back to article NUDE SNAPS AGENCY: NSA bods love 'showing off your saucy selfies'

Edward Snowden has given an interview to The Guardian from his Russian hideout and warned that, among other things, those naked selfies people send to their loved ones are common currency among NSA staff. "You've got young enlisted guys, 18 to 22 years old. They've suddenly been thrust into a position of extraordinary …

  1. Mark 85

    Why am I not surprised by this?

    Imagine that.. the analysts at NSA swap the interesting bits just like GCHQ. I guess there has to be a perk somewhere. But I wonder, if they intercept a 13 year old's sexy pic, will someone charge them with child porn? I'm guessing not since they're above the law.

    As for Mr. Snowden, he should be a bit cautious in who he slams. Slamming one's host is a sure-fire way to end up some place he doesn't want to be. The Russians have never been a place for doing this and with the guy in charge they have, it probably still isn't a good place to pick on them.

    1. btrower

      Re: Why am I not surprised by this?

      Re:"will someone charge them with child porn"

      No. OTH, they will be sure to keep the most disgusting imaginable pictures on hand to frame someone like, oh, say, you, if you get too far out of hand.

      There is some seriously disturbed stuff out there and I have no doubt that an arsenal of stuff like that is on hand for whenever they need to target somebody. They must add to the arsenal every day. If it turns out they are doing this, and I expect they are, and they are tolerating these monsters so they can keep adding to their weapons, I hope that they get caught. Let the mob violence they are attempting to manipulate in their favor turn against them.

      Meantime, sad to say, I think it is a bit risky to get *too* vocal and I worry I may have come a bit too close to crossing that line.

      1. Mark 85

        Re: Why am I not surprised by this?

        I suspect you're right and given their ability to put stuff on any server/PC, I suppose the frame would hold up in court since it's on your HDD.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Why am I not surprised by this?

        I was taught as a child that bad people win because good people do nothing. The fact that no one in US really cares about what the NSA is doing. The conservatives only interest in getting rid of excessive government applies only to Social Securiy, Medicaid, WIC, Food Stamps, Medicare, etc. They are not interested in cutting back on the NSA's activities or a trillion dollar per year war budget. The fact that the people in the US have not thrown out every elected official over junk like this means that Americans deserve neither freedom or security. If Snowden came back to the US, he would never be tried. An open trial would expose even more of the trash that the NSA is doing and it would embarrass the US even more in the eyes of the world. He would silently be shipped off to Gitmo and never heard from again or get a bullet while in a jail cell.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Why am I not surprised by this?

        Why hasn't Obama stopped this, like he promised he would?

    2. Wzrd1 Silver badge

      Re: Why am I not surprised by this?

      " But I wonder, if they intercept a 13 year old's sexy pic, will someone charge them with child porn?"

      Actually, yes. The NSA is part of the US DoD and hence, has anyone viewing, trading or collecting child porn arrested and charged for the crime.

      1. Roo
        Windows

        Re: Why am I not surprised by this?

        "Actually, yes. The NSA is part of the US DoD and hence, has anyone viewing, trading or collecting child porn arrested and charged for the crime."

        That's only useful if folks get caught and prosecuted, Snowdon is claiming that the NSA's internal oversight is very lax - so there is a strong possibility "anyone" won't get caught so prosecution won't happen.

      2. Hollerith 1

        Re: Why am I not surprised by this? @Wzrd1

        And are we seeing a wave or arrests as the NSA turn over child porn to the DOD? Are USA child molesters being rounded up by the horde? No?

        1. Derpity

          Re: Why am I not surprised by this? @Wzrd1

          @Hollerith 1

          "And are we seeing a wave or arrests as the NSA turn over child porn to the DOD? Are USA child molesters being rounded up by the horde? No?"

          Actually, there's been a couple large scale arrests of child pornographers due to "federal investigations" in the news recently. Including law enforcement.

          Ex:

          http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/21/child-porn-nyc-internet/9367471/

        2. I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects
          Childcatcher

          Why is anyone surprised by this?

          > And are we seeing a wave or arrests as the NSA turn over child porn to the DOD?

          > Are USA child molesters being rounded up by the horde?

          > No?

          Are USA child molesters being rounded up by the NSA?

          And being given protection and wages?

          No. They were hired years ago, so that solved everyone's problems.

          I think Edward Snowden may be secure if he has stashed a cache of evidence for a get out of Guantanamo Bay free card.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Why am I not surprised by this?

        "anyone viewing, trading or collecting child porn arrested and charged for the crime" except people working for the NSA. In another Reg article it was stated that they were collecting child porn

      4. BillG

        Re: Why am I not surprised by this?

        " But I wonder, if they intercept a 13 year old's sexy pic, will someone charge them with child porn?"

        Actually, yes. The NSA is part of the US DoD and hence, has anyone viewing, trading or collecting child porn arrested and charged for the crime.

        Actually, no. The NSA is part of the Executive Branch and as such, they are exempt from all workplace harassment laws and it is almost impossible to prosecute them for sexually oriented laws in general. This is why Bill Clinton could not be properly prosecuted for rape.

