We still don't know the extent of the data-mining and eavesdropping operation that is being carried out by the government. We'll probably never know. But one thing is certain - real privacy is a thing of the past. Now, many of us feel a growing uneasiness when we talk on the phone, use the internet or even complete a bank transaction. The current administration has tried to mollify the American people by stepping up the usual "if you're not guilty you have nothing to worry about" rhetoric. A lot of people (though not those who frequent Kos, I assume) buy into the propaganda - or maybe they don't fully buy into it but it gives them comfort in the midst of an increasing sense of helplessness.
You can bet that you don't have to be guilty of anything to end up on the notorious Watch List. Of course, exactly how the NSA conducts its shadowy searches is still somewhat of a mystery but this information from the ACLU website has got to be close to the truth.
So. how are all these new techniques and capabilities being put into practice? Presumably, "The Program" (as insiders reportedly refer to the illegal practices) continues to employ watch lists and dictionaries. We do not know how the newer and more sophisticated link analysis and statistical data mining techniques are being used.
But, a good guess is that the NSA is following a three-stage process for the broadest portion of its sweep through the communications infrastructure:
- The Dragnet: a search for targets. In this stage, the NSA sifts through the data coursing through the arteries of our telecom systems, making use of such factors as keyword searches, telephone number and IP address targeting, and techniques such as link analysis, and "data mining." At this stage, the communications of millions of people may be scrutinized.
- Human review: making the target list. Communications and individuals that are flagged by the system for one reason or another are presumably then subject to human review. An analyst looks at the origin, destination and content of the communication and makes a determination as to whether further eavesdropping or investigation is desired. We have absolutely no idea what kind of numbers are involved at this stage.
- The Microscope: targeting listed individuals. Finally, individuals determined to be suspicious in phase two are presumably placed on a target list so that they are placed under the full scrutiny of the NSA's giant surveillance microscope, with all their communications captured and analyzed.
Here are the reasons why I'm willing to bet that my husband and I are under "The Microscope"
- Ethnicity and Family: I'm a "nice secular Jewish girl" married to "a nice secular Muslim" guy who is half Iraqi and half Egyptian. He became an American citizen in the 1980's after fleeing the Middle East to escape being conscripted into Saddam's army (long and fascinating story). Over the last few years we have made and received hundreds of calls to and from Baghdad, Egypt and Dubai. We have also had lots of email and text message communications with relatives in those countries.To play it safe, my husband had to tell his 20 year old Iraqi half brother to stop sending us his harmless but somewhat nationalistic emails. These emails would often talk longingly of the ruined beauty of Iraq and the pain of being a refugee. A lot of these started - as is common practice in Arab countries- praising Allah - you know- the dreaded "Allah Akbar" kind of thing. Of course, a lot of the emails were also about how cool some American pop song is but given the level of ignorance in our government an email extolling the virtues of Mariah Carey would probably be interpreted as some kind of "code". My husband's other brother (on his mother's side) is the sweetest guy. He is Egyptian, considers himself a sheikh (which simply means he leads prayers and other Muslims come to him for advice) and- horrors-he actually has one of those scary beards. Because of the atmosphere here my husband had nearly no phone contact with this brother for years until recently when he decided - screw it - he's my brother and a good man- let them listen in on my calls. On top of this, we've both traveled a number of times to the Middle East and lived in Egypt for a year.
- Our Work: A few years back we made an independent film trying to come to terms with the war and the cycles of violence that lead to retaliation. It's a film that calls for peace and is critical of American militarism through history. Uh, oh. Big no-no. When my husband got stopped and questioned in the airport after returning from a visit to Dubai, the airport officials wanted to know what kind of work he does. He told them all about another movie we made that is about Hollywood and didn't mention the political one. He's not crazy.
- We have a website that collects and posts articles on progressive issues. The articles we post are often critical of foreign and domestic policies that perpetuate oppression, violence and injustice. What- are we nuts? After the aforementioned questioning my husband went through in the airport we decided to tone it down and post lighter topics. Call us sell-outs but you have to pick your battles.
- And the kicker -Ever hear of a SAR? No, not the disease SARS. I'm talking about a Suspicious Activity Report. By law your bank must file these when you have transactions totalling $5.000 or more that seem "out of the ordinary". It was this law that triggered off the whole Eliot Spitzer mess. Well, my Egyptian mother-in-law finally retired from 30 years of work in Dubai. She got her green card and decided to transfer her savings to our bank account in the U.S. for safe keeping. So, she went to the bank to wire the money and they were going to charge her thousands of dollars to do the transfer (based on a percentage of the sum). There was no way in hell she was going to pay that money to the bank - nor should she have had to. What a rip-off. She decided to do what she always did when transferring money. She went to the "hawala"-a kind of traditional, privately owned money exchange, transferred the money and only had to pay a small fee. When I heard this I almost had a heart attack. It was dicey enough to have money transferred into our account from an Arab country in an amount that would trigger a SAR - but from a "hawala"?? This explanation from a Washington Post article about "hawalas" will explain my concern:
...because they are unregulated, authorities say, they can be used for criminal purposes. The money the hawalas under investigation funnel to terrorist organizations includes profits from the fees the exchanges charge customers... sources said. Investigators believe the clients are mostly unsuspecting immigrants using the hawala for the legitimate purpose of sending money to relatives in other countries.
Authorities think the suspect hawalas also have functioned as a communications network for terrorist groups, including several closely tied to al Qaeda, sources said.
...immigrants, especially those from Islamic regions in the Middle East and Africa, often find hawalas easier, cheaper and faster to use than regular banks when they want to send money back home.
But the hard-to-trace system lends itself to money movements that are subject to abuse by drug traffickers, terrorists and other criminals, federal officials say...
Now, let me be clear, the majority of hawalas are completely legitimate and provide an extremely important service but since 9/11 they have come under increasing suspicion because authorities think that Al Queda used this traditional system to move their money around. When I called my bank they told me that of course this kind of activity will trigger a SAR. In fact, two of them because my mother-in-law wired the money in two different installments at different times.
So, there it is. My husband and I kind of laugh about all of this - what else can we do? We take refuge in the same ridiculous rhetoric of "we're not guilty of anything so we have nothing to worry about". But still, in this strange day and age "guilt" is an increasingly amorphous term.