIS TYRANNY.  

The Government Can Use GPS to Track Your Moves
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2013150,00.html
by Adam Cohen, Wed, August 25, 2010, provided to Vatic project by Ottis Stratton, Ghost Troop

Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn't violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway — and no reasonable expectation that the government isn't tracking your movements.


That is the bizarre — and scary — rule that now applies in California and eight other Western states. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which covers this vast jurisdiction, recently decided the government can monitor you in this way virtually anytime it wants — with no need for a search warrant.


It is a dangerous decision — one that, as the dissenting judges warned, could turn America into the sort of totalitarian state imagined by George Orwell. It is particularly offensive because the judges added insult to injury with some shocking class bias: the little personal privacy that still exists, the court suggested, should belong mainly to the rich.

Israel: With friends like this...

Vatic Note: I am and was very impressed with his knowledge and presentation. He understood exactly what the issues are in this subject while 90% of the people have no idea what is underlying all our destruction, pain and losses of wealth and the blood of our children, while Israel's children do not have to bleed, get maimed, or die for Israel and they sure as hell won't do that for the US. We already know what Netanyahu thinks about us. Here, check it out.  

"Once we squeeze all we can out of the United States, it can dry up and blow away." - Benjamin Netanyahu. A comment made by Netanyahu to Jonathan Pollard (convicted traitor and spy) upon exiting Pollard's jail cell.

Israel: With friends like this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXiMPbYTwWw&feature=fvwk

CIA, FBI computers used for Wikipedia edits

Vatic Note:  Given the speed with which some of our more investigative articles are being gutted from the blog, this is one I strongly suggest you download and keep.   I suspect it will disappear soon since Wikipedia just told us that they do not track isp's that edit their offerings.   That does not make any sense once you read this and its why I put it up.  Mossad is doing the same thing.   Editing info about people and events that they do not want up there unless its already common knowledge and cannot be put back into the gate from whence it came,  like 9-11 and Mossad.   Too much already out there.  This got put up here to counter their claim that they do not have anyway  of knowing who is editing their offerings.

CIA, FBI computers used for Wikipedia edits
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1642896020070816

By Randall Mikkelsen
WASHINGTON
Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:43pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People using CIA and FBI computers have edited entries in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia on topics including the Iraq war and the Guantanamo prison, according to a new tracing program.

The changes may violate Wikipedia's conflict-of-interest guidelines, a spokeswoman for the site said on Thursday.

The program, WikiScanner, was developed by Virgil Griffith of the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico and posted this month on a Web site that was quickly overwhelmed with searches.

The program allows users to track the source of computers used to make changes to the popular Internet encyclopedia where anyone can submit and edit entries.

WikiScanner revealed that CIA computers were used to edit an entry on the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. A graphic on casualties was edited to add that many figures were estimated and were not broken down by class.

Israeli Now Taps All US telephones, faxes

Vatic Note:  Oh, now lets see,  the "Golden Calf" from the 10th Protocol of Rothschilds,  the Circumcision of the globes males PROMOTED BY GATES AND CLINTON,  (what a duo, A great example of the kinds of nut jobs that will be running the NWO, OH MY GAWD!!! can you even imagine?LOL) and now this.    Who is running the globe already??? 

Israeli Now Taps All US telephones, faxes
http://www.tbrnews.org/Archives/a2977.htm
by Brian Harring, Domestic Intelligence Reporter
Provided to Vatic Project by Anonymous USA
-from various sources-

“It turns out that Israel has had a potential wiretap on every phone in America for years, along with the ability to monitor and record who any person is calling, anywhere in America; information of great value even if one does not listen to the calls themselves. Amdocs, Inc. the company which sub contracts billing and directory services for phone companies around the world, including 90 percent of American phone companies, is owned by Israeli interests. Yet another company, Comverse Infosys, is suspected of having built a "back door" into the equipment permanently installed into the phone system that allows instant eavesdropping by law enforcement agencies on any phone in America. This includes yours.” -From JMP Aurelius whatreallyhappened.com January 17, 2006

It has been clearly established that during the term of President George H.W. Bush, (once head of the CIA and very friendly towards Israel) the Israeli Mossad, or foreign intelligence agency, had gained permission to send approximately 50 of their agents to the United States in order to “observe possible Arab terrorist groups” that might be operating in the relative safety of that country. These Mossad agents worked through the various Israeli diplomatic establishments as well as the Israeli Trade Commission office in New York and such Jewish organizations as the Anti Defamation League.