      5. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Why am I not surprised by this?

        "Actually, yes. The NSA is part of the US DoD and hence, has anyone viewing, trading or collecting child porn arrested and charged for the crime."

        You must be having a laugh, you know this isn't correct so why post it? The NSA has proven itself to be above the law time and time again.

        Posted anonymously because they 'know' and you probably work for them with an astroturfer's comment like what you posted.

        1. tom dial Silver badge

          Re: Why am I not surprised by this?

          "Posted anonymously because they 'know' and you probably work for them with an astroturfer's comment like what you posted."

          Anonymous is pointless in this, as it probably is in all other forums. You are linked in the Reg database to your anonymous posts, as you will see if you review your past posts. And, as everyone knows, GCHQ has it if they want.

          Posted with identiy because they know anyhow and it makes me think before submitting.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Why am I not surprised by this?

          You must be having a laugh, you know this isn't correct so why post it? The NSA has proven itself to be above the law time and time again.

          So is the NSA doing what they are doing under Obama's orders?

          Or are you saying the NSA has no respect for Obama and is thumbing their nose at him?

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Why am I not surprised by this?

            <blockquote>"So is the NSA doing what they are doing under Obama's orders?

            Or are you saying the NSA has no respect for Obama and is thumbing their nose at him?"</blockquote>

            They're following Obama's orders but they are thumbing their noses at the courts when people attempt to reign them in.

    3. petur
      Meh

      Re: Why am I not surprised by this?

      I surely wasn't...

      Some 20 years ago, when the digital age was still in front of us, I did contract work on the network and computer equipment at a very large picture print company (for the young ones: a company that develops your negatives and prints them).

      Their staff had lots of picture books with nude pics in them: All pictures passed by quality assurance people who marked badly developed pics, to be redone, and if it contained nude, it was marked as well, and the discarded pic was then recovered from the bin.

      There will always be people with access to this stuff that will not mind taking a private copy. The only solution is not to give them access.

      1. Gio Ciampa

        Re: Why am I not surprised by this? (@petur)

        I can vouch for this, having worked for (if I guess right) that very company on the developing machines back in my student days - it was a common occurrence, should something deemed "interesting" be spotted, for word to find its way to the print room where an "accidental" second copy would be made...

        I also spent a brief period where I was the link point between the post-checking and quality assurance departments - so every photo went through me (my job was to ensure that the paperwork matched the print roll), so I've seen it all... medical shots (lets just say, any closer and the camera would be better described as a sex toy), crime scenes (I'll not forget the caved-in skull by a tower block), as well as what were termed "holiday snaps"...

        That said - word would also get around if the police were required to attend...

      2. HelpfulJohn

        Re: Why am I not surprised by this?

        "There will always be people with access to this stuff that will not mind taking a private copy. The only solution is not to give them access."

        That, sir, is shite. The second part, not the first. I agree with the first because nothing is ever done to stop the evil, thieving abusers. Many people think nothing *can* be done. That, too, is shite.

        *I* would *Never* have copied a customer's images for my own prurient masturbatory pleasures no matter how erotic they were. Nor would I ever have permitted colleagues to do so had I ever worked with anyone so crass and stupid. I would have shopped the colleague to the management, to HQ management and to the customers.

        The solution is not stopping access, as this is impossible, the solution is only hiring honest folk who don't steal from the customers.

        Why is it impossible to stop access? Because the machinery that prints images must be tended at some point by humans. Even if it is completely automatic and the people in the shops never see the images repairmen could. There is always a human somewhere in the loop. That human could corrupt the system.

        This is a problem of a total lack of self-control. A childish "me want, me take" culture that pervades all of our law enforcement, law-making and priestly classes, among many others. They see that they have the opportunity to steal, rape, molest, peculate on massive scales and otherwise indulge themselves (TV presenters putting hands up skirts because they *can*, MP's buying porn DVDs on expenses because "everyone else is doing it") so they imagine that they have the gods-given *right* to do what they wish.

        Any decent, honourable human being with a trace of civilisation knows that this is wrong and can resist the impulse to steal, molest and abuse their authority in any way.

        So all we need to do is find and jail all of the *in*--decent ones, hire decent ones and all will be milk and honey and fluffy unicorns.

        One thing that could improve life a lot: whistle-blowers should be *beloved* by their colleagues. Tattle-tales should be praised in the media, given promotions and bonuses and honoured by the Queen in her birthday lists. Handing over a corrupt or evil colleague or superior to The Law should be seen as the highest calling of an honest person. Only the corrupt would disagree with any of that. Only those with something to hide would reject it.

        Hmmm, that sounds familiar ...

        1. Hellcat

          Re: Why am I not surprised by this?

          The difference here is you are a honest person, and the customer is bringing their PC to you and entrusting you to not snoop around their files. The people in the NSA and such are already OK with snooping around peoples files without their knowledge - the lines of trust have already been blurred.

