Senate Approves Revised Patriot Act

NPR reports:

The Senate has approved the USA Freedom Act, which will alter the way U.S. agencies conduct surveillance and gather data. A final vote on the bill came late Tuesday afternoon, after amendments to the bill failed. President Obama can now sign the bill into law as soon as it reaches him, after an expedited enrollment process. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., voted against the measure today, as he did last fall. Also voting against the bill Tuesday was independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. The lead sponsor of the bill in the House, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., promises it will "rein in the dragnet collection of data" by the NSA and others, and "increase transparency of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court." Calling today's passage "a milestone," ACLU Deputy Legal Director Jameel Jaffer says, "This is the most important surveillance reform bill since 1978, and its passage is an indication that Americans are no longer willing to give the intelligence agencies a blank check."

Rand Paul Claims Patriot Act Victory

Sen. Rand Paul is claiming victory over last night's expiration of several major portions of the Patriot Act, but he may be merely grandstanding as the Senate is expected to quickly reauthorize the expired laws.

The Senate entered a debate period late Sunday on the Patriot Act that pushed beyond the midnight deadline. With the debate ongoing, that effectively ends the National Security Agency's bulk data collection program. President Barack Obama and government officials spent last week warning of serious national security consequences, while the most ardent advocates of NSA reform were prepared to call a bluff they saw as little more than fear-mongering. The National Security Agency officially shut down the bulk metadata collection program officially at 7:44 p.m. Sunday night, a senior government official told CNN's Justice Correspondent Pamela Brown. Officials had previously indicated they would shut the program down around 8 p.m. to ensure all procedures were in place before the midnight deadline. The Senate is expected to restore the expiring authorities midweek.

Thousands Of Sites Block Congress In Protest Against The Patriot Act

Via The Hill:

Thousands of websites are blocking Congress’s access to their sites in a show of force to protest the Patriot Act. Led by the online activist group Fight for the Future, more than 10,000 sites have added code that redirects any visitors from Internet protocol (IP) addresses from Congress away from their site and towards a protest page. “Congress: This is a blackout,” the site reads. “We are blocking your access until you end mass surveillance laws.” Instead of renewing or reforming the three expiring provisions of the Patriot Act, the activist group wants Congress to let them expire. “The real answer is to end all authorities used to conduct mass surveillance,” Fight for the Future says on the protest page. “Until you do, thousands of websites have blocked your access, and more are joining every day.”

If the Senate does not act by midnight tonight, three major parts of the Patriot Act will automatically expire. Yesterday Sen. Rand Paul penned a TIME op-ed in which he vows to stop reauthorization efforts. See the protest site here.

Rand Paul Vows To Filibuster Patriot Act

Sen. Rand Paul said yesterday that he plans to filibuster against the impending reauthorization vote for the Patriot Act.

"I'm going to lead the charge in the next couple of weeks as the Patriot Act comes forward," he said in a one-on-one interview with the New Hampshire Union Leader. "We will be filibustering. We will be trying to stop it. We are not going to let them run over us. And we are going to demand amendments and we are going to make sure the American people know that some of us at least are opposed to unlawful searches." Paul, the Republican U.S. Senator from Kentucky, said that even architects of the Patriot Act say roving wiretapping by the National Security Agency was not part of the legislation's intent.

More from The Hill:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) has said that he favors a full reauthorization of the measures, but other lawmakers say they would be willing to pass reform legislation. A short-term extension would give lawmakers more time to sort out their differences beyond the current June 1 deadline for renewing the law. A filibuster of the Patriot Act provisions could give Paul more visibility as the presidential campaign ramps up. He lists his opposition to the National Security Agency's surveillance programs on the homepage of his website and sells a “NSA Spy Cam Blocker” in his campaign store.

NYC Artist Wins Privacy Suit Over Photos Taken Through His Neighbors' Windows

Two years ago I reported that residents of a luxury Tribeca building were furious about an art gallery's exhibition of photos taken through their windows from an apartment across the street. A lawsuit shortly followed, of course, and this week a panel of  judges made their decision:

Want privacy? Buy shades. That was the message sent by a panel of Appellate Division judges Thursday when they tossed a lawsuit by a Tribeca family who said a photographer invaded their privacy by secretly taking their pictures for a year and then putting them in an exhibit. Lensman Arne Svenson acknowledged that he snapped the unguarded shots of Martha and Matthew Foster and their young children through the floor to ceiling windows of their loft, which is across the street from his apartment. The judges said Svenson’s protracted lurking in the shadows of his darkened apartment was “disturbing” but neither a violation of criminal stalking laws nor a violation of the family’s civil rights as state law is now written because Svenson’s photos were works of art. In an interview with photography blog PetaPixel, Svenson said he “shot for the tiny nuances of gesture and posture that define who we are, collectively. The subjects are to be seen as representations of humankind, not identifiable as the actual people photographed.”

