Report: US military hacked into Al Jazeera’s internal communications

_{Photo credit: Al Jazeera Creative Commons}

Ever since early June, when Glenn Greenwald published the first of many Snowden leaks, I’ve wondered: when are we going to learn about who the NSA targets with its nearly omnipotent surveillance powers? 

Everything you need to know (almost) about surveillance in the news this week

‘Black budget’ shows top spies are still obsessed with debunked ‘radicalization’ theories

I’ll have a lot more to say about Barton Gellman and Greg Miller's story on the ‘intelligence community’ ‘black budget’, but for now I want to point out something very distressing. 

NSA can’t trust ‘brilliant’ people, will replace sysadmins with computer programs

The Message – M.I.A. track with an NSA hook

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M.I.A. has released a new track released a track back in 2010 that couldn't be more relevant to our 21st century predicament. I hope Edward Snowden is listening, wherever he is. Lyrics below.

Ready, fire, aim: Ohio officials implement statewide face recognition program without a whiff of public debate

Former Lockheed sub-contractor takes to eBay to sell surveillance prototype

A former Lockheed Martin sub-contractor has taken to eBay to sell a prototype of a high-powered surveillance system disguised as a rock.

Don’t get it twisted: the heart of the NSA scandals is breathtakingly simple

The NSA scandal is not that complicated.

If NSA doesn’t know what Snowden took, all its abuse figures are totally meaningless

NBC news reports that anonymous intelligence officials say the NSA doesn’t know what Edward Snowden took.