WikiLeaks founder drops 'mass spying' hint

Vatic Note: Here is my concern. ABC is a neocon owned MSM, in addition, Mossad and CIA assassination squads have not missed those they were instructed to eliminate who were a danger to the system. Add to that, the level of leaks and information dispensed by Wikileaks is not at the level it should be for an organization such as this to fear for their very lives. Don't take my word for it, visit the site and see for yourself. Then let me know what you think? I am beginning to simply wonder about this whole thing. Is this a way for the CIA to identify leakers???

Is this a scam as we reported such suspicions and rumors much earlier way back? Remember we had published speculation way back that this group was part of a CIA sting to do exactly that and we counseled then to keep an eye open and observe what happens and see if there is additional actions that might confirm such possibilities before deciding, and this case alone is what makes us question the veracity of this group. I saw the "big video" they released and all it showed was what we already knew as reported by Reuters.  Yes, it was condemning on those that did it, but not on those that ordered it done or who control the system.  So what was the big deal??? 

Think about it for moment. Manning, the whistleblower, believes he has provided massive important documentation (260,000 documents of great import sufficient to be arrested by the Pentagon) to Wikileaks, He gets arrested and WE GET NONE OF THOSE DOCUMENTS RELEASED? So, who is working for who??? Just a question. Anyone elses thoughts are more than welcome on this very disturbing issue. Also, the whistleblower is caught because he bragged to a stranger on the net??? I don't think so since he knew the penalty for doing so and he also knew the net was being monitored and also could assume he was being monitored as well, so why would he do that, but then, who knows. Its just too strange to take at face value for us, but others are welcome to add to the discussion.


WikiLeaks founder drops 'mass spying' hint
(VN: a man gets arrested to get this info out to him and he drops the mass spying hint?) 
By Andrew Fowler
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/22/2933892.htm
Updated Tue Jun 22, 2010 2:57pm AEST

WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange. (Colbert Report)

WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange has given his strongest indication yet about the next big leak from his whistleblower organisation.

There has been rampant speculation about WikiLeaks' next revelation following its recent release of a top secret military video showing an attack in Baghdad which killed more than a dozen people, including two employees of the Reuters news agency.

Bradley Manning, a US military intelligence officer based in Iraq, has been arrested on suspicion of leaking the video but it is also claimed that Manning bragged online that he had handed WikiLeaks 260,000 secret US State Department cables.

In an interview with the ABC's Foreign Correspondent, Mr Assange said cryptically of WikiLeaks' current project:

"I can give an analogy. If there had been mass spying that had affected many, many people and organisations and the details of that mass spying were released then that is something that would reveal that the interests of many people had been abused."

He agreed it would be of the "calibre" of publishing information about the way the top secret Echelon system - the US-UK electronic spying network which eavesdrops on worldwide communications traffic - had been used.

Mr Assange also confirmed that WikiLeaks has a copy of a video showing a US military bombing of a western Afghan township which killed dozens of people, including children.

He noted, though, it was a very intricate case "substantially more complex" than the Iraq material WikiLeaks had released - referring to the gunship video.

European news media are reporting that Mr Assange has "surfaced from almost a month in hiding", speaking at a freedom of information seminar at the European parliament in Brussels.

But during the course of the past month, Mr Assange has been talking to Foreign Correspondent for a program examining the efficacy of the WikiLeaks model.

"What we want to create is a system where there is guaranteed free press across the world, the entire world, that every individual in the world has the ability to publish materials that is meaningful," he said.

Whistleblower speaks

The program has also spoken directly to former computer hacker Adrian Lamo who blew the whistle on Bradley Manning after a boastful online discussion in which Lamo alleges the military intelligence adviser revealed himself as a significant WikiLeaks source.

"He proceeded to identify himself as an intelligence analyst and pose the question: What would you do if you have unprecedented access to classified data 14 hours a day seven days a week?" Mr Lamo said.

"He (Manning) was firing bullets into the air without thought to consequence of where they might land or who they might hit."