The judges declared that their hands were tied by the lack of an applicable law and suggested that the family take their privacy concerns to the state legislature. The photographer's lawyer expressed concern over that advice, saying that expectations of privacy in a "dense urban environment" are not absolute.

Google Contact Lens Cameras?

CNET says Google is working on it:

Google has a patent pending for a contact lens with a micro camera and sensors embedded on the surface controlled by blinking, which would enable you to take hands-free pictures and could help the blind navigate the everyday obstacles of the world. Although still apparently hypothetical, the patent combines ideas from Google Glass smart glasses and Google's tear-scanning smart contact lenses. Highlighted by Patent Bolt, the smart-contact-lens patent posits sensors in the lens that can look for light, colours, faces, movement and even specific objects.

Blink left to take photo. Blink right for Facebook upload.

Headline Of The Day

Via Mashable:

The NSA knew about the Internet security bug Heartbleed and regularly used it to gather intelligence for at least two years, anonymous sources told Bloomberg. If the report is true — both the White House and the NSA say it's not (see below) — the NSA could have collected information like passwords and private communications from hundreds of thousands of websites, since Heartbleed is a bug in the popular open-source encryption software OpenSSL, used to secure data flowing from users' computers to hundreds of thousands of websites, including Gmail and Facebook. Almost two-thirds of all sites on the Internet use OpenSSL, according to estimates, making this bug possibly one of the most dangerous the Internet has ever seen and potentially allowing the NSA to access information on millions of users.

Glenn Greenwald Returns To US For First Time Since Breaking NSA/Snowden Story

Gay journalist Glenn Greenwald returned to the United States today for the first time since breaking the Edward Snowden story. Some have called for his arrest as Snowden's alleged co-conspirator. Greenwald himself said he expected to be detained at once, but he exited JFK airport without incident. TIME reports on the reason for today's visit:

Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras, who broke the Snowden story and met with the whistleblower in Hong Kong, are in New York City to receive the prestigious George Polk Award. Greenwald, formerly a columnist for The Guardian and now a partner in the upcoming First Look Media venture, and Poitras, a documentary filmmaker, will share the journalism award with Ewen MacAskill of The Guardian and Barton Gellman of the Washington Post, the Huffington Post reports. Greenwald, who currently resides in Rio de Janeiro, told The Huffington Post that he wanted to return to the U.S. because “certain factions in the U.S. government have deliberately intensified the threatening climate for journalists.” He noted that language used by government officials suggested that reporters who investigated Snowden’s documents were complicit with him.

100+ Groups Cosponsor Privacy Rally

Celebrities and journalists endorsing the rally include Wil Wheaton, Glenn Greenwald, Anil Dash, and Daniel Ellsberg. Details are here. (Tipped by JMG reader Win)

Wil Wheaton On New iPhone

REPORT: Partner Of Glenn Greenwald Was Carrying 58,000 "Sensitive" Documents

Politico reports:

David Miranda, the partner of journalist Glenn Greenwald, was carrying 58,000 classified intelligence documents when he was detained by British authorities earlier this month, according to a new UK national security report. Miranda was detained for nine hours at London's Heathrow airport, a move that Greenwald called "a profound attack on press freedoms and the news gathering process." But today's 13-page report, from UK deputy national security adviser Oliver Robbins, has reinforced Greenwald's critics, who believe he and his partner are hiding behind claims of journalistic freedom while disobeying the law.

Scotland Yard has launched a criminal investigation against Miranda.  Greenwald is quoted today by the Telegraph:

“The UK Government is incapable of pointing to a single story we have published that has even arguably harmed national security. The only thing that has been harmed are the political interests and reputations of UK and US officials around the world, as they have been caught engaging in illegal, unconstitutional and truly dangerous bulk surveillance aimed at their own citizens and people around the world, all with little accountability or transparency - until now."

