John McCain: Keith Alexander Should Resign As NSA Head

Der Spiegel's translation of the interview said McCain was asked if he felt Alexander, head of the NSA, should resign. The senator's office noted that McCain was asked whether "they" -- Alexander, Obama and the Congressional Intelligence Committees -- should resign, not just Alexander.

McCain's office released the following statement on the comment:

"Senator McCain believes that there needs to be accountability for the Snowden leaks, but he is not calling for the resignation of General Alexander, who is retiring soon."

As Europe erupts over US spying, NSA chief says government must stop media

The most under-discussed aspect of the NSA story has long been its international scope. That all changed this week as both Germany and France exploded with anger over new revelations about pervasive NSA surveillance on their population and democratically elected leaders.

As was true for Brazil previously, reports about surveillance aimed at leaders are receiving most of the media attention, but what really originally drove the story there were revelations that the NSA is bulk-spying on millions and millions of innocent citizens in all of those nations. The favorite cry of US government apologists -–everyone spies! – falls impotent in the face of this sort of ubiquitous, suspicionless spying that is the sole province of the US and its four English-speaking surveillance allies (the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand).

N.S.A. Director Firmly Defends Surveillance Efforts

FORT MEADE, Md. — The director of the National Security Agency, Gen. Keith B. Alexander, said in an interview that to prevent terrorist attacks he saw no effective alternative to the N.S.A.’s bulk collection of telephone and other electronic metadata from Americans. But he acknowledged that his agency now faced an entirely new reality, and the possibility of Congressional restrictions, after revelations about its operations at home and abroad.

While offering a detailed defense of his agency’s work, General Alexander said the broader lesson of the controversy over disclosures of secret N.S.A. surveillance missions was that he and other top officials have to be more open in explaining the agency’s role, especially as it expands its mission into cyberoffense and cyberdefense.

Keith Alexander: In Best Interest Of U.S. To 'Put All The Phone Records' Into A Searchable 'Lockbox'

National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander said the NSA wants to collect more phone records, even after being the subject of recent public unease.

Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) asked Alexander if the NSA wants "the phone records of all Americans" during a congressional hearing Thursday.

"I believe it is in the nation's best interest to put all the phone records into a lockbox that we can search when the nation needs to do it, yes," Alexander replied.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) reminded Alexander of Americans' distrust in the NSA since Edward Snowden disclosed documents on previously secret U.S. internet and phone surveillance programs in June.

"A lot of Americans have lost trust in what you're doing," Warner said.

During the same hearing, James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, said he would consider limits to ease concerns raised by disclosures of NSA's bulk collection of Americans' phone and email data.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.com
Author: Paige Lavender

Senators Say There's A 'Significant' Inaccuracy In NSA Surveillance Fact Sheet

WASHINGTON -- Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.) called on the director of the National Security Agency to correct what they called a "significant" inaccuracy in a fact sheet about the agency's use of the law that underpins its Internet surveillance program.

James Bamford on NSA Secrets, Keith Alexander’s Influence & Massive Growth of Surveillance, Cyberwar

As the U.S. vows to take "all necessary steps" to pursue whistleblower Edward Snowden, James Bamford joins us to discuss the National Security Agency’s secret expansion of government surveillance and cyberwarfare. In his latest reporting for Wired magazine, Bamford profiles NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander and connects the dots on PRISM, phone surveillance and the NSA’s massive spy center in Bluffdale, Utah. Says Bamford of Alexander: "Never before has anyone in America’s intelligence sphere come close to his degree of power, the number of people under his command, the expanse of his rule, the length of his reign or the depth of his secrecy." The author of "The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America," Bamford has covered the National Security Agency for the last three decades, after helping expose its existence in the 1980s.

Video
Source: democracynow.org
Author: -

Keith Alexander, NSA Director, Wants To Filter People's Emails And Tweets, According To Expert

The National Security Agency isn't quite sure that it's doing enough when it comes to tuning into people's digital lives. A profile of NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander in Wired magazine offers this frightening possibility: One day the organization may intercept online communications directly.

"In his telling, the threat is so mind-bogglingly huge that the nation has little option but to eventually put the entire civilian Internet under his protection, requiring tweets and emails to pass through his filters, and putting the kill switch under the government’s forefinger," wrote James Bamford for the magazine. It may seem like an exaggeration, but Bamford, author of about a half dozen books on the agency, should know better than anyone else.

NSA chief says data disrupted 'dozens' of plots

In a US Senate hearing, National Security Agency (NSA) Director Keith Alexander defended the internet and telephone data snooping programmes.

Also, US Secretary of State John Kerry said they showed a "delicate but vital balance" between privacy and security.

The programmes were revealed in newspaper accounts last week.