WikiLeaks has built an information repository it thinks is foolproof. Instead of secret documents physically changing hands, they are anonymously sent to digital drop boxes and stored on servers around the world. Finally, they are posted on the WikiLeaks site.

During Foreign Correspondent's assignment Mr Assange had been preparing to fly to New York to meet his hero - Daniel Ellsberg - the former US military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers which amounted to a devastating expose of the Vietnam War.

Instead, concerned about travelling in the US and attracting the interest of authorities, he used Skype to speak to the conference.

He told the crowd: "Leaking is inherently an anti-authoritarian act. It's inherently an anarchist act."

Mr Assange has been quoted as saying he feels perfectly safe in Europe, "but I have been advised by my lawyers not to travel to the US during this period".

Daniel Ellsberg, named by Henry Kissinger as "the most dangerous man in America", told Foreign Correspondent that Mr Assange was "a good candidate for being the most dangerous man in the world, in the eyes of people like the one who gave me that award".

"I'm sure that Assange is now regarded as one of the very most dangerous men and he should be quite proud of that."

Truth or Dare, Foreign Correspondent's examination of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, airs tonight at 8PM on ABC 1

---

The article is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

("And so it begins") FBI/DHS Attempt to Seize Colorado Indymedia Server and Silence Our Users

Vatic Note:  Well, its been a slow cooking pot of water and we are the frogs who have sat in it, but now its really beginning to cook and we best jump out or boil to death.  No question about it, the hammer is coming down big time.  How anyone cannot see this Gulf false flag for what it is is beyond me.   What they are doing completely has nothing to do with fixing the problem, not one thing.  Rather its about repressively controlling the region of the country that is the biggest obstacle to their regionalizing this continent.  That is now blatantly obvious.  It has never worked historically and its not going to work now,  YOU JUST DON'T HAVE ENOUGH PEOPLE TO PULL IT OFF, even if you kill some of us off.  So here comes the hammer.  

Additional Vatic Note:  We are asking our readers to contact us if there is anyone in Franklin, North Carolina who can take in for a short time, a 90 year old, very active Floridian man who has to leave for a while until the COREXIT gas has finished passing over Florida.  Its time we step up to the plate and help our fellow man in these regions.   They have no where else to go except the camps and that is unacceptable to me, what about you???  Do you think, after Katrina, that any senior is safe with these depopulation and eugenicists???  So now it truly is up to us.  LETS HEAR FROM YOU IN THAT REGION AND LETS HELP THESE PEOPLE AS THEY CALL IN. OK??  Get this out to your lists everywhere to solicit help for this great and courageous gentleman.  We can deal with the attempted murder of our people later. 

FBI/DHS Attempt to Seize Colorado Indymedia Server and Silence Our Users - (the hammer is coming down)

http://colorado.indymedia.org/node/7781
Submitted by ringo on June 24, 2010 - 5:43pm
Provided to Vatic Project by CLG newsletter, Lori Price, (and her Homeland security spies)
http://www.legitgov.org/

On Jun 17, Colorado Indymedia was contacted by Special Agent Adam Kowalski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)/Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As part of an "ongoing investigation" by Federal Protective Services, they attempted to seize the Colorado Indymedia server, believing that we kept logs (such as IP address access logs) that could identity users on our site. Our servers are graciously hosted at Denver Open Media who was approached by Kowalski. Kowalski claimed he had a court order but refused to leave a copy at Denver Open Media. He was told to contact the system administrators in order to obtain the logs as Denver Open Media does not have the ability to consent to a seizure or search of our property.

As of this date, we do not have a copy of the court order if it even exists. It's likely that this was just a bluff as it's well-established that cops, the FBI, and other law enforcement can lie in order to illicit consent and lying about court orders is no exception.

We told the FBI that "Colorado Indymedia does not retain this [identifying] information because we strongly believe in the First Amendment right to free, anonymous speech. Frequently communities outside of our society's mainstream feel more comfortable expressing their views in an anonymous setting. Like all Independent Media Centers, Colorado Indymedia exists to serve these communities, and thus strives to maintain the anonymity of its users."

