Ron Toland
About Canadian Adventures Keeping Score Archive Photos Replies Also on Micro.blog
  • Data and Goliath by Bruce Schneier

    Eye-opening. Reminded me of the extent of the NSA’s surveillance activities, of the importance of the documents Snowden disclosed.

    Schneier’s style is easy to read and straightforward, no small feat for a subject that takes in law, cryptography, and communications technology. I plowed through this book in a few days, but I’ll be digesting his points for a good while.

    Three of the many things I learned:

    • There are companies that sell the ability to send a silent, undetected phone call to a mobile phone. Call won't ring, but will cause it to signal nearest cell tower, giving away its location.
    • FBI can (and does) collect personal data from third parties (phone companies, email servers, etc) via National Security Letters, without a warrant.
    • NSA audit showed it broke its own rules against spying for personal reasons at least 8 times a day (!) from 2011 to 2012
    → 6:00 AM, Apr 18
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