NSA fact sheet pulled after being challenged by Sen. Mark Udall

[pfortuny]

They cannot post an updated version because:

Udall and Wyden were not able to describe what about the program's description was inaccurate, saying that would divulge classified information.

So that if they correct the 'mistakes' they are divulging classified information.

Either this is another Catch-22 or someone (more) is lying.

[ChrisAntaki]

If classification is preventing meaningful discourse, it is time to remove the classification.

[mtgx]

They can't ask Udall and Wyden in private about it?

Besides, I think they already knew where the "mistakes" were, otherwise they wouldn't have retracted them if they didn't think something was wrong with them themselves.

[rhizome]

Or it's an intentional Hobson's choice.

[lawnchair_larry]

And they didn't even bother to post a corrected version, instead going back to their default position of "it's legal, trust us".

[mikevm]

The corrected version would probably just lead to more public outrage.

[tenpoundhammer]

Secrecy and classification have become a huge threat to freedom of speech and freedom in general.

When the government or any of it's agencies is given the authority to lie indiscriminately, that entity will become a threat to the constitution.

[CWuestefeld]

NSA spokeswoman Judith Emmel said the actual words in the Patriot Act are the "best possible representation" of how the government has interpreted the law's authority.

I notice that the 4th Amendment doesn't factor into it.

[mtgx]

"best possible representation" - or you know, "least untruthful".

[throwaway10001]

I notice that the 4th Amendment doesn't factor into it.

The 4th doesn't really apply if you're talking about the war on [drugs, terrorism, child molesters, tax cheaters, file sharers] etc. etc. etc. We are always at war

[nathas]

This is the "fact sheet" in question: http://pastebin.com/5d7rHmYe

[breck]

They very clearly put limits only around "targets". What about information picked up "incidentally"? Also, the whole parts about "information must be immediately terminated", reminds me of some big cos where they had rules that "all code must be fully unit tested". It's not going to happen unless there are steep penalties for not doing it.

Instead of "guidelines", I would love to see actual numbers:

The NSA collected X,000 Terabytes of Information in 2012, consisting of X,000,000,000,000,000 records. At the end of the year, 2TB and X number of objects were kept, and the rest deleted properly (data actually written over).

That would be so much simpler and better.

[primitur]

My mind looks at this statement:

""Alexander also noted that the NSA, under this part of the law, cannot intentionally target Americans in or outside the United States.""

.. and makes the conclusion that the NSA thinks it has the right to manage any relationship an American may have, by keeping data on all foreigners. In other words, the NSA thinks it has the right to know how your foreign friends are, American, and formulate a shadow around you consisting of a hole in the matrix.

What is it about American culture that allows itself to produce an entire body of citizens who truly believe they can operate as members of the broader conscious body of humans, existing as they do quite literally, gazing at navels?

I propose that Americans are fine being watched, because they want to be watched, primally. I think there is a deep-seated desire to actually have someone big, strong and brave, standing there watching every single thing you do. It can be seen as a reflection through the broader spectra of how we 'know these cultures'.

Perhaps the most criminal device in the world that has ever been used to attempt to cure cannibalism is indeed, the mirror ..

[Zigurd]

#leastuntruthful

[godgod]

I feel like this entire episode is like a teacher rejecting homework from a student and saying, this is crap, do it again.