Less than two months after the catastrophic events of 9/11,
the American government passed an antiterrorism act in the name of national
security, granting powers to the NSA, U.S. Department of Justice, and other
agencies to collect and save information on American citizens [1]. The Patriot
Act, signed by President George W. Bush, allows the government to intercept
online messages, tapping phone lines, collecting email addresses, and anything
else “relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation [2].”
In 2013, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked secret
NSA documents revealing that the agency was, in fact, collecting phone records
from millions of American citizens and spying on international countries and
foreign leaders [3]. Soon after, the whistleblower flew to Russia, where the country
granted him a year of asylum.
And on December 2, 2015, fourteen people were killed by two
shooters in San Bernardino, California. A few weeks following the shooting, the
FBI demanded Apple create a new software to unlock an iPhone used in the San
Bernardino shooting. Apple refused, stating that new software that they might
create could potentially be used to unlock any iPhone [7]. Consequently, this
case highlights the debate over which is more important: national security, or
private liberties, and where to find balance between the two.
Interestingly enough, Edward Snowden commented on the FBI’s
request, saying that FBI has other means to access the phone, and Apple’s acquiescent
would merely be an easier way to unlock the phone.
Snowden was proved right in February, when the FBI declared
that they no longer required Apple’s assistance in unlocking the phone [5].
But what are the implications of this action?
Since 2001, the NSA has been tracking data from its American
citizens. But how difficult is it to intercept phone calls and how often does
the NSA actually do it?
In an interview with VICE News, Snowden explains how, by
identifying and tracking ISMIs of individuals – international mobile subscriber
identities – people can receive information about the phone-user. Usually, phones
transmit information to cellular networks and towers. However, by using
something called an ISMI-catcher, people can intercept this mobile transmission
– between the cell phone and the cellular network – and consequently track
phone locations. These ISMI-catchers are not obscure; in fact, they’re readily
available for purchase online and in many stores.
This data that the ISMI-catchers provide – metadata, as
Snowden describes it – an overwhelming amount of wealth all from cell phones. This
includes the location of phones, regardless of whether or not GPS tracking is
on or off, the time that messages were sent, which websites that the phone
accesses online and many other possibilities [10].
Additionally, VICE discovers that a hacked phone can reveal
a plethora of information – when phone calls were made, who was called, etc. A
hacked phone can be commandeered to enable cameras and microphones without the
phone’s owner ever knowing.
“Perhaps the most terrifying thing is, if your phone has
been hacked, you would never know,” Snowden comments, while showing a VICE
journalist how to remove microphones from a smartphone, eliminating any
possibility that someone could hack the phone’s microphone [8].
Modern surveillance technologies – like ISMI-catchers – are
being used today by government organizations, in everywhere from California to
New York, to Oslo and Bahrain. In the United States alone, there are thirteen
federal agencies known to use these ISMI-catchers [9].
In the fourth amendment, which protects the privacy of
persons and possessions, the right of the people to be “secure in their
persons, houses, papers, effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,
shall not be violated… but upon probable cause.” Contrary to this, the Patriot
Act allowed the government to record and monitor the phone calls, emails, and
credit reports of innocent Americans. As Representative Jim Sensenbrenner of
Wisconsin noted, the NSA has "scoop[ed] up the entire ocean to… catch a
fish."
Although some may argue that this violation was necessary
for maintaining the safety of Americans, the FBI has admitted that even under
the Patriot Act, no major terrorist cases have been cracked.
Between 2003 and 2006, the FBI issued more than 190,000 NSLs
– national security letters that are subpoenas allowing for the collection of
personal information without a judge’s approval or citizen consent. Of that
number, only a single letter led to a terror-related conviction [11].
Snowden, a former NSA contractor, recalls that on the
morning of the Boston Marathon bombing, he sat with coworkers and they agreed
that the NSA, in their databases, probably already knew of the bombers before
they even arrived in Boston. Snowden concludes that “this is really the legacy
of mass surveillance; it’s the fact that when you watch everyone, you have the
information you need to stop, to prevent, even the worst atrocities. But the
problem is when you cast the net too wide, when you catch everything, you
understand nothing.”
Watch the interview here.
Sources:
11.
https://www.aclu.org/infographic/surveillance-under-patriot-act
