National Security

How U.S. Arms Will Reach Syrian Rebels

4:40pm June 15, 2013

This week the Obama administration announced it would send weapons to the Syrian rebels, because of credible evidence Syrian government forces had indeed used chemical weapons. Weekend Edition Saturday Host Scott Simon talks with NPR's Deborah Amos about how Syrians are reacting to the news.

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Google, like Facebook, Microsoft and other Internet companies, is concerned that data requests from U.S. surveillance agencies could ultimately damage its reputation in the U.S. and overseas.

National

Net Giants Try To Quell Users' Jitters About Their Data

7:00pm June 12, 2013

by Jim Zarroli

Tech companies that field National Security Agency data requests are currently barred from sharing those requests publicly. But Google, Microsoft and Facebook all have a financial interest in showing their users that the NSA does not enjoy unfettered access to their data.

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Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is among the lawmakers who say they were never briefed about the government's surveillance programs.

What Did Congress Really Know About NSA Tracking?

6:20pm June 11, 2013

by Ailsa Chang

The White House maintains it had sufficiently briefed Congress on the Internet and phone data monitoring programs leaked last week, but many lawmakers vehemently disagree.

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As Government Surveillance Powers Grow, Privacy Is Redefined

5:33am June 11, 2013

by Martin Kaste

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the public has had several glimpses of the government's growing surveillance powers. The Bush administration had a program so secret, it dispensed with judicial warrants altogether. The resulting scandals and lawsuits appear to have done little to roll back the spying.

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Will Surveillance Disclosure Lead To More Oversight Of NSA?

5:23am June 11, 2013

by Larry Abramson

When surveillance laws were revised in 2012, Congress expressed great concerns that without proper oversight intelligence agencies would engage in the sort of monitoring that has been uncovered in recent days. Congress put a number of safeguards in place, but rejected others that would have guarantee more public discussion about what the NSA does.

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National

Opinion Roundup: Edward Snowden And The NSA Leaks

4:07pm June 10, 2013

The man who leaked details of two secret U.S. surveillance programs told The Guardian that he hopes to trigger a national debate about the NSA programs that gathered phone and Internet records. NPR's Neal Conan reads from a range of reaction to the leaks and the motives of the leaker.

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A National Security Agency data center is under construction in Bluffdale, Utah. When this data center opens in the fall, it will be the largest spy data center for the NSA.

National

Amid Data Controversy, NSA Builds Its Biggest Data Farm

10:01am June 10, 2013

by Howard Berkes

The Utah Data Center, 26 miles south of Salt Lake City, will begin operations in September. Though the NSA director has said it won't hold data on U.S. citizens, privacy advocates worry about the agency's expanding capabilities.

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Confessed NSA Leaker Holed Up In Hong Kong Hotel

7:08am June 10, 2013

by Frank Langfitt

The Guardian has identified its source for a series of reports it published in recent days on secret U.S. surveillance activity. The paper says the source is Edward Snowden, a former technical assistant for the CIA who now works for a private-sector defense and technology consulting firm.

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NSA Scandal Looms Over Obama's Talks With China's Xi

5:39am June 09, 2013

by Ari Shapiro

The goal of the meeting between President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping is for the leaders of the world's largest economies to find common ground and build trust. But the summit threatens to be overshadowed by revelations about secret NSA surveillance programs.

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National

Civil Liberties Group Concerned Over NSA Programs

5:39am June 09, 2013

by Dina Temple-Raston

The news that the National Security Agency has been collecting reams of telephone data and internet surfing both at home and abroad has rattled civil liberties groups. Amid the concerns about privacy and possible abuse, the revelations are an indication of something important: the intelligence community's move into the new frontier of Big Data.

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