X-Keyscore: NSA Spying Far Worse than Germans Thought (Der Spiegel, Germany)

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X-Keyscore: NSA Spying Far Worse than Germans Thought (Der Spiegel, Germany)

"There can no longer be any doubt that the British and Americans are conducting in-depth investigations of European politicians and companies. There may still be hope that this will finally have political consequences. But there is something else still more scandalous. … According to the new documents, there are no impediments for analysts to use the system to investigate any random individual. In other words, there are people who at any time and without serious oversight - let alone legal - can look at the most private information on virtually any Internet user with the click of a button - and not just on Angela Merkel."

By Christian Stöcker

Translated By Stephanie Martin

July 10, 2015

Germany - Der Spiegel - Original Article (German)

New revelations clearly establish that the NSA and Co. eavesdropped on German politicians and government officials on a large-scale. While this is outrageous -it obscures the real scandal.

The time for denial and excuses is gone forever. On July 1, the whistleblowing platform WikiLeaks published documents that clearly establish that U.S. intelligence service the NSA and its collaborators in Britain's GCHQ eavesdropped on senior German politicians and government officials - in some cases for decades. In recent years there have been repeated efforts to sow doubt in Der Spiegel's reporting that the NSA had tapped Chancellor Merkel’s cell phone. Now Merkel can check for herself whether or not spies eavesdropped on her conversations, because she probably recalls the conversation with her personal assistant on October 11th, 2011 - a summary of which can now be read on WikiLeaks.

This should also make the attorney general, who recently shut down an investigation into the wiretapping of the chancellor, happy. After all, for definitive evidence that the eavesdropping operation existed, now all he needs to do is ask Merkel if the conversation took place as reported.

At this point there can no longer be any doubt that the British and Americans are conducting in-depth investigations of European politicians and companies. There may still be hope that this will finally have political consequences.

But there is something else still more scandalous.

Yesterday the disclosure site The Intercept carried a report that was quickly overshadowed here by the new WikiLeaks revelations. The Intercept published a vast cache of new documents on the most important tool of "Western monitors." Thanks to Edward Snowden, it’s a system the existence of which has been known for almost to two years. X-Keyscore constitutes what is in effect the convenient user interface of the NSA surveillance machine.

Spies with access to the system are capable of finding out almost any information on any Internet user on the basis of an e-mail address. Which photos do they have stored somewhere on the Cloud? With whom and about what do they chat? What are their porn preferences? It matters not whether the analyst is interested in Arab terrorists, German politicians or innocent citizens.

X-Keyscore is the "super-Google" of the Five Eyes intelligence services - an all-seeing Internet eye which is likely the most powerful surveillance tool in human history.

Chancellor Merkel Must End 'Devil's Pact' with America (Der Spiegel, Germany)

[Click Here to Read]

The only reason the NSA and its allies can use such a tool at all is that they have infiltrated the Internet on a global scale. Fiber optic cables are tapped; black, hidden servers and routers divert and reroute traffic and store metadata - but also photos, videos, e-mails and so on. "Full-take" data collection – just in case someone at Fort Meade [NSA Headquarters] or some other military base is ever interested.

Posted By Worldmeets.US

According to the new documents, there are no impediments for analysts to use the system to investigate any random individual. According to Edward Snowden, while there are downstream checks [after the fact], they are carried out by "friends of the analysts."

"They work in the same office and they aren’t full-time inspectors, but people who have other responsibilities as well."

In other words, there are people at Ft. Meade and elsewhere who at any time and without serious oversight - let alone legal - can look at the most private information on virtually any Internet user with the click of a button - and not just on Angela Merkel.

Therein lies the problem and absolutely nothing about it has changed in the two years since Snowden’s initial appearance.

Tweets about #NSA #BND

GLOBAL ARCHIVE ON MASS SURVEILLANCE:

Die Welt, Germany: 'Spook's Bazaar': Selling Off Press Freedom at the Behest of NSA Spies

Mediapart, France: NSA Spying Exposes Cataclysmic Failure of French Intelligence

Liberation, France: NSA Spying on the French: 'Another Mask has Fallen'

Polityka, Poland: Americans Suffer 'Pearl Harbor Attack' of Cyber Cold War

Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany: Watchdog Issues Chancellery 'Ultimatum' on NSA 'Selectors'

Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany: U.S. Spies and Angela Merkel: For Years, 'Guided by Wishful Thinking'

Der Spiegel, Germany: Betrayal and Betrayers: Merkel's High-Risk Silence in the NSA-BND Scandal

Joop, The Netherlands: Senior Elsevier Columnist Falls for ISIS-Snowden Hoax

Elsevier, The Netherlands: New 'Revelations'?: Snowden is No Whistleblower – He's a Traitor!