Watch: Snowden Explains How the NSA Can See Your Naked Pics
How do you get Americans to care about government surveillance? Dick pics, according to John Oliver.
By Chloe Albanesius
Chloe Albanesius
Executive Editor for News
I started out covering tech policy in Washington, D.C. for The National Journal's Technology Daily, where my beat included state-level tech news and all the congressional hearings and FCC meetings I could handle. After a move to New York City, I covered Wall Street trading tech at Incisive Media before switching gears to consumer tech and PCMag. I now lead PCMag's news coverage and manage our how-to content.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/watch-snowden-explains-how-the-nsa-can-see-your-naked-pics
How do you make Americans care about government surveillance? Naked photos, according to Last Week Tonight host John Oliver.
Oliver traveled to Russia recently to sit down with former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, and explained that most Americans don't seem to care about secret National Security Agency (NSA) programs that snatch up huge amounts of your data without your knowledge.
As Snowden explains why mass surveillance is a critical issue, Oliver interjects. "This is the whole problem. I glaze over because it's like the IT guy comes into your office and you go, 'oh s**t ... don't teach me anything, I don't want to learn, you smell like canned soup,'" he quipped.
What to do? Explain it in terms that people understand: Dick pics.
Oliver showed a clip of New Yorkers reacting to the possibility that the government had access to the naked photos they email or text to people. All of them were horrified. "This is the most visible line in the sand for people," Oliver says. "Can. they. see. my. dick."
So Oliver asked Snowden to explain each of the NSA's more controversial programs in the context or whether or not they allow the government to sift through your more private photos. Here's what he had to say:
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)(Opens in a new window): Yes. It allows the bulk collection of metadata that is one-end foreign. If you have Gmail, anytime that mail crosses outside the border of the U.S., your junk ends up in the database. Even if you send it to someone in the U.S., your domestic communication can go from New York to London and back, and get caught up in the database.
Executive Order 12333(Opens in a new window): This is what the NSA uses when the other authorities aren't aggressive enough or they're not catching what they want. When you send your junk through Gmail, that's stored on Google's servers. Google moves data from data center to data center, invisibly to you, so your data could be moved outside the borders of the U.S. temporarily. So when Google moves it, the NSA catches a copy of that.
PRISM: This is how they pull your junk out of Google with Google's involvement. The government deputizes tech companies to be their surveillance sheriffs.
UPSTREAM(Opens in a new window): How they snatch your junk as it transits the Internet.
MYSTIC(Opens in a new window): If you're describing your junk on the phone, yes. They have the content, but only for a few countries, like the Bahamas.
Section 215 Metadata(Opens in a new window): No, though they can tell who you're sharing your dick pics with because they have phone numbers.
Oliver questions whether this means people should just stop sending naked photos of themselves online. But Snowden said the onus is on the government, not the American people, to use its surveillance powers properly.
The segment, meanwhile, was largely focused on the expiration of Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, which a number of tech companies want overhauled. Watch the whole segment below (Snowden part begins 14 minutes in).
The Best Computer Monitor Deals for February 2023
By Karl Klockars & Jade Chung-Lee
What Is ChatGPT? And Is It Going to Take Your Job?
By Chandra Steele
FreeTaxUSA 2023 (Tax Year 2022) Review
About Chloe Albanesius
Read Chloe's full bio
Read the latest from Chloe Albanesius
New Apple HomePod Speaker Features Upgraded Audio, Smart Home Sensors
Future Tech (Maybe): The Best Concepts and Prototypes From CES 2023
Gone But Not Forgotten (Yet): The Tech That Died in 2022
Twitter Deletes Tweets, Web Page About Ban on Links to Rival Social Networks
Fire TV Update Rolls Out for Amazon Echo Show 15
More from Chloe Albanesius