NEW YORK CITY: Bloomberg Suggests Fingerprinting Public Housing Tenants

Speaking on his weekly radio address, yesterday New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg suggested fingerprinting the city's public housing tenants.

“What we really should have is fingerprinting to get in. And of course there’s an allegation that some of these apartments aren’t occupied by the people who originally have the lease,” said Mr. Bloomberg during his weekly radio sit-down with WOR’s John Gambling. The mayor noted that, while New York City Housing Authority building house about five percent of the city’s population, they account for about 20 percent of city crime. “We’ve just gotta find some ways to keep bringing crime down there,” he said, arguing that most people who live in the buildings want more police protection. “If you have a stranger walking in the halls of your apartment building, don’t you want somebody to stop and say, ‘Who are you? Why’re you here?’ Because the locks on these doors, with so many people coming and going, you really can’t,” he said.

Democratic mayoral candidates immediately slammed the idea.

Within an hour of Bloomberg's radio appearance, the mayoral hopeful Bill Thompson derided the fingerprinting idea as "disrespectful" and "disgraceful." "Just like stop-and-frisk, this is another direct act of treating minorities like criminals," said Thompson, a former city comptroller, in a statement. "Mayor Bloomberg wants to make New Yorkers feel like prisoners in their own homes." The public advocate Bill de Blasio, who is one of the front-runners in the mayoral race, called Bloomberg "out of touch" and urged the mayor to instead install security cameras within such public buildings, which house more than 400,000 people.

Christine Quinn also issued a statement.

“It’s a completely ludicrous and outrageous notion that NYCHA residents and their guests should have to be fingerprinted to gain access to their own homes and to visit family and friends,” she said in a statement. “Rather than go after law abiding citizens who live in public housing, the City needs to provide residents with the security systems they have been promised for years.”

A spokesman for the mayor dismissed privacy concerns, because...iPhones.

“All security is moving towards biometrics – even the next iPhone will have fingerprint security. Every day the Mayor logs into his computer by placing his finger on the keyboard to login. Why wouldn’t we want to think about providing the highest level of security possible for NYCHA residents?” he asked via email. “You place the strongest security measures on things of most value – what is more valuable than their homes?”

RELATED: The city is about to retrofit 20 public housing towers with hotel-style key cards that will replace standard locks. That project is costing $11M.

NEW YORK CITY: Judge Dismisses Suit Against Telephoto "Voyeur" Photographer

Back in the spring, I mentioned that residents of a luxury Tribeca building were seething about an art gallery's exhibition of photos taken of them with a telephoto lens from an apartment across the street.  Yesterday a state judge dismissed the lawsuit filed by the building's tenants, two of whom claimed that their children's faces were identifiable in the photos.

"An artist may create and sell a work of art that resembles an individual without his or her written consent," Judge Rakower wrote in her decision, underscoring a central principle of the case. Under New York state law, it is illegal to use a person's likeness for commercial purposes without written consent. But Judge Rakower rejected the Foster's argument on the grounds that New York state civil rights laws "yield to an artist’s protections under the First Amendment under the circumstances presented here.” She also concluded that Svenson's images were primarily works of art, not advertising or objects for commercial trade, so they weren't in violation of state privacy laws. ”The value of artistic expression outweighs any sale that stems from the published photos," she wrote in the ruling.

As the above-linked article notes, many New Yorkers were furious with the photographer and the gallery. Close the drapes, folks. Or leave them open and wait for your own gallery debut.

Greece Reinstates Forced HIV Testing

Greece's new minister of health has reinstated a measure that allows the police to detain and test any person for HIV.

Health organisations say the decree stigmatises drug users, sex workers and undocumented migrants in particular. The text also states that any occupants of housing which “may cause danger to public health” should be evicted from their homes, without any alternative being offered. The measure, which was first introduced by Socialist health minister Andreas Loverdos in April 2012 shortly before the general election, resulted in the round-up and subsequent forced testing of hundreds of women. The 17 found to be HIV positive had their names, personal details and photographs published in the media, on the grounds of protecting public health.

The measure has been denounced by Doctors Of The World and the Greece Solidarity Campaign.

Snowden: NSA Is Working With Germany

Fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden yesterday accused Germany of working with the United States government in spying on private citizens.

