Snowden reveals NSA’s spying of US law firm

Spying by N.S.A. Ally Entangled U.S. Law Firm

A top-secret document, obtained by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden, shows that an American law firm was monitored while representing a foreign government in trade disputes with the United States. The disclosure offers a rare glimpse of a specific instance in which Americans were ensnared by the eavesdroppers, and is of particular interest because lawyers in the United States with clients overseas have expressed growing concern that their confidential communications could be compromised by such surveillance.

Snowden reveals NSA’s surveillance of US law firm

NEW YORK: The NSA was directly involved in the surveillance of American law firm, which was believed to be the representative of foreign government’s trade policies with USA. This secret was one of the latest top-secret revelations that were disclosed from the ex-NSA employer cum system-analyst Edward Snowden.

According to the February 2013 document, the government of Indonesia had retained the law firm for help in trade talks

It reports that the NSA’s Australian counterpart, the Australian Signals Directorate, notified the agency that it was conducting surveillance of the talks, including communications between Indonesian officials and the American law firm, and offered to share the information.

The documents provided details of the cooperation between the United States and Australia, which share facilities and highly sensitive intelligence, including efforts to break encryption and collect phone call data in Indonesia. Both nations have trade and security interests in Indonesia, where Islamic terrorist groups that threaten the West have bases.


As for the lawyer involved in the trade talks, Duane Layton stated that he did not have any evidence that he or his firm had been under scrutiny by Australian or American intelligence agencies.
“I always wonder if someone is listening, because you would have to be an idiot not to wonder in this day and age,” he said in an interview. “But I’ve never really thought I was being spied on.”

I think the simple fact is here in the information age, everyone is listening to everyone else now in their own capacity, all governments are running active spy projects on their neighbors, all Facebook users are running a data collection on their friends, hackers are collecting info on anyone and anything, news agencies, criminal networks, human rights groups, rebel uprisings....our own data collect here on ats...
so all this user data generation, collection, categorization, and storage is quite a phenomenon we have before us.

reply to post by bladdersweat


"The Information Age"
--TIA--

Yep, you got that right!!

Anyone that wants to keep secrets, stay off phones and the internet

Oh wait--what????
LOL

I'd love to know just what were the "US customers" because, honestly, the way that bit is worded makes me wonder if the NSA really is just a corporate espionage firm.

Since the beginnings of operation Echelon fifty or more years ago.....this has been the way that the signatory countries have abused their intelligence gathering networks.....
The use of these massive data sweeps in business and government negotiations (in fact all dealings) with foreign and domestic
companies and governments....as well as for personal harassment of individuals deemed to be a threat to the powers they wield,has been a growth industry....
In fact probably the one real growth industry in the giant economic downturn.....
The rights of the people or anyone else to privacy or confidentiality, mean nothing to the intelligence juggernaught which the MI complex has at its current disposal.
It is becoming more obvious with every passing day that America is no longer the land of the free......
It remains to be seen weather it is still the home of the brave.....

with past experience I have a harder and harder time believing that snowden (snowed in) as young as he is has so much information. What if the information this guy has is not the really important stuff? I have such a hard time believing this even though I want to think so, how many credible leakers leaked about IDK everything on the bloody planet, oh but one snowden he did every body else wasnt privy enough. I think this character is slippery and I also think it is dangerous I think he is fibbing us all.

reply to post by snarky412


How in any way could this be legal? I bet they are scrambling to label a few in the office as terrorists... time to unplugged these fellers.

reply to post by snarky412


I bet when the U.S. president takes office, and gets his first toppy-tip secret briefing, he's given the "real" formula for Coca-Cola.

reply to post by snarky412


Hey someone is only collecting mega data cough cough but also someone else is buying the keys to the city. No real surprise and hope the info dump keeps up hear hear!!

Im still waiting for him to release information that we didnt already know.
Again, we're being played.

reply to post by snarky412


If you've got the capability and your frenemies are powerless then why not?
Remember?, "If you're not with us, you're against us"

reply to post by snarky412


If it was a US agency monitoring the law firm, and the US government is involved in the process (since trade is involved) can we say violation of attorney - client privilege.

Nothing lie a due process violation to undermine legal action.

reply to post by cosmicexplorer


If one end is in a foreign country then its fair game and from what i remember data coming in from abroad is not considered in the USA until after a certain point so the spooks can attach a tap at both ends if needed