In particular, the FBI was looking for information that would identify a user(s) who had used the "spamsucks" account. This account's username and password are posted on the main page of our site for users who would like to post and remain anonymous. Given the time period of the logs they were seeking, we believe they are looking to identify the individual(s) who posted the two communiques that claimed responsibility for the recent attacks on Immigrations and Custom Enforcement (ICE) offices. (See "ICE Facility Attacked in Loveland" http://colorado.indymedia.org/no ... and "ICE Office Attacked" http://colorado.indymedia.org/no... ).

This request is part of an investigation by Federal Protective Services, the agency which is tasked with protecting the security of Federal property (such as buildings). Communiques posted by the same account claiming direct action attacks against other places such as a Wells Fargo branch (http://colorado.indymedia.org/no... ) have not attracted similar reactions from the agency. It appears as if the ICE attacks prompted additional attention and heat due to their status as Federal buildings even though the attack on the Wells Fargo branch seems related to their funding of private ICE prisons through the GEO Group.

While this may look to many as a run-of-the-mill investigation, there are several things that bring this into question. Firstly, it is a well known and widely publicized policy of Colorado Indymedia that we do not retain logs that can identify individual users. For instance, our privacy policy (http://colorado.indymedia.org/no... ), which is linked to twice from our main page, notes that we do not log such information. The FBI is well aware of this policy but still decided to ask us for logs they know we do not keep. This could be a simple "fill in the box" task that has to be completed, but then why not approach DOM's Internet service provider, which almost certainly does retain logs of this nature (as all major Internet Service Providers and the NSA do)? Additionally, the FBI seemed intent on seizing our server when they came to Denver Open Media, indicating their goal may have been the disruption of our service instead of simply identifying users.

Given this, it seems likely that the government is upset that we provide a venue for anonymous speech and is retaliating for this. We allow people who ordinarily cannot speak to tell their story to the world including those who took credit for smashing up the ICE offices. In any democratic society, it's important that all members of society can have as much available information in order to make informed decisions, including decisions about whether to support the actions that these communiques discuss. If places like COIMC did not exist, it could be that nobody would have heard why this office was attacked and people would be forced to make evaluations based on coverage from mainstream media outlets who act as a police mouthpiece. In retaliation for providing this service and working to give everybody a voice, we have been targeted.

This targeting is no surprise and something we expect from law enforcement. Police are a tool of those who are in power who use them to maintain that power through force. Behind every law is a charge, behind every badge is a gun, and behind every subpoena is the possibility of being kidnapped and held hostage for contempt. This type of targeting is done every day against those who assert their right to privacy, who do not have societal privilege, who lack the money to defend themselves in court or conform to society's norms, and who choose to defy and change those norms themselves or challenge the power structures that control society. We are not treated differently than anybody else and the targeting of Colorado Indymedia is business as usual. If the Department of Justice had their way (based on their actions and lobbying efforts), the right to anonymous speech would completely disappear. The services that we provide are a critical part of fostering social change and democratic discourse in this region. For this reason and many others we will not be intimidated into maintaining investigative records on our own users or shutting down our service. As far as we know, we are the only media outlet that has provided coverage on the attacks against ICE offices.

It's important when things like this happen we not internalize this repression and that we let people know we are being bullied. The majority of a bully's power is derived from their ability to keep their victim's silent. This is true whether those bullies are police, rapists, the bully who steals your lunch money, or an abusive parent. This enforced silence keeps the victim feeling powerless and alone. When we are silent, we cannot find others who have faced the same treatment and speak out about it or fight back. Police are a tool of those in power which they use to enforce their rules, laws, social codes, and ultimately maintain their place at the top of the hierarchy. They do not want to hear about people challenging their authority. Most of all, they want to make sure that nobody sees or hears about those actions and chooses to support those individuals or becomes inspired to challenge authority on their own.

You may view our privacy policy at http://colorado.indymedia.org/no...  which contractually binds us to protect your information. We would like to thank Denver Open Media (http://denveropenmedia.org/ ) for continuing to host our server and recognizing the importance of the service we provide. We continue to look for people who are willing to help with website/server administration, moderation, legal problems, and other things. Please see http://colorado.indymedia.org/no...  for more information. The original letter from the FBI can be found below including our response (with minor formatting changes for your viewing pleasure).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Kowalski, Adam J
Date: Thu, Jun 17, 2010 at 4:16 PM
Subject: Request for information on Open Media Foundation server / Colorado Indymedia
To: jeff@openmediafoundation.org
Cc: Tony@openmediafoundation.org, "Kowalski, Adam"

To: Open Media Foundation Executive Director Tony Sawcross [sic] and Business and
Finance Director Jeff Villano

Gentlemen,

Pursuant to our discussion today, the Colorado Indymedia organization, as found at http://colorado.indymedia.org/ , and/or IP address 129.19.150.17, is utilizing an Open Media Foundation computer server maintained on the premises of 700 Kalamath Street in Denver, Colorado to host its webpage.

