Tag: NSA

Rumpelstiltskin and the NSA

As she spent her days in a windowless room analyzing classified data she sometimes thought about the girl in the old fairy tale. The one who was locked in a room and told she must spin straw into gold even though she possessed no such magical powers. Unlike the girl in the story she was allowed... Read more »
By Kim Z Dale,
June 26, 2015 at 6:41 am • 

Reset the Net: How you can fight NSA mass surveillance

Reset the Net: How you can fight NSA mass surveillance
On June 5, you may see splash screens on web sites and posts on social media about telling you to “Reset the Net.” Those Reset the Net messages are to encourage website administrators, app developers, and all Internet users to take steps to prevent NSA mass surveillance. The date June 5, 2014 was selected because... Read more »
By Kim Z Dale,
June 4, 2014 at 10:03 pm • 

City of Big Data promotes data benefits, ignores privacy concerns

City of Big Data promotes data benefits, ignores privacy concerns
Chicago: City of Big Data is an exhibition being presented by the Chicago Architecture Foundation from now until the end of the year. The title City of Big Data is a play on the moniker bestowed on Chicago by Carl Sandburg, “City of Big Shoulders.” The exhibition focuses on how the City of Chicago uses... Read more »
By Kim Z Dale,
May 20, 2014 at 6:00 am • 
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Is your FitBit spying on you for the NSA?

I previously reported how the National Security Agency (NSA) used the Elf on the Shelf to spy on American families. Although the NSA’s SANTA (Securing America’s Noel Toy Allotment) program was quite successful during the Christmas season the usefulness of the program waned once people boxed the shelf-perching monitoring devices with the rest of their... Read more »
By Kim Z Dale,
May 2, 2014 at 12:01 am • 

Elf on the Shelf revealed to be part of secret NSA spying program

Elf on the Shelf revealed to be part of secret NSA spying program
Top secret documents leaked by former contractor Edward Let-It-Snowden reveal a previously unknown NSA program code-named SANTA (Securing America’s Noel Toy Allotment). A key component of the SANTA program is the use of hidden recording and transmitting devices in Elf on the Shelf dolls. The Elf on the Shelf dolls allow the NSA to secretly monitor... Read more »
By Kim Z Dale,
November 14, 2013 at 11:08 am • 

I sexually harassed my NSA polygrapher

There is a hotel near the Baltimore airport where National Security Agency (NSA) recruits stay. Some are linguists. Some are computer scientists. Some are security experts. Most are introverts. At night everyone uses their dinner vouchers sitting at one person tables around the perimeter of the hotel dining room. It is quiet. Everyone reads or... Read more »
By Kim Z Dale,
August 6, 2013 at 8:29 am • 
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NSA XKeyscore can search nearly everything you do on the Internet

NSA XKeyscore can search nearly everything you do on the Internet
NSA XKeyscore is the latest privacy invasive technology revealed by documents leaked by Edward Snowden. According to the leaked documents Xkeyscore allows the NSA to search “nearly everything a typical user does on the internet” including the content of emails, websites visited and search history. Previously the NSA has asserted that they only collected “meta-data,” but... Read more »
By Kim Z Dale,
July 31, 2013 at 10:11 am • 

Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Edward Snowden has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for the leaking of government documents about NSA spying programs. The nomination was made by a Swedish sociology professor to symbolize ‘that individuals can stand up for fundamental rights and freedoms.’ Does Edward Snowden deserve a Nobel Peace Prize for his actions? When I wrote a... Read more »
By Kim Z Dale,
July 15, 2013 at 9:05 am • 

Five reasons you should care about the NSA and privacy issues

Privacy issues have been in the news a lot recently, but a lot of people don’t seem to care. A survey from the Pew Research Center concluded that 56% of American’s view the government’s tracking of phone records as “acceptable.” Why should people care about privacy issues, particularly if they have nothing to hide? Here... Read more »
By Kim Z Dale,
June 11, 2013 at 8:23 pm • 
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Why I chose not to work for the NSA

Why I chose not to work for the NSA
I got a job offer from the National Security Agency. Yes, the NSA. I might have had the opportunity to do some interesting work there, but I chose not to work for the NSA because I was concerned I might be asked to do something I’d find objectionable. It seems I made the right choice.... Read more »
By Kim Z Dale,
June 7, 2013 at 2:19 pm •