    4. RoninRodent

      Re: Why am I not surprised by this?

      > But I wonder, if they intercept a 13 year old's sexy pic, will someone charge them with child porn? I'm guessing not since they're above the law.

      Given that GCHQ, with aid from the NSA, spent 2 years collecting millions (possibly billions) of images from Yahoo! webcams as part of Optic Nerve and they admitted "it would appear that a surprising number of people use webcam conversations to show intimate parts of their body to the other person" and "between 3% and 11% of the Yahoo webcam imagery harvested by GCHQ contains 'undesirable nudity'" what percentage of that contained underage users? Nobody would believe that percentage is zero and yet there have been no arrests.

      That says it all.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad

    "It could be that by collecting and sifting through everyone's personal data that terrorist attacks could be prevented, he opined."

    The U.S. has between 15 and 40 million people here illegally. We have no idea who their allegiance is to. Currently we have thousands coming across the border every week. Same story. Some are known gang members. A lot have diseases we haven't seen in this county in decades are coming in with the latest wave.

    Does Snowden truly believe that sifting through my personal data is going to help make this country safe?

    1. king of foo

      Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad

      Are you aware that the above sounds very xenophobic? Your country was founded by illegal immigrants. People just turned up and made their home.

      ...then they systematically murdered the native population, so perhaps you are worried that history will repeat itself???

      I don't think snowden actually believes the things he is saying now - it looks to me like he is trying desperately to achieve celebrity status as a "white knight" so one day he can come home and spend the rest of his (long) life on daytime TV as some kind of privacy evangelist. He's still managing to spark meaningful debate so I say let him carry on, whether he is "devout" or not. This could be him attempting to do some damage limitation by publicly saying that the government isn't all bad and collecting all that data might have been in everyone's interests. It could well be a condition of his return to us soil to "get with the program"

      1. chivo243 Silver badge

        Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad

        “so perhaps you are worried that history will repeat itself???” Sadly it is already happening, and the new immigrants are also killing each other as well the old immigrants. Funny thing is I don’t think 1% of said new immigrants even know who the hell Snowden is!

      2. Dan Paul

        Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad @ King of Foo

        Just as everywhere, the laws changed in this country as it grew bigger; and these illegals did not take the correct route of getting a visa and later applying for citizenship, they just broke the law and came here illegally. Xenophobic my ass, they are taking our tax money as they flood the country and there is no more room for people who won't pay taxes and drain social services at our expense.

        In case you haven't noticed, I don't see anyone from Europe asking for more "immigrants", send over a few planes if you want them so bad.

        By the way, I don't know where you are from but you ought to cut the "murdering the native population" crap. ALL your ancestors did similar things only even longer ago but you were all natives. Take care of your own BS before you accuse anyone else.

        I am sick of two faced, lily livered gits throwing something that happened hundreds of years in the past in our faces to make us feel guilty. We are not responsible because none of us did it.

        The British and the Dutch were fully responsible for the slave trade, where is your guilt?

        1. strum

          Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad @ King of Foo

          >they just broke the law and came here illegally.

          Just like your ancestors did - you steaming hypocrite.

          >The British and the Dutch were fully responsible for the slave trade, where is your guilt?

          The British abolished slavery. How long did it take your lot to catch up?

          1. Dan Paul

            Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad @ Strum this!

            My ancestors didn't come here "illegally". They came here to Massachussetts in the early 1600's from Scotland when there was only British rule (treating everyday citizens like slaves is why they came here and why their was a revolution) and no immigration restrictions. The Brits may have abolished slavery (in their own country) but they never stopped the slave trade in the colonies until the civil war was over you dolt, they supported the Confederate cause (slavery) throughout that war. That's when slavery was abolished or did you fail history too?

            Anyone like yourself who can't even think or know history before they spit out ignorant crap like that is more than steaming hypocrite.

            1. This post has been deleted by its author

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            @strum

            The first thing the U.S. did in the Constitution as abolish the importation of slaves. Which is many years before the slave trade act of 1807.

            My ancestors did not come here illegally.

            1. tom dial Silver badge

              Re: @strum

              The Constitution of 1787 provided in Article I Section IX, that "importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight" and allowed the Congress to impose an import tax of up to $10 for each such person.

              That does not quite constitute abolishing slave importation in the Constitution, however much it may be a signal that the tide had begun to turn against the slave owners.

          3. I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects

            US slavery

            Children were still being used in factories into the middle of the 1930's, a decade when grown men would work just for food. Babies were dying all over the midwest. Not from diseases but from malnutrition. Think Oxfam adverts.

            1. Dan Paul

              Re: US slavery

              Did you not ever hear of the Great Depression you lying uneducated idiot? Or are you just a troll?

              This was not SLAVERY!!!!!

              Almost everyone IN THE WHOLE WORLD worked because almost nobody had any money and what there was was almost worthless. My father worked as a child (9 years old) in the family diner, the diner being the only reason why anyone survived because they at least had food. No one made any money, they were bartering everything. To his dying day he hardly threw anything away because of how tough his chilhood was.

