Ex-NSA Chief: ‘We Kill People Based On Metadata’
Click here for reuse options!Hayden made the remark after saying he agreed with the idea that metadata – the information collected by the NSA about phone calls and other communications that does not include content – can tell the government “everything” about anyone it’s targeting for surveillance, often making the actual content of the communication unnecessary.
“[That] description… is absolutely correct. We kill people based on metadata. But that’s not what we do with this metadata,” said Hayden, apparently referring to domestic metadata collection. “It’s really important to understand the program in its entirety. Not the potentiality of the program, but how the program is actually conducted.
“So NSA gets phone records, gets them from the telephone company, been getting them since October of 2001 from one authority or another, puts them in a lockbox… and under very strict limitations can access the lockbox,” Hayden said and then described a hypothetical situation in which a number connected to a terrorist could be run against the metadata already collected to help investigators find additional leads in the name of national security.
“What it cannot do are all those things that… allows someone to create your social network, your social interactions, your patterns of behavior. One could make the argument that could be useful, [or] that could be illegal, but it’s not done,” he said. “In this debate, it’s important to distinguish what might be done with what is being done.”
Copyright 2014 Liberaland
By: Cheston Catalano
Cheston Catalano is a Kentucky-based journalist whose work has been featured in the Chattanooga Times Free Press and the Clarksville Leaf Chronicle. He is a long-time contributor to Liberaland.
20 responses to Ex-NSA Chief: ‘We Kill People Based On Metadata’
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Roctuna May 12th, 2014 at 21:02
If that isn’t the most chilling thing I’ve seen attributed to someone in the govm’t, I don’t know what is. His distinction between the potentiality and the reality is total bs.
burqa May 12th, 2014 at 23:00
He is distinguishing between the 215 and 715 programs. Notice that they are killing foreign terrorists with drone strikes, not millions of Americans.
Look at the reality of who is being killed.
fahvel May 13th, 2014 at 02:31
and who is being denied the right to vote in the us and who is following your shopping habits and watching your life style to bombard you with bs adds etc – it’s all part of the same black hole from which there is no escape –
Roctuna May 12th, 2014 at 21:02
If that isn’t the most chilling thing I’ve seen attributed to someone in the govm’t, I don’t know what is. His distinction between the potentiality and the reality is total bs.
burqa May 12th, 2014 at 23:00
He is distinguishing between the 215 and 702 programs. Notice that they are killing foreign terrorists with drone strikes, not millions of Americans.
Look at the reality of who is being killed.
fahvel May 13th, 2014 at 02:31
and who is being denied the right to vote in the us and who is following your shopping habits and watching your life style to bombard you with bs adds etc – it’s all part of the same black hole from which there is no escape –
Obewon May 12th, 2014 at 21:09
The NSA is one of 16+ Agencies identifying terrorist threats by pattern matching history with preemptive correlation to prevent further violence from the 2/3 of Conservative fundamentalist Christian Identity/Patriot movement & sovereign citizen anarchists responsible for global ( http://www.loonwatch.com/2010/01/terrorism-in-europe/ ) and domestic terrorism like Bundy & Palin’s Pals! March 2011: Five people in the Fairbanks area are arrested on charges of plotting to kidnap or kill state troopers and a Fairbanks judge. All five are self-proclaimed “sovereign citizens,” including local militia leader Schaeffer Cox.
Terrorism Directed At ‘Liberal’ And ‘Government’ Targets July 2008 to 2011: An Interactive Map http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/violence-directed-liberal-and-govern
Tom Ward May 12th, 2014 at 23:25
@Obewon Kenobi
We don’t need the NSA to violate the 4th amendment so we can feel safe from ‘5 guys back in 2011’. That’s a risk well worth taking, especially because the NSA isn’t a guarantee of safety (Boston marathon bombings). And, contrary to popular belief, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-wing_terrorism#United_States is actually a pretty short list.
