2012 wiretap stats show drug war continues to serve as primary fuel for surveillance state

_{A telephone tower disguised as a giant tree.}

Wikileaks, grand juries, and government harassment of activists

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ACLU attorneys Ben Wizner, Catherine Crump and John Reinstein spoke at the HOPE 9 hackers conference in New York City in July 2012. 

The Democratic party platform and civil liberties

NSA whistleblower Bill Binney at HOPE 9

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NSA whistleblower and cryptographer William Binney gave the keynote at the 2012 HOPE conference in New York City. 

NYPD’s Domain Awareness System raises privacy, ethics issues

A couple of weeks ago AP reported that the NYPD and Microsoft jointly developed a surveillance platform for the police department called "Domain Awareness System." The story was short on details, but told us "the program combines city-wide video surveillance with law enforcement databases" "to track both criminals and potential terrorists."

“Massive fraud, waste and abuse” at the NSA

STELLAR WIND: NSA program spied on “hundreds of millions” of Americans, says Thomas Drake

"In effect, the United States of America was turned into the equivalent of a foreign nation for the purpose of dragnet electronic surveillance, on a very wide scale."

- NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake

NSA whistleblower Bill Binney at #HOPE9

Part two:

NSA whistleblower Bill Binney delivered the keynote address at the HOPE 9 hackers conference in New York City in early July 2012. Watch the longtime NSA cryptographer discuss what he views as the agency's moral collapse, above.

Rep. Hank Johnson: Is the NSA spying on US persons?

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After NSA whistleblowers accused the secretive, behemoth military snooping agency of dragnet electronic surveillance, Representative Hank Johnson asked the head of the NSA, General Keith Alexander, some tough questions.