There's a storm brewing - Thoughts on PRISM, Tempora, and the Snowden Affair

This post does not come easy for me. However, the events that have taken place over the last couple of weeks, especially the last couple of days, have led me to believe, that speaking out is the only rational thing to do. Indeed, it is something that every citizen of Ireland, of Germany, of the United Kingdom and indeed the United States of America should do.

Information released by former NSA analyst Edward Snowden has, over the last couple of weeks, brought to light a massive surveillance program undertaken by the governments of the United States of America, and the United Kingdom. That in itself does not surprise me very much, nor should it surprise anyone with even a bit of knowledge of the intelligence community, especially that of the US. Quite frankly, it can be argued that the disgusting shambles that is the Central Intelligence Agency has left no other road open for that country to gather information on existing and perceived enemies. The same goes for the backdoors to the likes of Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft, or even Google, who owns Blogger, the service that this blog is hosted on. It would have been foolish to expect the US intelligence community to leave such a rich source of information intact. For me, at least, there are side benefits to this electronic eavesdropping. Hell, if it weren't for a couple of NSA guys, my English language blog would have no readers at all. If they would only show up in Google Analytics.

Back to the original topics. If the existence of these Surveillance Programs, PRISM in the US, and Tempora in the UK, did not come as a surprise, the same cannot be said for the total lack of oversight. As a matter of fact, the way in which these programs have taken on a life of their own. It has emerged that over the years the NSA has systematically lied to the Intelligence Subcommittee of the US Congress, something which went on even after Mr. Snowden released the first batch of information and alerted the world about these programs. I can still see Gen. Alexander, the head of the NSA, winding his way out of the questions of the committee live on C-SPAN. I am sure that General Alexander is a fine soldier. You don't get to the rank of a four-star general without being one. However, looking at his career in military intelligence, his lack of oversight in relation to the events at Abu Ghraibh, and his deception of congress in relation to the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program in 2006, I cannot help but notice a disturbing lack of respect for the values on which the United States were built.

Worse than the United States, who at least had the decency of putting this program under the auspices of the Foreign Intelligence Court, however much of a fig leaf that may be, is the way that the United Kingdom has handled their counterpart, Tempora. While PRISM is more or less people based, it is designed to collect and aggregate information on particular targets or suspects, the British system operates much like a Spanish fishing trawler: It scoops up everything in its path, no matter whether it is relevant to them or not, and ignoring the desolation it leaves in its path. The system, operated by Government Communincations Headquarters GCHQ in Cheltenham, is designed to blindly copy and store all information transmitted through cables tapped by the system for up to three days.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the British Government has blatantly refused any request for information since the program came to light. I am aware that it is always difficult to talk about intelligence matters, you need to be extra careful not to accidentally expose anything that could jeopardize your ongoing operations. However, the hubris expressed in a reply to a series of questions asked by the Government of Germany is more than breathtaking. A catalogue of questions spanning numerous pages was answered with a three-line letter stating that the UK government would not comment on such matters.

Over the last few weeks, it has emerged that "not commenting" on these proceedings is just a small part of the Cameron governments reaction to the information leaked by Mr. Snowden. While the United States have overreacted to his revelations by making him the target of a global manhunt, going so far as preventing a democratically elected head of state to return home, the UK government has decided on a rather more holistic approach to the matter. 

That is not to mean that they are taking a more relaxed view of things. On the contrary, they have decided to go after the journalist and the media companies that helped Edward Snowden publish the information. In June 2013, the Government of the United Kingdom issued a Defence Advisory Notice asking UK media companies to refrain from any further reports on PRISM and any UK involvment in that, as well as further reports on Tempora. While these DA Notices are not legally binding, they are generally observed by media companies, which basically turns them into gag orders, used to muzzle the press on any subject. Additionally, the government attempted to force the Guardian, one of the newspapers that published the information on these government programs, to hand over computers and storage media containing information on said programs. Thankfully, this backfired as staff at the paper's head office in London preferred to systematically destroy said devices.

In an attempt to step up the pressure, British security forces detained a Brazilian national named David Miranda, partner of US Journalist Glenn Greenwald, the man who broke the story about PRISM and Tempora in the Guardian and the Washington Post. He was transitting through London Heathrow Airport when he was stopped and detained by armed police. He was held for nine hours, being constantly interrogated. A large number of his belongings, including computers, USB drives, and a mobile phone were confiscated. He was held under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act of 2000, a controversial law which enables Security Forces at any airport in the UK to stop and question anyone for up to 9 hours to find out whether he is involved in terrorist activities. During this detention, any suspect is not allowed to remain silent, must answer any questions, and is not entitled to legal counsel and assistance. As the name of the bill says, it is designed to aid in the fight against terrorism, yet for some strange reason, a lot of the questions that Mr. Miranda was subjected to were centered around the Guardian's reporting on PRISM and other NSA programs. Furthermore, it has since come out that both Theresa May, the UKs Home Secretary and US Law Enforcement organizations were informed about Mr. Mirandas detention beforehand. Ladies and Gentlemen, if that isn't state sanctioned bullying, then I don't know what is.

So basically, the Government of the United Kingdom has attempted to muzzle the press, attempted to threaten a major newspaper into betraying its sources and journalists, and has tried to intimidate a journalist by terrorizing his loved one. I am very reluctant to use Big Brother metaphors, as they are frequently overused and contorted in regard to rather minor affairs. However, it appears as if Her Majesty's Government is using George Orwell's 1984 as a guideline and manual, rather than regarding it as a warning. To call this a worrying tendency understates this issue by a considerable margin. The United Kingdom has long seen itself as a bastion of freedom in Europe, a continent which has no real liberal or libertarian tradition. It was one of the first real parliamentary monarchies in Europe It was the United Kingdom that stood up against the brutal tide of German Imperial ambition. Yet, as it did during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the UK has once again chosen to forsake this proud tradition. It is turning more and more into a state that eerily resembles the Orwellian nation of Oceania.

Governments always try to state that these measures are necessary to ensure security. To a certain extent, this is true, and a return to a pre 9/11 state of security may never be possible. However, is this sense of security really worth sacrificing the liberties that many people have given their lives for? I cannot answer that question for anyone else but myself, however my answer to this question is clear. The civil liberties enshrined in the constitutions of Ireland, Germany, or the US to mention but a few, are definitely worth more than any gain in security achieved by undermining them. If that means that I may loose my life in a potential future terror attack, so be it. I do not say this lightly, however I have long since come to terms with the fact that this may be my fate. I did this for myself when I started working as a civilian contractor for the US Army in Germany, taking a job as an armed security guard. 

Where does this leave the original topic of this post? That is indeed a good question,as I seem to have written myself into a corner with the above paragraph. All jokes aside though, the United Kingdom is not alone in going down a slippery slope into the realms of a future surveillance state. Many nations are moving that way, including the United States, and my country of birth, Germany. In my eyes, the time has come for those who believe in the inalienable rights and liberties endowed to every man to stand up for these rights. Let me be absolutely clear that this does NOT mean violence. Anyone looking for a justification for vandalism, arson, or murder is going to have to keep looking because they're not going to find it here. Also, I do not believe that the stage is set, or will ever be set for a so-called global revolution, so beloved by those on the far left end of the political spectrum. We do need to make it clear to the Theresa Mays, Keith Alexanders, or Angela Merkels of this world that we are watching them, watching them very closely indeed. If they overstep the line, we need to be there to confront them, and with people like Edward Snowden or Glenn Greenwald out there, I am certain that we will confront them.