Edward Snowden may head to U.S., jail 

Moscow is reportedly toying with the idea of handing NSA leaker Edward Snowden over to President Trump as a housewarming gift after the whistleblow and alleged spy spent four years hiding in Russia.

The Kremlin’s ploy emerged from intelligence reports that outlined Russian talks about ways to “curry favor” with the Trump administration, according to an NBC News report citing two unnamed U.S. officials.

…Trump has called Snowden a “terrible traitor” and “a spy who should be executed.”

Boston University professor and longtime CIA officer Joseph Wippl said gift-wrapping Snowden and forcing him on a plane to U.S. “wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

…On Twitter, Snowden hailed the rumor as “irrefutable evidence that I never cooperated with Russian intel.”

“No country trades away spies, as the rest would fear they’re next,” his tweet read.

Edward Snowden may head to U.S., jail | Boston Herald

hmmmm

This Is Why Half the Internet Shut Down 

Twitter, Spotify and Reddit, and a huge swath of other websites were down or screwed up this morning. This was happening as hackers unleashed a large distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on the servers of Dyn, a major DNS host. It’s probably safe to assume that the two situations are related.

This Is Why Half the Internet Shut Down Today

hmmm

Russian spies hack U.S. Democratic Party computers

Russian government hackers penetrated the computer network of the Democratic National Committee and gained access to the entire database of opposition research on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday. “The intruders so thoroughly compromised the DNC’s system they also were able to read all e-mail and chat traffic,” the paper said, citing committee officials and security experts. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, confirmed the breach.

Russian spies hack U.S. Democratic Party computers: Washington Post – Yahoo Finance

hmmm

Documents Reveal Snowden Tried to Register Concerns About Surveillance With the NSA

Documents obtained by Vice News through the Freedom of Information Act show that Edward Snowden tried to express his concerns about government surveillance to the NSA before handing over files to journalists. These revelations contradict federal agencies’ assertion that Snowden never went through “proper channels” to address concerns over the constitutionality of certain NSA practices.

Documents Reveal Snowden Tried to Register Concerns About Surveillance With the NSA

Sigh….

Anti-Choice Groups Use Smartphone Surveillance to Target ‘Abortion-Minded Women’ During Clinic Visits 

Women who have visited almost any abortion clinic in the United States have seen anti-choice protesters outside, wielding placards and chanting abuse. A Boston advertiser’s technology, when deployed by anti-choice groups, allows those groups to send propaganda directly to a woman’s phone while she is in a clinic waiting room.

“You can grab an uncomfortable amount of information from someone’s device and the apps they use,” said Solis. “It’s unfortunate, but any woman who plans to visit an affected Planned Parenthood, or anyone who works for Planned Parenthood, should be afraid.”

Anti-Choice Groups Use Smartphone Surveillance to Target ‘Abortion-Minded Women’ During Clinic Visits – Rewire

What the ever lasting fuck???!!!
So, so, so very messed up…

Reddit deletes surveillance ‘warrant canary’ in transparency report 

Digital privacy advocates and users of Reddit expressed their alarm on Friday over a change in the forum’s transparency report that suggested it may have been asked to give customer data to FBI investigators under a secretive government authority.

Reddit deletes surveillance ‘warrant canary’ in transparency report – Technology & Science – CBC News

sigh…

UN human rights chief: FBI risks ‘unlocking a Pandora’s Box’ if Apple is forced to unlock iPhone 

The U.N. joined Facebook, Google and many other tech firms in backing Apple in the fight with the FBI.

The top human rights authority at the United Nations warned Friday that if the FBI succeeds in forcing Apple to unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers, it could have “tremendous ramifications” around the world and “potentially [be] a gift to authoritarian regimes, as well as to criminal hackers.”

UN human rights chief: FBI risks ‘unlocking a Pandora’s Box’ forcing Apple to help unlock iPhone – The Washington Post

Mmmmhmmm