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Curated research library of TV news clips regarding the NSA, its oversight and privacy issues, 2009-2014

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Primary curation & research: Robin Chin, Internet Archive TV News Researcher; using Internet Archive TV News service.

Speakers

Alex Abdo
American Civil Liberties Union, Staff Attorney-Speech, Privacy & Technology Project
CSPAN 09/02/2014
Lynch: Even if Congress authorized the program explicitly, it is still unconstitutional; I realize that’s your position. Abdo: That’s right. But I see your suggestion. I think that could be an element of the reasonableness of the expectation of privacy. The fact that the executive intrusion has not been authorized by Congress, has not been one deliberated over by democracy. Lynch: As opposed to what might happen if there was a real debate in the democratic branches of government that led to a decision to re-up this program. Abdo: That’s right. But I think if anything, the current debate that’s ongoing suggests the opposite. It suggests that Congress is not comfortable, and the country is not comfortable with bulk collection. And indeed the President himself has recognized that bulk collection creates an intolerable abuse and should be ended.
Alex Abdo
American Civil Liberties Union, Staff Attorney-Speech, Privacy & Technology Project
CSPAN 09/02/2014
Broderick: but with regard to what is actually being captured, which is the number assigned, are you saying that, because the government is collecting that in bulk, in other words, for 7 years, whatever, of your client, that that is unconstitutional? Abdo: That’s right. I think that if in 1979 the state of Maryland had investigated Michael lee Smith, not through the targeted use of a Pen Register, but because it had from the moment of his birth created a data base that every phone call he ever made or received. And kept that data base in the government coffer, I think the Supreme Court would have understood that case to stand for a very proposition. And I wager they would have found that collection unconstitutional.
Alex Abdo
American Civil Liberties Union, Staff Attorney-Speech, Privacy & Technology Project
CSPAN 09/02/2014
Abdo: in an individualized fashion we would still think the program is unreasonable for the very simple reason that it is the most intrusive means that the government could use to accomplish it’s very narrow interests. That sort of program has always held to be unreasonable. And it’s in part, and I think this is a critical point, I’ll emphasize it again, it’s because even the President has conceded that the government’s interest can be accomplished in narrow means. And it’s not just the President, it’s the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board that wrote a very lengthy report concluding that bulk collection is unnecessary. It’s a hand selected review group, a group hand selected by the President, himself that came to the same conclusion. And there’s record evidence in this case from Professor Felton, who’s a professor of computer science at Princeton explaining very simply how the government could recreate this program in a targeted way that would not require bulk collection. I think that showing goes to both the question of practicality and reasonableness.
Michaela Pereira
News Anchor for CNN New Day
CNNW 09/03/2014
Pereira: A federal appeals court now hearing arguments on a legal challenge to the NSA's bulk collection of American’s phone records. The ACLU filed suit after the secret surveillance program was revealed through a leak by Edward Snowden. Government officials defend the process saying it's designed to detect and disrupt possible terrorist plots. The case may eventually end up before the Supreme Court.
Tony Harris
Anchor for Al Jazeera America
ALJAZAM 09/11/2014
Harris: Yahoo says the U.S. government threatened to fine it, $250,000 a day if it did not hand over user information to the N.S.A. Now the threat came when Yahoo refused to hand over the data. That was back in 2007. But a secret panel ordered the company to comply. Yahoo is now making 1500 court documents public from that particular dispute. The Yahoo decision paved the way for the surveillance program which was revealed by Edward Snowden.
Eric Thomas
Anchor and Reporter KGO TV
KGO 09/15/2014
Thomas: Edward Snowden says the N.S.A. is collecting mass surveillance data on New Zealanders. Snowden says the agency has set up a facility to tap into vast amounts of data using it’s XKEYSCORE program. He spoke via video link from Russia to hundreds of people at Auckland’s town hall last night. Meantime, New Zealand’s Prime Minister issued a statement saying New Zealand’s spy agency has never undertaken mass surveillance of its own people but Snowden says New Zealand’s agencies collect information for the N.S.A.
Jaqueline London
Co-Anchor NBC 10 News
WCAU 09/15/2014
London: Edward Snowden, the former U.S. intelligence worker who fled the country after allegedly leaking classified information is now accusing other countries of spying on its citizens. During a satellite appearance from Russia, Snowden told a group in New Zealand that the County’s Prime Minister was not telling the truth when he denied knowing about mass surveillance. Snowden said Prime Minister John Key was aware that New Zealand's domestic spy agency routinely gathered data on its citizens. Key has been quoted as saying mass surveillance was considered but never implemented.
Tim Cook
CEO of Apple Inc.
KQED 09/16/2014
Cook: I think it's a tough balance, and i don't think that the country or the government found the right balance. i think they erred too much on the collect everything side and i think the president and the administration is committed to moving that pendulum back. However, you don't want -- it's probably not right to not do anything, and, so, i think it's a careful line to walk. you want to make sure you're protecting the American people, but there's no reason to collect information on you or 99.99% of other people.
Tim Cook
CEO of Apple Inc.
KQED 09/16/2014
Cook: We try not to collect data. So we're not reading your email. We're not reading your imessage. If the government laid a subpoena on us to get your imessages, we can't provide it. It's encrypted and we don't have the key. So it's sort of the door is closed. But our business, Charlie, is based on selling these. Our business is not based on having information about you. You're not our product. Our products are these, and this watch, and macs and so forth. So we run a very different company. I think everyone has to ask, how do companies make their money? Follow the money.
Tim Cook
CEO of Apple Inc.
KQED 09/16/2014
Cook: If they're making money mainly by collecting gobs of personal data, I think you have a right to be worried, and you should really understand what's happening to that data and the companies, I think, should be very transparent about it. from our point of view, you can see what we're doing on the credit card thing -- we don't want it. We're not in that business. I'm offended by lots of it. So, you know, I think people have a right to privacy. So I think that's going to be a very key topic over the next year or so, and we'll reach higher and higher levels of urgency as more and more incidents happen.
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