Obama Tries to Downplay Surveillance Programs

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jun 8, 2013 Caught in the act of secretly spying on millions of Americans, the president is trying to minimize the damage done to his public reputation, including among his most devoted supporters.Caught in the act of spying on millions of Americans, the president is trying to minimize the damage done to his public reputation, including among his most devoted supporters. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Truthdigger of the Week: Electronic Frontier Foundation

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Dec 30, 2012 As the larger part of American culture seems ready to surrender its claim to privacy without question, organizations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation are riding like Paul Revere through the digital Massachusetts night. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Government Surveillance: Cheaper and Deeper

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Aug 24, 2012 Technical advancements and plunging costs for digital storage mean that government surveillance programs no longer have to be selective about the data they store. And with the average person leaving a trail of Web browsing, emails, text messages and more, there's plenty of information that can be filed away on individuals. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Congressional Push for Secrecy

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Aug 8, 2012 The U.S. Congress -- one of the branches intended by America’s founders to balance the president’s power -- is showing just as much and in some cases more interest in preserving a growing culture of secrecy as its executive counterpart, says Steven Aftergood, secrecy researcher at the Federation of American Scientists. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Senator Moves to Rein In Warrantless Spying

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Aug 4, 2012 A bill put forward by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., proposes to slap some limits on the U.S. government's collecting of information on Americans under its warrantless electronic spying program. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Does Cybercrime Really Cost $1 Trillion?

By Peter Maass and Megha Rajagopalan, ProPublica Aug 2, 2012 A handful of media stories, blog posts and academic studies have been skeptical about such attention-getting figures. But that has not stopped an array of government officials and politicians from continuing to cite them as authoritative. Now, ProPublica has found new grounds to question the data and methods used to generate them. Dig deeper ( 14 Min. Read )

Privacy by Design

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jul 24, 2012 Nicholas Merrill is tired of waiting for Congress to protect Americans' privacy online So he plans to force the matter by changing the way telecommunication companies do business So he plans to change the way telecommunication companies do business. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

That Makes No Sense!

By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch Jul 20, 2012 When my daughter was little and I read to her regularly, one illustrated book was a favorite of ours. In a series of scenes, a frustrated young girl booms out: “that makes me mad!” For our present national security moment, however, I might amend the book’s punch line slightly. Dig deeper ( 8 Min. Read )

Truthdigger of the Week: William Binney

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jul 15, 2012 It's the first day of the HOPE conference, and hackers and technology enthusiasts have come to hear NSA whistle-blower William Binney give the meeting's keynote address. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

A Big Brother World

Staff / Truthdig Jun 18, 2009 This week in surveillance: The New York Times revealed that the NSA has been spying on the e-mails of millions of Americans, including ex-President Bill Clinton. Meanwhile, China has backed down from installing mandatory security software, while Iran tries to clamp down on communications, and Britain plans to track every phone call, e-mail and text message in Britain. Yikes! Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )