Re: [2020-08-15] US Prosecutors Seize Bitcoin Allegedly Tied to AlQaeda, ISIS, Hamas
NSA can't collect metadata without help from phone companies. And phone companies can now say NSA to go f*ck themselves if asked to assist in bulk collection of Americans' metadata.
You may not know it, but they don't call that agency "no such agency" for no reason. With all that o_e_l_e_o has written, you need to know that privacy, human rights, and everything that goes with the semblance of democracy mean nothing when it comes to national security, which is a priority after the 9/11 attacks.
And I can't think that all major phone companies are part of the conspiracy. It's too much for my brain to grasp. 
Everyone and everything is under control, and whoever refuses to cooperate is very quickly out of the game - what Snowden discovered is not only what many think only about the United States, but about a global total surveillance operation that even went as far as tapping the German chancellor's cell phone.
The German government summoned the US ambassador on 24 October - a very unusual step - after German media reported that the NSA had eavesdropped on Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone.
The allegations dominated an EU summit, with Mrs Merkel demanding a full explanation and warning that trust between allies could be undermined. She discussed the matter by phone with US President Barack Obama. He assured her that her calls were not being monitored now and that it would not happen in future. But the White House did not deny bugging her phone in the past.
The allegations dominated an EU summit, with Mrs Merkel demanding a full explanation and warning that trust between allies could be undermined. She discussed the matter by phone with US President Barack Obama. He assured her that her calls were not being monitored now and that it would not happen in future. But the White House did not deny bugging her phone in the past.
Yes, but all of that happened before the Congress passed the USA Freedom Act in 2015, right? Since then it has become much harder to spy on regular citizens, and that's what's important. I'm not idealizing NSA and the likes. They consist of humans, not at all perfect creatures, with all the attendant issues. I'm just saying that in the Western World peoples' freedoms expand over time, and not the vice versa, like dictatorship governments want their citizens to believe.