로그인





연락처 :
bolle1917@gmail.com


http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-surveillance-watchdog-idUSBRE98Q14G20130927

NSA staff used spy tools on spouses, ex-lovers: watchdog

By Alina Selyukh | WASHINGTON

At least a dozen U.S. National Security Agency employees have been caught using secret government surveillance tools to spy on the emails or phone calls of their current or former spouses and lovers in the past decade, according to the intelligence agency's internal watchdog.

The practice is known in intelligence world shorthand as "LOVEINT" and was disclosed by the NSA Office of the Inspector General in response to a request by the Senate Judiciary Committee's top Republican Charles Grassley for a report on abuses of the NSA's surveillance authority.

In one instance in 2005, a military member of the NSA queried six email addresses of a former American girlfriend - on the first day he obtained access to the data collection system. He later testified that "he wanted to practice on the system" and gained no information as a result of his queries.

In another instance, a foreign woman who was employed by the U.S. government suspected that her lover, an NSA civilian employee, was listening to her phone calls. She shared her suspicion with another government employee, who reported it.

An investigation found the man abused NSA databases from 1998 to 2003 to snoop on nine phone numbers of foreign women and twice collected communications of an American, according to the inspector general's report.

The NSA's spying operations have come under intense scrutiny since disclosures this spring by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that the U.S. government collects far more Internet and telephone data than previously publicly known.

Many members of Congress and administration officials staunchly defend the NSA surveillance programs as a critical defense tool against terrorist attacks, but privacy advocates say the spying agency's authority has grown to be too sweeping.

Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union, said the reported incidents of NSA employees' violations of the law are likely "the tip of the iceberg" of lax data safeguards, but that the laws guiding the NSA's spying authority in the first place are a bigger issue.

"If you only focus on instances in which the NSA violated those laws, you're missing the forest for the trees," he said. "The bigger concern is not with willful violations of the law but rather with what the law itself allows."

Most of the abuses detailed in the NSA inspector general's September 11 letter to Grassley were discovered through the agency's own audits, or self-reports and polygraph interviews with the employees. Their names were not disclosed.

According to the report, a female civilian NSA employee snooped on her husband's phone conversations after looking up a foreign number she found on his phone because she suspected him of cheating.

Yet another civilian employee, caught abusing the system by looking up the phone numbers of various foreigners she met socially, said she wanted to ensure she was not talking to "shady characters."

In at least six of the 12 instances reported by the inspector general since January 1, 2003, the matters were referred to the Department of Justice.

In several instances, the violators resigned or retired from their jobs before being disciplined. Others were demoted, given extra days of duty, had their pay cut, and had their access to databases revoked, the report said.

(Reporting by Alina Selyukh; Editing by Christopher Wilson and Marguerita Choy)

?

List of Articles
번호 제목 글쓴이 날짜 조회 수
478 [아프가니스탄] The Afghan Toll 볼셰비키 2017.05.30 150
477 [성노동] Socialists Should Support Sex Workers’ Rights 볼셰비키 2019.08.08 151
476 [미국/좌익/IG] Left Reformists In Existential Crisis 볼셰비키 2019.07.20 152
475 [터키/미국] Erdogan Claims To Have Evidence, Photos, Video Of U.S. Coalition Support For ISIS-Daesh 볼셰비키 2017.01.10 153
474 [러시아] Most Russians Prefer Return of Soviet Union and Socialism: Poll 볼셰비키 2017.04.30 153
473 [그리스] IBT: Managing the Greek Crisis Syriza & the Dangers of Popular Frontism 볼셰비키 2015.01.28 154
472 [중국] How Far Is China From Another Cultural Revolution? 볼셰비키 2016.05.11 154
471 [스페인/중국] The Chinese volunteers who fought in the Spanish civil war 볼셰비키 2016.07.20 154
470 [중동/미국] Washington Widens the War in Syria by Provoking Turkey 볼셰비키 2018.01.31 154
469 Socialist Alternative defends Sanders’ support for imperialist war 볼셰비키 2016.02.17 155
468 [중국] The Construction of Thai’s Kra Canal financed by China 볼셰비키 2016.10.03 155
467 [홍콩] General strike signals entry of working class into Hong Kong protests 볼셰비키 2019.08.08 155
466 [필리핀] Philippines President Duterte orders US forces out after 65 years: 'Do not treat us like a doormat' 볼셰비키 2016.10.09 156
465 [미국/빈부격차] Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett are wealthier than poorest half of US 볼셰비키 2017.11.12 156
464 [그리스/IG] Greek Workers: Defeat the Bankers’ Diktat, Occupy the Banks and Ports! 볼셰비키 2015.07.09 157
Board Pagination Prev 1 ... 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 ... 45 Next
/ 45