              The entire midwest was practically a dustbowl, do you think anything could grow? How do you eat when even your own personal crops failed? Yeah babies died and so did far too many adults.

              You Europeans didn't fare too well either.

              You and your idiot friends really are disconnected dumbasses.

        2. bigtimehustler

          Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad @ King of Foo

          "The British and the Dutch were fully responsible for the slave trade, where is your guilt?" --- errr? What? When we stopped trading in slaves as we came to the conclusion is was in fact immoral, you were still doing it over there many years later. So I think you might need to re read the history books, not to mention how long it took you to treat the relatives of those slaves equally. Give me a break!

          1. Dan Paul

            Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad @ King of Foo

            Your country owned the ships, insured the ships, funded the slavers, and continued to throughout the civil war while your government supported the Confederates. That is simple fact you can look up in old ship registries. What you did in your own country may be another thing but what you did in the colonies is undeniable.

            As I said before, I did not treat ANYONE unequally (wasn't even alive) and YOU may have not. But spouting ignorant crap and trying to make me feel guilty for something I and my ancestors NEVER had anything to do with tells me you are just another ignorant f@ck.

            1. I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects

              Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad @ King of Foo

              Britain owned the ships, insured the ships, funded the slavers, and continued to throughout the civil war while your government supported the Confederates. As I said before, I did not treat ANYONE unequally (I wasn't even alive.)

              Which of us was, you fucking idiot?

              But spouting ignorant crap and trying to make me feel guilty for something I and my ancestors NEVER had anything to do with tells me you are just another ignorant f@ck.

              Exactly how didn't your ancestors have anything to do with Britain's support of your ancestors?

          2. elip

            Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad @ King of Foo

            Thanks for the kind words, though we definitely don't treat ancestors of the slaves equally; lets not kid ourselves.

            1. I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects

              I would laugh at this if I weren't having a laugh

              we definitely don't treat ancestors of the slaves equally;

              Really?

              Hard to imagine how that might be.

          3. tom dial Silver badge

            Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad @ King of Foo

            In addition to the British ending their part of the slave trade, in 1807, importation of slaves was banned in the US in 1808, the earliest possible time under the set of compromises that allowed acceptance of the Constitution. The fact of the compromises indicates that slavery was recognized, by many in America, as the abomination that it was a generation earlier.

            Although it's a bit late for finger pointing, the English did, beginning in 1652, participate with some degree of enthusiasm in the transatlantic slave trade.

        3. I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects

          Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad @ King of Foo

          The natives still live in cocentration camps in the USA. A useful tool invented in the early 19th century and copied by the UK in South Africa fr the duration. And the other North American natives are not alowed to visit their cousins in the said concentration camps because they are behind the xenophobic fence on the Mexican border.

          Presidunce Eisenhauer exported racial segregation (to a Britain that ran its armies with a smattering of integration) while he was still in charge of eradicating genocidal monsters. Pot Kettle Nonwhite.

          In Vietnam the idiot in chart (Westmoreland) when not smearing all and sundry with WMD and grossly illegal other WMD, set up state wide segregation camps. Or were they concentration camps?

          The only person to be made a national hero for refusing to join the genocide was a non white.

          How many centuries are you unsure of from your era of brainwashing history lessons?

          1. Dan Paul

            Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad

            If it is the last thing I do I am going to shove your statements up your ass. You have done nothing but spout lies and bullshit because you have'nt a friggin clue.

            You have been brainwashed by years of hearing communist and socialist crap from your "educators" (We don't need YOUR EDUCATION!) and the criminal scum you associate with. Funny but no dice, you wouldn't know the truth about this country and it's people if it jumped up and bit you on the nose (or ass).

            Far be it from you to actually know whats going on here but there are no concentration camps for the natives. They can leave the reservations anytime they like but they don't get to live tax free off the reservations. Go back to the 1880's and there were issues but stop trying to make me feel guilty as an American when neither I nor ANY of my forebears had anything to do with it. We were abolitionists, dumbass!

            The "Xenophobic" fence on the SOUTH border is there to keep the illegal immigrants from coming in without using the LEGAL immigration methods that are available, you just have to wait for the process because there are LIMITS and waiting periods JUST LIKE ALL OF EUROPE!

            I know, we'll send all the Central American immigrants to Europe so they can be so happy and you can pay for their housing, healthcare and upkeep. They won't pay taxes, the gangs they bring will commit crime at an astounding rate and they will suck unemployment and your healthcare dry so you can't use them either.

            Native Americans (if they are bonafide) can go any place they damn well please (including Mexico) with some restrictions (like having valid identity paperwork). I should know because I live right next to a reservation and many of my school friends were Tuscarora and travel including my sister in laws live in that makes crafts and sells them cross border. They even have rights beyond other Americans.

            Let's not even discuss the absolutely ridiculous shit you said about Eisenhower and Westmoreland. Honestly, you are the most IGNORANT and STUPID, UNEDUCATED moron I ever saw post here.

