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Speaking A Foreign Language Is All It Could Take To Become An NSA Target
Business Insider ^ | July 6 2014 | Paul Szoldra

Posted on 07/06/2014 8:49:11 AM PDT by PoloSec

The Washington Post is out with another bombshell report based on documents taken by ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden, and one frightening new detail from the story is just how easy the intelligence agency can justify capturing data on Americans by claiming they are "foreign."

As required by law, the NSA is tasked with gathering intelligence on foreign subjects, and it must work to "minimize" data collected on American citizens. While this can understandably be a difficult prospect as internet traffic often passes through U.S. servers — the WaPo report reveals that the burden of proof is much lower than previously believed:

One analyst rests her claim that a target is foreign on the fact that his e-mails are written in a foreign language, a quality shared by tens of millions of Americans. Others are allowed to presume that anyone on the chat “buddy list” of a known foreign national is also foreign.

With this anecdote, it's easy to see a fairly large segment of the U.S. population could be swooped up in the dragnet. The logic would mean an American father sending an email in Spanish to his daughter, or an American businessman selling products in Europe, could both be subject to data collection.

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:
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1 posted on 07/06/2014 8:49:11 AM PDT by PoloSec
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To: PoloSec

Yes. It’s right up there with breathing...


2 posted on 07/06/2014 8:51:14 AM PDT by null and void (If Bill Clinton was the first black president, why isn't Barack Obama the first woman president?)
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To: null and void

Yep.

Police State America. Thank all those who voted for the Patriot Act and signed it into law.


3 posted on 07/06/2014 8:52:02 AM PDT by RIghtwardHo
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To: PoloSec

I’m not sure I see what the problem is.

Our national security watches. It rarely acts, but it watches.

These are the sorts of things, among others, our national security should monitor.


4 posted on 07/06/2014 8:52:37 AM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network (http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5700.html#2013)
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To: PoloSec

I speak Pig Latin-Otay!


5 posted on 07/06/2014 8:52:52 AM PDT by Dr. Ursus
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To: PoloSec

Soon English will be the foreign language.


6 posted on 07/06/2014 8:52:56 AM PDT by Rusty0604
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To: PoloSec
Alles klar, Herr Kommisar!
7 posted on 07/06/2014 9:00:58 AM PDT by Night Hides Not (Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! Remember Mississippi!)
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To: Dr. Ursus

I’ve come back into the country at Otay Mesa...


8 posted on 07/06/2014 9:05:25 AM PDT by null and void (If Bill Clinton was the first black president, why isn't Barack Obama the first woman president?)
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To: RIghtwardHo

All you need to know about the “Patriot” Act is right there in the name. Just like “Affordable” Care. The message was it’s unpatriotic to question it or oppose it. Whatever it was it had nothing to do with patriotism. Security or unconstitutional police-state spying, but not patriotism.


9 posted on 07/06/2014 9:07:33 AM PDT by all the best
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To: Night Hides Not
Ich habe keine Deutsch, aber...

Chinga su madre, tu hijo de puta rata.

Me puso en su lista, imbecil.

10 posted on 07/06/2014 9:07:56 AM PDT by SAJ
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To: SAJ
My last two years in Germany were ever than the first two. I took a couple of immersion classes at Spangdahlem, and my ability to speak and understand German grew exponentially.

Shortly after taking those classes, I was sent on a TDY assignment at a German anti-aircraft range for the summer. We were the only Americans for 200 miles.

I'm now celebrating the 35th anniversary of the best summer of my life (so far). Time flies...

11 posted on 07/06/2014 9:13:34 AM PDT by Night Hides Not (Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! Remember Mississippi!)
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To: PoloSec

Hoch va QIn ghItlh jIH qaStaHvIS tlhIngan.


12 posted on 07/06/2014 9:21:34 AM PDT by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide (HELL, NO! BE UNGOVERNABLE! --- ISLAM DELENDA EST)
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To: PoloSec

So, when if I call obama a sheisskopff, I’ll get fingered? Uh, make that probed.


13 posted on 07/06/2014 9:27:50 AM PDT by freeangel ( (free speech is only good until someone else doesn't like it)
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To: PoloSec

Merde!


14 posted on 07/06/2014 9:29:01 AM PDT by Flick Lives ("I can't believe it's not Fascism!")
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To: PoloSec

Son ratas de dos patas. We have all been on the gov watch list since we signed up for Free Republic.


15 posted on 07/06/2014 9:42:42 AM PDT by Wage Slave
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To: PoloSec

Spanish is ok though.


16 posted on 07/06/2014 9:43:41 AM PDT by <1/1,000,000th%
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To: PoloSec
So what does this mean with regard to the _resident reciting the Shahada? After all, he called the Adhan "the most beautiful sound on Earth". Does that make him an NSA target?

I think that erhaps speaking out against the Alinskyites in the Executive Branch is the target of the NSA!

17 posted on 07/06/2014 10:21:20 AM PDT by A Formerly Proud Canadian (I once was blind but now I see...)
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To: PoloSec

Oh great.... I’m first-gen American and I speak one of the world’s oldest spoken languages. I write emails to family and friends in that language. I thought that would actually protect me from the goons — since their Stasi-checked “keywords” wouldn’t show up...


18 posted on 07/06/2014 11:15:33 AM PDT by Borax Queen
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To: PoloSec

19 posted on 07/06/2014 11:18:34 AM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: PoloSec

Que?


20 posted on 07/06/2014 11:47:48 AM PDT by bgill
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