LOVEINT: NSA spooks illegally stalking their romantic interests

“Clearly, any case of noncompliance is unacceptable, but these small
numbers of cases do not change my view that NSA takes significant care
to prevent any abuses and that there is a substantial oversight system
in place,” she said. “When errors are identified, they are reported
and corrected.”

When people say stuff like this, can they actually hear that what they’re saying is “X are baaaad. Every X we see, we fix. As we fix so few, X are rare. So the universe is OK.”

Paume la visage.

“She said “in most instances” the violations didn’t involve an American’s personal information.”

Stalk the hell out of those foreigners, baby!

But seriously, if NSA clowns are stalking love interests, how many of them are on the lookout for commercial information that they can sell, use for trading purposes or simply collect and throw into conversations?

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ok…LOVEINT sounds so much like orwellian newspeak the MUST have intended it. either that or we are so far into INGSOC it just comes naturally.

Repeat after me “sysadmin. sysadmin. sysadmins operate under different rules.”

Now we have no way of knowing if Snowden was that good, but your clear judgement is obviously flawed.

Since the NSA directly employs 1,000 sysadmins, and private contractors surely employ at least that many more, claiming that sysadmins operate under different rules is no different from my claim that they don’t have any real auditing systems. If a sysadmin can work around their auditing systems then effectively there is no auditing system. And not just that, but the fact that the only way the NSA learns about these LOVEINT queries is through self-reporting means that even non-sysadmin employees aren’t being watched effectively.

Putting your faith in the NSA to secure their systems requires more gullibility than believing in some trumped up messiah. At least with the messiah you don’t have thousands of facts staring you in the face showing their constant lies.

Well, Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond touched on the premise, at least, in The Apartment.

As a reminder, Jack Lemmon’s character C.C. Baxter works for Consolidated Life Insurance, and he’s sweet on Shirley MacLaine’s character Fran Kubelik, the elevator operator. Confidence buoyed by a recent promotion, Baxter’s gotten up the nerve to ask Fran out on a date, and she’s just accepted.

                      BUD
        They got a great little band at El
        Chico, in the Village -- it's
        practically around the corner from
        where you live.

                     FRAN
        Sounds good.
               (a sudden thought)
        How do you know where I live?

                     BUD
        Oh, I even know who you live
        with -- your sister and brother-in-
        law -- I know when you were born --
        and where -- I know all sorts of
        things about you.

                     FRAN
        How come?

                     BUD
        A couple of months ago I looked up
        your card in the group insurance
        file.

                     FRAN
        Oh.

                     BUD
        I know your height, your weight and
        your Social Security number -- you
        had mumps, you had measles, and you
        had your appendix out.

They have now reached the corner, and Fran stops.

                     FRAN
        Well, don't tell the fellows in the
        office about the appendix. They may
        get the wrong idea how you found
        out.

What’s weird about this scene (especially to a modern audience) is how creeped out Fran doesn’t get about Baxter’s stalking. She appears to find it moderately charming. Most of the storyline (even much of the script) of The Apartment could be remade today as a thoroughly modern romcom, but this little tidbit of the story couldn’t survive without making Baxter look like an utter creep.

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