            Piss off!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad

      How about all those diseases your ancestors brought that the actual Americans hadn't experienced? That't not even touching on the atrocities in the Kingdom of Hawai'i.

      The mass collecting and analyzing of data probably would improve safety, but by how much and at what cost is the real question. That and how the hell do they expect to be trusted, no matter what their aim, when every time they are given a power they end up pushing beyond its limits and pissing all over the original intention. This leaves us with a problem, there does need to be some level of surveillance against some people, but we have issues trusting those we ask to do that surveillance. Not a great situation.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad

        Reading up on the whole process of how the Kingdom of Hawai'i became a US State made me review and re-evaluate the US history I had learned in school.

        This gave me a disquieting feeling similar to the SS officer in the joke who looks at his emblems with the skulls, turns to his compatriot and says "Hans, Do you think we might be the Bad Guys?"

        1. Billa Bong
          Pint

          Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad

          "Oh and to the NSA people reading this, can I get a copy of my latest CV I accidentally deleted last week please? It would save me a few hours updating my old copy and can you send the pictures of my sisters new dog to all our friends, saves me doing it. Thanks."

          I would lmao if they actually did... keep us poseted!

          1. synonymous cowherd

            Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad

            @Billa Bong Some one should pitch that to them, NSA data recovery service, deleted that CV, or old photo of cuddles the pet hamster. Pay $10 and the NSA can restore any files you accidentally deleted in the last 12 months. PO, debit, or credit cards accepted 0800 000 666

        2. Hollerith 1

          Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad

          AC on Hawai'i: read up about the Spanish American War, especially in the Philippines, and that will really open your eyes.

        3. Terry Cloth

          _Lies My Teacher Told Me_

          This disturbing, and disturbingly well-documented, book, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong covers a lot of this. I thought I was reasonably well-informed about American historical cover-ups, and I knew about some of it, but .... This book should be read by every American, and by everyone else who wants to know a) how the U.S. bolsters its self-image, or b) how to dig for the truth about their own country's background.

          1. I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects

            Re: _Lies My Teacher Told Me_

            Do not get this from your library nor read it over the open internet. It would be deemed unAmerican by patriots.

        4. I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects

          CIA ran Central America

          And you didn't know that United Fruit was behind the importation of Cocaine?

          FFS what have you not been reading since you left the social deterministic policy formentors with an high school pass ?

          Fox Newsflashes?

    3. Sime

      Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad

      > The U.S. has between 15 and 40 million people here illegally. We have no idea who their allegiance is to. Currently we have thousands coming across the border every week. Same story. Some are known gang members. A lot have diseases we haven't seen in this county in decades are coming in with the latest wave.

      > Does Snowden truly believe that sifting through my personal data is going to help make this country safe?

      The quote is out of context. If you watch the interview, he goes on to say "...but is that the kind of society we want to live in?"

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad

      I'm sorry, your comment appears to have landed from some neo-con website that you were reading.

      Lets walk through your little right wing fantasies and see how they stand up.

      "The U.S. has between 15 and 40 million people here illegally. " - The Centre for Immigration Studies (fairly non-partisan, somewhat conservative) estimates this at about 11M. I have seen some right-wing rapid nuts estimate illegal immigration at 30M, but with nothing to support it. So your lowest estimate is about 40% too much and your high estimate about 400%.

      "We have no idea who their allegiance is to." - True but not sure what this has to do with the subject in hand.

      "Currently we have thousands coming across the border every week." - Most estimates (e.g. Pew Research Centre) seem to indicate that the level of illegal immigrants to the US is now steady and actually has been dropping in the last decade. So for the thousands coming in, its not clear where the current ones are going. Don't think they've been given citizenship, perhaps they decided to go home.

      "Same story." - Err not sure what you mean.

      "Some are known gang members." - Agreed, and some are coming into to menial jobs that Americans won't do, and some are highly qualified and are looking for a better life. I seem to recall that the original founding fathers left the UK and Europe and were illegal immigrants themselves and sometimes fleeing from the authorities, but they were white so thats OK.

      "A lot have diseases we haven't seen in this county in decades are coming in with the latest wave." - Oddly enough UNICEF (that well known communist hot bed of liberals) reports that "93 percent of kids in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are vaccinated against measles. That’s better than American kids (92 percent)." Also to claim that The USA has eliminated measles whilst Central America hasn't is complete bollocks (UK term meaning you're talking through your arse). I also note that 1 in 6 kids in Texas is uninsured and many insured families still have to pay for vaccinations which means the kids don't get them. For a country the size and wealth of the USA to allow kids to be unvaccinated because they don't have the money is appalling. I note in passing that "Guatemala has universal health care. Vaccines are 100 percent funded by the government." This idea that the immigrants are binging in diseases is another right wing load of crap designed to forment trouble.A rule of thumb, anything Fox News says is normally crap.