I know you aren’t seriously worried about Bundy coming and terrorizing you. I said I wouldn’t defend him again, but that guy just wants to be left alone. I don’t think the NSA would have much on him anyway, I get the feeling he doesn’t use the computer much, or ever.
burqa May 12th, 2014 at 23:32
Mr. Ward, take a look at your phone provider agreement you signed. You will see you have signed away your privacy rights and allowed them to use your metadata as they see fit.
Obewon May 12th, 2014 at 23:47
Tom as Burqa notes Metadata was long ago ruled collectible by SCOTUS. I & NV residents do find Bundy’s fascist terrorists to be despicable gun waving anarchists. I’ve heard nobody seriously complain about FB and all other social media selling the very same metadata to advertisers.
Obewon May 12th, 2014 at 21:09
The NSA is one of 16+ Agencies identifying terrorist threats by pattern matching history with preemptive correlation to prevent further violence from the 2/3 of Conservative fundamentalist Christian Identity/Patriot movement & sovereign citizen anarchists responsible for global ( http://www.loonwatch.com/2010/01/terrorism-in-europe/ ) and domestic terrorism like Bundy & Palin’s Pals! March 2011: Five people in the Fairbanks area are arrested on charges of plotting to kidnap or kill state troopers and a Fairbanks judge. All five are self-proclaimed “sovereign citizens,” including local militia leader Schaeffer Cox.
Terrorism Directed At ‘Liberal’ And ‘Government’ Targets July 2008 to 2011: An Interactive Map http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/violence-directed-liberal-and-govern
Tom Ward May 12th, 2014 at 23:25
@Obewon Kenobi
We don’t need the NSA to violate the 4th amendment so we can feel safe from ‘5 guys back in 2011’. That’s a risk well worth taking, especially because the NSA isn’t a guarantee of safety (Boston marathon bombings). And, contrary to popular belief, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-wing_terrorism#United_States is actually a pretty short list.
I know you aren’t seriously worried about Bundy coming and terrorizing you. I said I wouldn’t defend him again, but that guy just wants to be left alone. I don’t think the NSA would have much on him anyway, I get the feeling he doesn’t use the computer much, or ever.
burqa May 12th, 2014 at 23:32
Mr. Ward, take a look at your phone provider agreement you signed. You will see you have signed away your privacy rights and allowed them to use your metadata as they see fit.
Obewon May 12th, 2014 at 23:47
Tom as Burqa notes Metadata was long ago ruled collectible by SCOTUS. I & NV residents do find Bundy’s fascist terrorists to be despicable gun waving anarchists. I’ve heard nobody seriously complain about FB and all other social media selling the very same metadata to advertisers.
burqa May 12th, 2014 at 23:22
I find it interesting that there is so little concern for the fact that various companies with this metadata share it with foreign countries at the drop of a hat.
In warfare, traffic analysis of enciphered signals has been a valuable tool for intelligence, even when we had not cracked those ciphers.
I find interesting the lack of concern for the sharing of such information by private companies. Here are some numbers:
50….. Number of countries Microsoft provided information to on their customers in 2012.
75,378 ….. Number of law enforcement requests received by Microsoft in 2012.
137,424 ….. Number of Microsoft accounts affected by law enforcement requests in 2012.
11,000* ….. Number of law enforcement requests to Microsoft from the U.S. in 2012.
80% ….. Percentage of Microsoft accounts that law enforcement requested only evidence of a communications exchange, but not content of the messages in 2012.
1,558 ….. Total number of Microsoft accounts law enforcement requested content of communications in 2012.
1,544 ….. Number of Microsoft accounts where American law enforcement sought content of communications in 2012. The 14 other requests came from law enforcement in Brazil, Canada and New Zealand.
6,000 – 7,000 ….. Number of state, local and federal U.S. law enforcement warrants, national security letters, subpoenas and orders issued to Microsoft between July 1, 2012 and Dec. 31, 2012.
31,000 – 32,000 ….. Number of Microsoft customer accounts affected by the above U.S. law enforcement orders.
