NSA Officers Spy on Love Interests | Hacker News Reader

NSA Officers Spy on Love Interests

m.us.wsj.com

48 pointshype714 comments

What bothers me is that the NSA often acts adversarially with its oversight committees. As Techdirt reported[1], the LOVEINT violations weren't reported to the Senate Intelligence Committee until just a few days ago, despite occurring over a period of years. Without a watcher, there's nothing to stop more instances of operator abuse or expansive interpretations of the governing legislation (despite the Constitution). The EFF has put out a good post on the flaws of the investigations into the NSA[2].

[1] https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130823/18432024301/nsa-a...

[2] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/08/three-illusory-investi...

The vocabulary choice in this article is misleading. It mirrors terminology LOVEINT given to the reporter by his source at the NSA, suggesting this practice is a harmless or even positive activity controlled by warm and fuzzy motivations of caring, sharing, "love" and romance.

But it is not about these things at all. It is about creepers with power over their prey and a position of authority who are stalking women they are obsessed with. In many cases they are likely using that knowledge to manipulate and control the targets of their obsession.

Stalking is not about romance, caring, sharing, nor love. Stalking is about obsession, dysfunction, and control. When done by government agents with power, control, and access to ubiquitous systems of global surveillance, it is anything but harmless. It is predatory. The perpetrators of these acts should be unmasked to the public by name, and held accountable for their actions. In some cases that will mean registration as a sex offender so that the public can be aware when there is a predator living among them.

"In each instance, the employee was punished either with an administrative action or termination."

Am I the only one to think this is a slap in the wrist? Such abuse of power should be more than enough for felony charges.

At the very, very least, stalking.

Well, when all of the evidence is classified, that becomes an issue. The prosecutor probably doesn't even have clearance to see the evidence.

Why can't they run the case in on of thus secret courts we keep hearing about? Sure they must have prosecutors and judges with the correct security clearances...

- The "secret courts" aren't full courts for the purposes of holding a trial.

- The "secret courts" only have a judge, there is no prosecutor, because no prosecution happens.

This is why you can't form a stable society based on a tier 1 group of watchers (they call it intelligence gathering) who make sure we don't do things we're not supposed to. Because ... who watches them? Instead, you need a circle where we are all accountable to each other. Thus a government ran by the people. If we were able to see into this secret world, well, it would have never happened.

There is a way to educate and mobile every citizen to ensure the safety of our country where we would not need the TSA, NSA, and CIA. I'm not talking about vigilantism. No, but rather the safe and effect reporting they could train us in.

We have dangerously passed over all our of responsibilities onto those who do not seek the common persons best interest, rather they seek your enslavement to heap luxuries upon themselves. Please don't blackmail me anymore. More tea sir?

I am I the only one to not give a damn about this?

It isn't really the NSA that gives me the heebie-geebies anyway - it's all the others out there who are trying to do the exact same thing - with much less (if any) oversight, and every incentive to act maliciously.

Now, it is not exactly like I am a concern-free zone as far as the NSA goes, either, but the nexus of my stress and worry tends to centre around the (presumably sanctioned, presumably legal) economic and industrial espionage aspects of their mission.

In any case, the really scary stuff only starts happening when the IoT really starts hitting it's stride ... so we have a few years yet to get our act together.

> I am I the only one to not give a damn about this?

Sadly, no. People in my wider circle of friends and family either don't care or don't know what to say. I wish everyone would realize it wasn't that long ago the J. Edgar Hoover was keeping files on every person of interest (like MLK, John Lennon, ..it's a big list) and the capabilities of today's NSA would be his wet dream.

Well, I am just waiting for the day when "fitness trackers" become mandatory (for health insurance reasons, natch...).

Anyway, as I have said before ... no need for conspiracies in a world full of opportunists. All you need to have is a group of people who make their living from fear.

If this is what they do to the people they love, imagine what they do to the people they hate...

Police with guns kill innocent civilians all the time, even with tremendous oversight, and witnesses--and yet we still have police and give them guns. People with power will occasionally behave badly. How is this any different?

"Most of the incidents, officials said, were self-reported"

Imagine the amount of people who have done this but not voluntarily admitted to it.

Not surprised. Are the love interests ex-girl friends?

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