Oh no, you're thinking, yet another cookie pop-up. Well, sorry, it's the law. We measure how many people read us, and ensure you see relevant ads, by storing cookies on your device. If you're cool with that, hit “Accept all Cookies”. For more info and to customize your settings, hit “Customize Settings”.

Review and manage your consent

Here's an overview of our use of cookies, similar technologies and how to manage them. You can also change your choices at any time, by hitting the “Your Consent Options” link on the site's footer.

Manage Cookie Preferences
  • These cookies are strictly necessary so that you can navigate the site as normal and use all features. Without these cookies we cannot provide you with the service that you expect.

  • These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. They perform functions like preventing the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed for advertisers, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.

  • These cookies collect information in aggregate form to help us understand how our websites are being used. They allow us to count visits and traffic sources so that we can measure and improve the performance of our sites. If people say no to these cookies, we do not know how many people have visited and we cannot monitor performance.

See also our Cookie policy and Privacy policy.

This article is more than 1 year old

Yet more NSA officials whisper of an internal revolt over US spying. And yet it still goes on

Drake, Binney, Snowden were not alone, report reminds us

The NSA's snooping programs aren't just controversial to the public, it seems: we're reminded other staff at the US agency also objected to prying into Americans' phone records.

A group of executives, led by a senior official, revolted over the surveillance of US citizens – but failed to change President Obama's policy on spying, an Associated Press exclusive claims, citing anonymous NSA employees past and present.

Their main beef was that information collected on innocent Americans did little, if anything, to help catch terrorists abroad, and spying on US soil was beyond the NSA's remit.

This suggests dissent within the agency over mass spying goes much deeper than the defiance shown by whistleblowers Thomas Drake, William Binney and, most recently, Edward Snowden. The last of the trio, an ex-agency techie who leaked a shedload of NSA documents to journalists and then fled to Russia, has mentioned a handful of fellow NSAers were also unhappy with the spying programs. Binney said he was not alone either.

And, like Drake and Binney, Snowden claimed he protested to his bosses about the level of spying but was ignored. Agency spokespeople said Snowden filed no such objections.

As well as the aforementioned group of execs rising up in 2009, a codebreaker and longtime employee of the NSA also reportedly buttonholed then-director Keith Alexander to complain about the slurping of citizens' records. Alexander "politely disagreed" with the objections, we're told.

The AP report is music to the ears of critics of the NSA, of course.

Unfortunately, it comes just one day after the US Senate killed off a proposed law that would have restricted some of the NSA's intelligence gathering on Americans. ®

 

Similar topics

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like