Through my discussions with you today, it is your belief that Open Media Foundation representatives are unable to obtain any of the information described below on the applicable Open Media Foundation server and that only representatives of Colorado Indymedia are able to access the requested information.

In order to minimize any adverse impact this request for information may have on either organization, I request that the organization able to access the requested information be identified as soon as practicable to receive the appropriate legal process for release of the requested information.

If the requested information is no longer available, I request that the responsible party issue a return correspondence noting the negative results of the search and identify the standard retention period that information of this type is typically retained.

Information sought:

Pursuant to an ongoing federal investigation, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Protective Service is seeking the following information, if available, as data files on CD-ROM or other electronic media or facsimile:

1. The following customer or subscriber account information for each account registered to or associated with the “spamsucks” screen name on Colorado Indymedia’s website for the time period May 17, 2010 through May 26, 2010:

1. subscriber names, user names, screen names, or other identities;
2. mailing addresses, residential addresses, business addresses, e-mail addresses and other contact information.
3. local and long distance telephone records, or records of session times and durations;
4. length of service (including start date) and types of service utilized;
5. telephone or instrument number or subscriber number or identity, including any temporally assigned network address; and
6. means and source of payment for such service (including any credit card or bank account number) and billing records.

7.
2. All records and other information relating to the accounts(s) and time period in Part A, including:

1. records of user activity for any connections made by the screen name, including the date, time, length, and method of connections, data transfer volume, user name, and source and destination Internet Protocol address(es);

2. telephone records, including local and long distance telephone connection records, caller identification records, cellular site and sector information, GPS data, and cellular network identifying information (such as IMSI, MISISDN, IMEI, MEID, or ESN)

3. non-content information associated with the contents of any communication or file stored by or for the account(s), such as the source and destination email addresses and IP addresses.

4. correspondence and notes of records related to the account(s).

Again, thank you for your cooperation and timely response in this request.

Special Agent Adam Kowalski

(303) 210-7629
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Kowalski,

This email is a response to the email sent by you to Tony Shawcross on Thursday June 17, 2010 as a representative of the Federal Protective Service of the Department of Homeland Security. That email requested that Colorado Indymedia disclose information related to the identity of persons who posted using the "spamsucks" user name during the period of May 17, 2010 through May 26, 2010. A copy of the original message is included below this reply.

Colorado Indymedia does not retain any personally identifying information, such as IP addresses or telephone numbers, of any of our site's users. IP addresses

associated with user names are never logged, and web server logs are discarded after 48 hours. Because of this, we do not possess the information sought by the DHS, et al.

Colorado Indymedia does not retain this information because we strongly believe in the First Amendment right to free, anonymous speech. Frequently communities outside of our society's mainstream feel more comfortable expressing their views in an anonymous setting. Like all Independent Media Centers, Colorado Indymedia exists to serve these communities, and thus strives to maintain the anonymity of its users.

The "spamsucks" account was created to preserve this anonymity after we experienced a surge in anonymous spam articles and comments which forced us to temporarily disable the ability of user to post in a truly anonymous fashion. It is used by multiple individuals - both the "spamsucks" username and its password are publicly available at http://colorado.indymedia.org/no...

You can also read our privacy policy in full at http://colorado.indymedia.org/no...

Colorado Indymedia is a collective, and as such decisions about its policies are made by consensus amongst all of its members. However, if you have any future questions about our website, you may contact me directly by emails at nathan@coimc.org  or by phone at 303.807.0086.

Yours in solidarity,
Nathan Acks
COIMC Webmaster
On behalf of the Colorado Independent Media Center collective

---

The article is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

Ex-IBM Employee reveals TV Abandoned Analog Band to Make Room for RFID Chips

Vatic Note:   The People-to-People initiative will be address this in their strategy and tactics so watch for them when they come out.   There are many good ideas for avoiding the chip on your person, but more importantly how to either extract the chip from products or make them unuseable.   These will be coming out a few at a time since its a horrific job but must be started now in preparation for hte Health care bill which is where the chips are reqiured by law to be implanted in everyone for "supposedly" medical records.  

