N.S.A. Spied on Allies, Aid Groups and Businesses

[spanone]

Secret documents reveal more than 1,000 targets of American and British surveillance in recent years, including the office of an Israeli prime minister, heads of international aid organizations, foreign energy companies and a European Union official involved in antitrust battles with American technology businesses.

While the names of some political and diplomatic leaders have previously emerged as targets, the newly disclosed intelligence documents provide a much fuller portrait of the spies’ sweeping interests in more than 60 countries.

Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters, working closely with the National Security Agency, monitored the communications of senior European Union officials, foreign leaders including African heads of state and sometimes their family members, directors of United Nations and other relief programs, and officials overseeing oil and finance ministries, according to the documents. In addition to Israel, some targets involved close allies like France and Germany, where tensions have already erupted over recent revelations about spying by the N.S.A.

Details of the surveillance are described in documents from the N.S.A. and Britain’s eavesdropping agency, known as GCHQ, dating from 2008 to 2011. The target lists appear in a set of GCHQ reports that sometimes identify which agency requested the surveillance, but more often do not. The documents were leaked by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden and shared by The New York Times, The Guardian and Der Spiegel.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/21/world/nsa-dragnet-included-allies-aid-groups-and-business-elite.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print

[Pholus]

1. Wow, THAT all seems worth the money spent. NOT.

But it is the beginning of the other shoe dropping. Up till now we've discussed capabilities, now we're getting the first bits about the actual uses of the system. While some of their targets seem reasonable, others are obviously crap.

- Targeting people who might make things difficult for our companies overseas. Why? Probably to gain leverage. Blackmail might cause a particular ruling of critical interest to the country to be made a different way. You can doubletalk like the NSA spokecritter does, saying that it is not done for US companies but instead for the benefit of US policymakers but frankly given the relations between the two they're probably sitting in the same room reading the same stuff anyway.

- Targeting aid groups. Why? When Leigh Daynes, the executive director of Medecins du Monde says "There is absolutely no reason for our operations to be secretly monitored.” I, being of devious mind, can think of one reason immediately. It's to gain leverage. With someone's dirty laundry an aid group becomes a very effective courier organization.

It's just the way we do business. Great story, but face it, most of us'll yawn and wonder if the Duck Dynasty guy is on TV again yet.

[woo me with science]

2. K&R This is about power and profit, not terrorism.

This is corporate fascism.