America's National Security Agency works closely with Germany and other Western states on a 'no questions asked'-basis, former NSA employee Edward Snowden said in comments that undermine Chancellor Angela Merkel's indignant talk of "Cold War" tactics. "They are in bed with the Germans, just like with most other Western states," German magazine Der Spiegel quotes him as saying in an interview published on Sunday that was carried out before he fled to Hong Kong in May and divulged details of extensive secret U.S. surveillance. "Other agencies don't ask us where we got the information from and we don't ask them. That way they can protect their top politicians from the backlash in case it emerges how massively people's privacy is abused worldwide," he said.

Edward Snowden Seeks Asylum In Russia

NSA leaker Edward Snowden has applied for asylum in Russia.

Foreign ministry consul Kim Shevchenko said the request was made on Sunday night. The Kremlin has made no comment. The 30-year-old former CIA analyst is believed to be holed up in a Moscow airport hotel. Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Mr Snowden was welcome to stay as long as he stopped "inflicting damage on our American partners".

The US has not yet made any comment on the latest developments. President Barack Obama, speaking earlier in Tanzania, said Washington and Moscow had held "high level" discussions about Mr Snowden. "We are hopeful the Russian government makes decisions based on the normal procedures regarding international travel and the normal interactions law enforcement have," he told reporters, pointing out that Mr Snowden does not have a valid passport or legal papers.

Earlier reports had said that Snowden was seeking asylum in Ecuador.

Nancy Pelosi Booed At Netroots Nation

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was heckled and booed at this weekend's Netroots Nation convention when she said that Edward Snowden broke the law. Via Politico:

As Pelosi was saying the country needs a “balance” between security and privacy, Marc Perkel, a 57-year-old activist from Gilroy, Calif., started shouting at Pelosi during her answer and was escorted out of the room. “It’s not a balance. It’s not constitutional!” he yelled. “No secret laws!”

Others in the room began shouting as well, saying things like “Leave him alone!” or “That’s what a police state looks like right there!” The moderator, Zerlina Maxwell, worked to quiet the crowd by saying audience members needed to submit questions via Twitter rather than shouting them out, but Pelosi said she didn’t mind.

“I welcome the challenges that people pose because I think that those questions must be answered,” Pelosi said. She was further booed when she said Snowden did break the law by leaking the information he revealed. “As far as Snowden: he did violate the law in terms of releasing those documents,” she said. Some of the crowd erupted in boos, with one man screaming, “You suck!”

Netroots Nation is the country's largest annual gathering of progressive bloggers and journalists.

Edward Snowden Flees To Moscow

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has helped NSA leaker Edward Snowden get out of Hong Kong.  But he apparently won't be in Moscow for very long:

Edward Snowden left for Moscow on Sunday and his final destination may be Cuba, Ecuador, Iceland or Venezuela, according to various reports. The move is bound to infuriate Washington, wherever he ends up. "It's a shocker," said Simon Young, a law professor with Hong Kong University. "I thought he was going to stay and fight it out. The U.S. government will be irate." Russia's Interfax news agency quoted a source at the Aeroflot airline as saying there was a ticket in Snowden's name for a Moscow-Cuba flight. Itar-Tass news agency cited a source as saying Snowden would fly from Havana to Caracas, the Venezuelan capital. The South China Morning Post said his final destination might be Ecuador or Iceland.

On Friday night the federal government formally charged Snowden with espionage. Should he ever come to trial, he faces up to thirty years in prison.

Edward Snowden Charged With Spying

The federal government has formally charged NSA leaker Edward Snowden with espionage and theft of government documents.

Snowden has been charged with three violations: theft of government property and two offenses under the espionage statutes, specifically giving national defense information to someone without a security clearance and revealing classified information about "communications intelligence." Each of the charges carries a maximum of 10 years in prison. Officials said charges against Snowden were delayed because the United States and authorities in Hong Kong have been going back and forth to make certain that whatever charges the U.S. filed would conform to the extradition treaty with Hong Kong. The U.S. has filed a "provisional arrest warrant," formally asking the police in Hong Kong to arrest Snowden. Because the FBI has no jurisdiction outside U.S. borders, U.S. prosecutors must ask local police to make the arrest.

The charges begin an extradition process with China which is expected to take several months. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has reportedly been in contact with Snowden's lawyers in an attempt to help him seek asylum in Iceland.

Obama: We Should Be Proud Of The NSA