      "Does Snowden truly believe that sifting through my personal data is going to help make this country safe?" - I think you have inadvertently said something right. I don't think that Snowden does think this, so why do all the govts want to collect everything about us, why do they want to listen and record our calls and our e-mails, to mine the social media people use. They collect everything on the off-chance of collecting something. The range of estimates for the NSA data storage capacity is from 10 Exabytes per year upwards. All the worlds books fill around 400TB. So what do they need to store thats that big? Its not the printed word, its video, its audio recordings, rather than collecting, sifting and discarding they're just collecting and storing everything "just-in-case". Tell me why the NSA needs something that big.

      Oh and to the NSA people reading this, can I get a copy of my latest CV I accidentally deleted last week please? It would save me a few hours updating my old copy and can you send the pictures of my sisters new dog to all our friends, saves me doing it. Thanks.

      1. Dan Paul

        Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad @ Anon COWARD

        Everything that MSNBC and you say is biased and full of misinformation. You write like Potthead.

        As to the actual number of illegals coming in, ask Gov Rick Perry of Texas, because the Border Patrol and ICE are LYING and they wouldn't even know because they have been told to ignore illegal immigrants by the Obama "administration". Let alone PEW or any other research group who isn't on the border.

        Highly qualified people do not illegally cross the border, they get a visa. Universal healthcare does not mean you are vaccinated. How about the well reported scabies, lice, and other indications of an unsanitary lifestyle? You never heard about the whistleblowers from ICE, Border Patrol, Military because the only ones reporting their info isn't liberal.

        And since ALL the news besides Fox is clearly liberal biased and ONLY reports news the way the Obamites want, I'll listen to Fox and give them more creedence than any other outlet.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad @ Anon COWARD

          "And since ALL the news besides Fox is clearly liberal biased and ONLY reports news the way the Obamites want, I'll listen to Fox and give them more creedence than any other outlet."

          This is fascinating. I'd like to think he's just trolling but what if he's serious!?

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad @AC

        "- Most estimates (e.g. Pew Research Centre) seem to indicate that the level of illegal immigrants to the US is now steady and actually has been dropping in the last decade. So for the thousands coming in, its not clear where the current ones are going."

        http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Texas/2014/07/18/Activists-Demand-Special-Session-Immediate-Action-from-Perry-Abbott-on-Border-Crisis

        Really? I guess you just watch NPR or read the New York Time.

        This is reality

        http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Texas/2014/06/27/Doctor-Risk-of-Diseases-Brought-by-Migrants-Not-Being-Taken-Seriously

        As for the number of illegals here, for the sake of argument we will take your 11 million as valid. Even though that is probably the number in Texas alone.

        Who is their loyalty to? Hamas, Muslim brotherhood, Mexico?

        I don't have a fear of foreigners. I have a fear of invaders. When the first thing someone does when they come to my country is break the law, yes I am afraid. Living in Texas I see this every day. It is scary. Mexican gangs are here and killing people. No the media doesn't cover it but if you talk to law enforcement officers you will know it is true. Another thing you learn living in the border states is that there is a very large amount of "latinos" who think the border states are still part of Mexico and refuse to learn English.

        Do a search for "border crisis" Learn something.

    5. Tom 38

      Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad

      The U.S. has between 15 and 40 million people here illegally.

      Some might consider that any of you west of the Appalachians are also there illegally.

    6. Ken Hagan Gold badge

      Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad

      "The U.S. has between 15 and 40 million people here illegally. We have no idea who their allegiance is to."

      If a foreign power was able to land an army of 15 million troops (or spies) on your territory, I think you'd reckon you'd lost whatever war you'd been fighting. It seems a safe assumption that most of these people would, given the choice, gratefully pledge their allegiance to the US, just like your ancestors did. They're probably doing the jobs that US citizens don't want to and keeping their noses clean in the process because they *really* don't want to get involved with the police.

    7. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad

      To my knowledge, not one act of terrorism has been committed by illegal Latino's. Most of the worlds terrorist come from Islamic countries or the former Soviet Union.

      1. phil dude
        FAIL

        Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad

        or occasionally Lockport, NY....

        P.

      2. Dan Paul

        Re: I would laugh at this if it weren't so sad

        Not Yet! Pretty hard to tell a member of Al Qaeda or ISIS from other illegals sneaking over in the dark. However, there is a huge number of gang members and convicted criminals too.

        If you were honest with yourself, you'd know that and would not keep spouting anti american bullshit..

  3. kneelie

    Pedophiles at the NSA

    It goes without question. The youth are tech savvy, and more likely to sext their boyfriends/girlfriends than their older counterparts.The workers at the NSA have open unfettered access to said picts. I can only imagine the debauchery that occurs, and the teen porn collections they have amassed must be ginormous.

    1. Amorous Cowherder
      Facepalm

      "access to said picts"?