Ex-IBM Employee reveals TV Abandoned Analog Band to Make Room for RFID Chips

By:  Patrick Redmond, April 13, 2008, contributed by Gypsy from Australia
http://dprogram.net/2009/07/12/ex-ibm-employee-reveals-tv-abandoned-analog-band-to-make-room-for-rfid-chips/

Date:  04/05/2010

What I’m going to do is give you an introduction to three technologies that are becoming more and more important. The first is RFID chips, the second genetic engineering, and the third synthetic biology. This will give you an understanding of what is happening and where science is going.

We will start with RFID chips:

So what are they? They are Radio Frequency Identification Devices. An RFID is a microchip with an attached antenna. The microchip contains stored information which can be transmitted to a reader and then to a computer.

RFID’s can be passive, semi-passive or active. Active RFID’s have an internal power source such as a battery. This allows the tag to send signals back to the reader, so if I have a RFID on me and it has a battery, I can just send a signal to a reader wherever it is. They can receive and store data, and be read at a further distance than the passive RFID’s. The batteries can only last a short while. But the current batteries in the RFID’s can last for over a hundred years, because of their self-generating power. Ultrawideband (UWB) allows the small battery operated RFID tag to be sensed over fairly wide areas. For instance, GE Aircraft Engines in Ohio has installed five readers in the factory and it covers over 30,000 square feet so they can track everything within that area with only the five readers. That gives you an idea of the distance that can be covered by an RFID tag that might be on you or on equipment.

An RFID held by a pair of tweezers

The readers can transmit over telephone or by internet to computers and they use satellites as well. For example, Digital Angel has signed contracts with satellite providers to transmit their data for military personnel location beacons (PLBs). These beacons use the COSPAS-SARSAT satellite system. This system has some 400,000 digital beacons around the world and it’s rising to some 900,000. By the year 2009 they plan to have a GL stationary satellite system that will enable them to find the location and details of any beacon. You may sometimes see these at night; the GO stationary systemscan track any beacon. Skiers sometimes use them so that they can be identified, and sailors as well, if they become lost at sea they will be able to be tracked. Anything that has an RFID tag can be tracked by a reader or a computer.

An example of such transmission is a chip sold by Zarlink. This chip is implanted in a person; it tracks problems and if one is detected, it alerts the doctor who uses a two way RF link to interrogate and adjust the implanted device. Semi-passive RFIDs have an internal power source that let them monitor environmental conditions, such as temperature and shock, but they still require RF energy from the reader to respond.

Passive RFID’s do not have a power source but use a signal sent by the scanner to power the microchip circuit to transmit back their stored information. Passive RFID’s are getting very small. Hitachi a few years ago produced a chip (called the mu chip) that was the size of a pencil point; if you take a pencil and put it on a piece of paper you get a little dot. That’s how small they’re getting. In 2007 Hitachi came out with a chip that was even smaller, they call it RFID powder. They are just like the talcum powder you would put on a baby.

Somark Innovations in Jan 10, 2007 announced an invisible RFID ink. This can be applied to cattle, prime cuts of meat, military personnel and it can be read through hair.

I brought along a couple of the larger size chips, and this particular chip I got from Gillette fusion blades. I bought one of the blades and you can see that on one side what looks like a bar code and if you open it up you can see parts of a RFID chip on the back. This one here is from the Gap. One of my daughters went to the Gap; they put the tag directly on the clothing and the instructions just say to remove before washing and wearing. If you put it up to the light you will see the RFID chip inside it. These chips are quite small and can be put on the back of labels. They would not be noticeable in badges or ID cards; they could even be put in the eye of a person, they are that small.

In order for chips to be useful, they have to have a unique product number and because of this, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) started developing some standards. It’s called the AutoID Center. They then passed it on to the AutoID Group within the Uniform Clothes Council. It will assign codes and publish specifications, so if you have a company, government agency, or church you can contact these people and they will give you a set of numbers.

