NEW EDWARD SNOWDEN DOCUMENTS SHOW RIDICULOUS DATA COLLECTING OBSESSION
The PRISM program, by which the NSA collects millions and millions of telephone and email records, was brought to the attention of the public by leaks by whistleblower Edward Snowden.
WASHINGTON (INTELLIHUB) — This week, Edward Snowden released yet another large stash of evidence, revealing the depths of the NSA spy program. In the new files, recently released to The Washington Post, it was found that over 90% of the individuals who were targeted by NSA spying were actually not terrorist targets, but average citizens.
After Edward Snowden’s first release of documents, many wondered how it could get any worse, and while this new information just provides more of the same, it does further document the depths that the spying programs have reached.
The full extent of what is contained in these files has yet to be revealed, The Washington Post is currently reviewing the evidence and hand picking what will actually be revealed to the public. Why this information was not released open sourced and free to the public is unclear.
Snowden provided the newspaper with what was said to be 160,000 intercepted conversations, including e-mails, instant messages, photographs, social network posts and other documents, including messages from 2009 through 2012.
In addition to the vast number of innocent people caught up in the spy programs, the new information also documented the extremely vague and broad criteria that could get someone labeled as a terrorist. Apparently, speaking a second language is enough to bring suspicion onto yourself for being a potential terrorist, and the classification worked as an excuse for the NSA to spy on millions of people.
One of the most ridiculous things revealed in these new documents is that the NSA has databases filled with baby photos, selfies, resumes and medical records of millions of Americans who have never done anyone any harm.
Snowden shared his thoughts on this specifically in a recent interview, saying that “Even if one could conceivably justify the initial, inadvertent interception of baby pictures and love letters of innocent bystanders, their continued storage in government databases is both troubling and dangerous. Who knows how that information will be used in the future?”
John Vibes is an investigative journalist, staff writer and editor for Intellihub News where this article originally appeared. He is also the author of an 65 chapter Book entitled “Alchemy of the Timeless Renaissance” and is an artist with an established record label. You can find him on his Facebook.
For media inquires, interviews, questions or suggestions for this author, email: vibes@intellihub.com