      Don't bring the the Scot's into this as well, they have enough to worry about at the moment!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Pedophiles at the NSA

      The usual route for such items was to pass the intelligence onto someone in the more civil areas of law enforcement for them to knock on the relevant doors. There have been cases of youngsters being 'interviewed' and in some cases charged following accidental discovery of such material. Of course there was something of a scrabble to find out where the evidence came from. Personally I feel that if two thirteen year old kids are exchanging stupid pictures it is a matter for their parents. However, if the pictures are being routed to 'collectors' would you rather that the equivalent of CEOP gets a warning about the activity or that the activity should be ignored?

      For me that is a real moral question that greatly troubles me.

      [I have seen the results of this dilemma when evidence of a planned crime was found accidentally. Should the evidence be passed on or not? Intense internal discussions followed, to which I was NOT party so do not ask. In that case there was a high risk of danger and a formula was eventually found to allow the matter to be passed on and the crime was stopped.]

    3. 's water music
      Trollface

      Re: Pedophiles at the NSA

      ...I can only imagine the debauchery that occurs...

      don't spend too long imagining it :-0

  4. Tom 7

    Tossers

    literally.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    Look over there!

    "... but don't forget to use special offer code SNOWDEN7 for 25% off your first year and rest happy that your files are safe and secure with Spideroak"

    Unless Snowden is a plant and Spideroak is what the NSA wants you to use!

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Re: Look over there!

      I thought Spideroak's mention was strange as well. Does this mean I'm too paranoid or just paranoid enough?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Look over there!

        I think if you are asking that question then you are probably not paranoid enough!

        Personally I use a string and a tin can for all my information transfers. Only way to be sure.

        Anon... because they are listening to this conversation!!

  6. Matt Siddall

    Dropbox

    If I want to store things securely, I won't be using a cloud service at all. For storing pics and files for easy sharing and access, Dropbox works. Just don't put anything there that you wouldn't want to get out

    1. LucreLout

      Re: Dropbox

      Just encrypt it. If your whole dropbox is a giant TrueCrypt vob, then any security deficiency on their part will have limited impact. Same goes for all cloud providers, though personally, I'm very happy with all the free storage I get from Dropbox. Good work folks!

      If you consider that zero day exploits exist across all OSes, then the only logical choice is to encrypt all your personal data anyway, whether it be a local copy or remote storage.

      1. NumptyScrub

        Re: Dropbox

        quote: "Just encrypt it. If your whole dropbox is a giant TrueCrypt vob, then any security deficiency on their part will have limited impact."

        As a UK citizen, encrypting data on Dropbox simply means that I just get forced to unencrypt it so the police can check it isn't terror-paedo-tax-evasion files. Failure to do so is a crime.

        Note that we also apply this law indiscriminately to anyone "of interest" who ends up on UK soil, so don't plan a trip here if you have anything to hide ^^;

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Dropbox

          What about TrueCrypt's plausible deniability feature?

      2. tom dial Silver badge

        Re: Dropbox

        And why should we wish to use TrueCrypt, given the statement "WARNING: Using TrueCrypt is not secure as it may contain unfixed security issues" on the truecrypt web site, along with the accompanying statement that development and maintenance have been discontinued?

        Encryption is a useful tool, but using unmaintained products from anonymous producers (therefore of unknown trustworthiness) would not be my first choice.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Showing off your saucy selfies

    Where's the evidence? I think we have a right to see this. Does the Freedom of Information act apply, or does Mr Snowden think that freedom of information only works in one direction.

    Failing that, where's the Playmobil?

    1. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge

      Re: Showing off your saucy selfies

      I take your reply as a mixture salacious desire and tongue-in-cheek humour, but a mass leak of naked selfies might be what's needed to get people to care.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Showing off your saucy selfies

        Precisely

      2. HelpfulJohn

        Re: Showing off your saucy selfies

        "I take your reply as a mixture salacious desire and tongue-in-cheek humour, but a mass leak of naked selfies might be what's needed to get people to care."

        Especially were they naked selfies of Senators, MPs, MEPs and other high-rankers, their whores [or "indiscretions" as they are often called in UKland], wives, daughters and other intimates or just surveillance images of them buying dope or doing other compromising stuff.

        Several thousand of those released by Good Eddy and the entire rotten system would be shut down within minutes.

        And, yes, I am serious.

        1. tom dial Silver badge

          Re: Showing off your saucy selfies

          We need not, however, depend on the NSA (or perhaps GCHQ) for politician selfies - see Wikipedia for Anthony Wiener, former US Congressman.

  8. mmeier

    So how is the poor agent

    That opened the file titled "Hot nude pictures" and found a set of shots from a nude 450pf midget? Have his eyes stopped bleeding?

  9. Stevie

    Bah!

    "those naked selfies people send to their loved ones are common currency among NSA staff"

    Duh.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Not just the NSA

    Back at the turn of the century, I worked for the local plod.

    Most of the dodgy images we found as part of inquires were saved and burnt to a new fangled CD, which could be put in an other suspect's PC if we didn't have enough evidence.

    ie. shifty bloke 1 100 images were put on shifty bloke 2 computer so that SB2 now had 150 and we could nick him.