So let’s say there are three or five people in this room wearing the same white hat and each one of them has a chip on it with a different number. We could differentiate everything even if you’re all wearing the same clothes, it doesn’t really matter because everything has a unique number. MIT has the architecture of participation called EPC Global so if you go on Google and type in EPC Global and you will come up with the website they will give you instructions on how to apply and get chips. So if you want to chip yourself, your family, relatives, company or anything like that; you can do it.

It works with people who want to use this technology. One of many companies who sell the chip is called, Technic Imitations. If you have a company and you go to one of their presentations, they will give you books like this that tell you what the chips look like, how they work, the types that are sold, and what the readers look like. They will help you install chips in your company. It’s a very big business and it’s spreading very quickly.

Terrifying Video: "I Don't Need a Warrant, Ma'am, Under Federal Law"

Vatic Note:  A police state in practice?  This woman at least had a camera, but how many others don't we know about right now.   This could happen to anyone of us at this point.  Can you believe this is our country?  After this video, then watch the next one where representative Dingle says the health care bill was passed to "control the people".   Both of these together ensure that a police state is closer than we may imagine. 

Title:   Terrifying Video: "I Don't Need a Warrant, Ma'am, Under Federal Law"

http://www.opednews.com/populum/print_friendly.php?p=Terrifying-Video--I-Don-t-by-Rob-Kall-100404-260.html
By:  Rob Kall, OP Ed News
Date:   April 4, 2010

Six law officers enter and search a woman's Bakersfield CA home without a warrant, saying federal law allows it. The action starts about 45 seconds into the video. Try not to be outraged.




All across America, law officers are grabbing powers they never had before, that are not theirs to grab-- bullying, arresting, abusing citizens. At least this woman video taped the perpetrators. If she finds a good lawyer, she should be able to sue.

Update:

Sheriff's department launches internal investigation after deputies enter woman's home

From 17KGET.com:

Attorney H.A. Sala says based on the video evidence, the Sheriff's Department could have a lawsuit on its hands because of the way they forced into the home without any knowledge of the wanted person being in the home. "They have to knock, state a purpose, say they have a warrant and give time for the person to surrender," Sala said.

Sheriff Donny Youngblood confirmed the deputies in the video are from the Kern County Sheriff's Department, but he said he can't comment because an internal affairs investigation is being launched.

Congressman John Dingell spills the truth about the health care bill

Congressman John Dingell says "........It takes a long time ..... to control the people". They are losing it when they make slip ups like that.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvDwFQiSkBU&NR=1

---

The article is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

Federal Judge Finds N.S.A. Wiretapping Program Illegal

Title:   Federal Judge Finds N.S.A. Wiretapping Program Illegal

By CHARLIE SAVAGE and JAMES RISEN
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/us/01nsa.html?pagewanted=print

Date:  March 31, 2010

WASHINGTON — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the National Security Agency’s program of surveillance without warrants was illegal, rejecting the Obama administration’s effort to keep shrouded in secrecy one of the most disputed counterterrorism policies of former President George W. Bush.

In a 45-page opinion, Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled that the government had violated a 1978 federal statute requiring court approval for domestic surveillance when it intercepted phone calls of Al Haramain, a now-defunct Islamic charity in Oregon, and of two lawyers representing it in 2004. Declaring that the plaintiffs had been “subjected to unlawful surveillance,” the judge said the government was liable to pay them damages.

The ruling delivered a blow to the Bush administration’s claims that its surveillance program, which Mr. Bush secretly authorized shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was lawful. Under the program, the National Security Agency monitored Americans’ international e-mail messages and phone calls without court approval, even though the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, required warrants.

The Justice Department said it was reviewing the decision and had made no decision about whether to appeal.

The ruling by Judge Walker, the chief judge of the Federal District Court in San Francisco, rejected the Justice Department’s claim — first asserted by the Bush administration and continued under President Obama — that the charity’s lawsuit should be dismissed without a ruling on the merits because allowing it to go forward could reveal state secrets.

The judge characterized that expansive use of the so-called state-secrets privilege as amounting to “unfettered executive-branch discretion” that had “obvious potential for governmental abuse and overreaching.”

That position, he said, would enable government officials to flout the warrant law, even though Congress had enacted it “specifically to rein in and create a judicial check for executive-branch abuses of surveillance authority.”