    Also any "interesting" images (ie good looking women without vestments) were saved to another disk or printed out for the men's facilities.

    Nice to see that things haven't changed much

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Calm down: The NSA are great guys, they wouldn't do this, Snowden must be making it up

    I would have been worried but clear-thinking Matt Bryant has thankfully just recently explained to me that "the [NSA] employees are not your average bod working in the average office, they are screened and extensively monitored". --> http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/containing/2237782

    And don't forget about "The FISC, the Senate Oversight committees, the NSA's own internal safeguards and regulations". --> http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/2/2014/07/07/nsa_dragnet_mostly_slurped_innocents_traffic/#c_2237782

    So nothing to see here, no matter how hot she is, no one but you is ogling your girl-friend.

    ... Right?

    1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
      FAIL

      Re: Absolute Cluetard Re: Calm down: The NSA are great guys, they wouldn't......

      "......but clear-thinking Matt Bryant has thankfully just recently explained to me...." Unfortunately, it seems your bedtime came round too early for you (I assume it was a school night?) to read the bit about how you are much more likely to have your sext or emailed pic snaffled by the staff of your ISP, your telecom provider, the app provider, a skiddie haxor, your angry partner or just an ex. But don't let that get in the way of your paranoid bleatings, they provide so much unintended humour.

      As for Snowjob, he's obviously just stroking his ego and earning some cash. It seems being a helldesk op in Moscow just doesn't pay enough, he needs to keep fluffing out his stories to pay for the local poledancers.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Absolute Cluetard Calm down: The NSA are great guys, they wouldn't......

        > much more likely to have your sext or emailed pic snaffled by the staff of your ISP, your telecom provider, the app provider, a skiddie haxor, your angry partner or just an ex.

        Ahh, so in your world, that makes it ok the NSA is doing it, does it? Being almost guaranteed to have the NSA collect our data and it being looked at by 18-22yo fuckwits is ok because someone else might be equally immoral and do the same thing?

        Also, the types of companies you mention don't usually consider it their job to spy on my shit so they don't hire people to sift through my shit. Yes, it can happen, but it would be a thorough departure from their normal day-to-day activities.

        In contrast, looking at people's shit appears to be much of the NSA's raison d'être.

  12. Gannon (J.) Dick
    Paris Hilton

    That's it ...

    ... this must stop forthwith.

    Where do I send naked pictures of myself to the NSA ?

    Any libido that can withstand that trauma, requires Plan B.

    Plan B:either fision or fusion.

    Paris, because this is man's work.

  13. Anomalous Cowshed

    Not a popular hypothesis, but what if...

    A few years ago, I recall the US authorities issuing public warnings to US corporations and executives about the need for greater encryption, stronger passwords and more awareness of computer security in general.

    I don't think their warnings were heeded much.

    What if they realised that the problem was getting out of control, and decided to find a way to set it right?

    It makes sense that given the universal prevalence of intellectual property, business secrets and connected computing devices, any cyber-espionage wars will be won or lost on the millions of computers, connected devices and networks in the USA, UK, France, Germany, etc. No one government agency can possibly counter all the possible threats, all the time.

    So far we've been assuming that Mr. Snowden is a genuine whistleblower, who has somehow managed to escape the USA with masses of 'incriminating' documents, which sow terror in people's minds about the fact that big brother is watching them and listening to them all the time, collecting our personal data, reading our e-mails, listening to our phone calls...and now looking at and sharing our naked pictures. Whatever rocks our boat, really.

    However, what if Mr. Snowden is just a plant by the US Government, precisely to sow fear into our minds and make us sufficiently concerned about the threat of cyber-surveillance and spying to encourage us to start paying more attention to computer security? In other words, to enlist us in this war?

    After all, the net effect of the 'Snowden Affair' has been to make us more aware of these threats, and of the need to pay more attention to computer security...

    It's just a possibility. Outside the reality distortion field of the media, I find it difficult to take this story at face value. It just doesn't smell right.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Not a popular hypothesis, but what if...

      > what if Mr. Snowden is just a plant by the US Government, precisely to sow fear into our minds and make us sufficiently concerned about the threat of cyber-surveillance and spying to encourage us to start paying more attention to computer security?

      Strikes me as absurd. The price they pay is far too high.

  14. Sean Timarco Baggaley

    "O Romeo! Romeo! Wherefore art thou, Romeo?"

    "In jail charged with pedophilia, 'cos you're only 13 years old!"

    Even William "How should I spell my surname this time?" Shakespeare was at it. Operation Yewtree clearly doesn't go far enough back in time.

  15. TimeMaster T
    Childcatcher

    Child porn

    Considering all the selfies that underage girls and boys seem to be sending to each other these days it sounds like the NSA would be a good place for pedophiles to work.

    And they wouldn't have to worry about being caught since the high ups will protect them so the public doesn't find out, which might really cause the fecal material to hit the impeller unit.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Let's get this straight ...

    Fuck off yanks .... just get out of the world's fucking life ...

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