1,500* ….. Number of state, local and federal U.S. law enforcement warrants, national security letters, subpoenas and orders issued to Microsoft in the first 6 months of 2013.
10,000* ….. Number of Microsoft customer accounts affected by the above U.S. law enforcement orders.
under 300 ….. Number of requests by the NSA to search telephonic metadata bases.
1,789 ….. Number of FISA applications to the FISC for electronic surveillance warrants from the NSA in 2012.
78 ….. Number of FISA applications to the FISC for physical surveillances from the NSA in 2012.
212 ….. Number of FISA applications to the FISC for business records from the NSA in 2012.
0 ….. Number of times the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence identified a case where a U.S. government official attempted to circumvent or violate the law from 2008 to 2012.
0 ….. Number of cases reported by a whistleblower of a U.S. government official attempting to circumvent or violate the law from 2008 to 2012.
* – indicates an approximate number
arc99 May 12th, 2014 at 23:59
burqa, I tend to worry about the development of a black market in information which would be used for unethical or criminal purposes. it happens with guns where firearms manufactured by legitimate companies, end up in the hands of killers and terrorists, not by any illegal means but by a series of entirely legal purchases and sales.
as we rightly concern ourselves with how our own government and others acquire and use our information, I think we also need to be aware of the inevitability of an underground market for any commodity that has value and can easily be transferred. That commodity would be information and my fear is that the day is not too far off when it is not necessary for criminals to hack Target’s servers to steal our information. It will be available legally by simply contacting the right buyers and sellers.
fahvel May 13th, 2014 at 02:27
you are sadly describing tomorrow – do you believe in any way that governments whose only real concern is maintaining powerwithin a tight circle will ever be honest or stop peeking in your drawers?
burqa May 12th, 2014 at 23:22
I find it interesting that there is so little concern for the fact that various companies with this metadata share it with foreign countries at the drop of a hat.
In warfare, traffic analysis of enciphered signals has been a valuable tool for intelligence, even when we had not cracked those ciphers.
I find interesting the lack of concern for the sharing of such information by private companies. Here are some numbers:
50….. Number of countries Microsoft provided information to on their customers in 2012.
75,378 ….. Number of law enforcement requests received by Microsoft in 2012.
137,424 ….. Number of Microsoft accounts affected by law enforcement requests in 2012.
11,000* ….. Number of law enforcement requests to Microsoft from the U.S. in 2012.
80% ….. Percentage of Microsoft accounts that law enforcement requested only evidence of a communications exchange, but not content of the messages in 2012.
1,558 ….. Total number of Microsoft accounts law enforcement requested content of communications in 2012.
1,544 ….. Number of Microsoft accounts where American law enforcement sought content of communications in 2012. The 14 other requests came from law enforcement in Brazil, Canada and New Zealand.
6,000 – 7,000 ….. Number of state, local and federal U.S. law enforcement warrants, national security letters, subpoenas and orders issued to Microsoft between July 1, 2012 and Dec. 31, 2012.
31,000 – 32,000 ….. Number of Microsoft customer accounts affected by the above U.S. law enforcement orders.
1,500* ….. Number of state, local and federal U.S. law enforcement warrants, national security letters, subpoenas and orders issued to Microsoft in the first 6 months of 2013.
10,000* ….. Number of Microsoft customer accounts affected by the above U.S. law enforcement orders.
under 300 ….. Number of requests by the NSA to search telephonic metadata bases.
1,789 ….. Number of FISA applications to the FISC for electronic surveillance warrants from the NSA in 2012.
78 ….. Number of FISA applications to the FISC for physical surveillances from the NSA in 2012.
212 ….. Number of FISA applications to the FISC for business records from the NSA in 2012.
0 ….. Number of times the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence identified a case where a U.S. government official attempted to circumvent or violate the surveillance laws from 2008 to 2012.
0 ….. Number of cases reported by a whistleblower of a U.S. government official attempting to circumvent or violate the surveillance laws from 2008 to 2012.
* – indicates an approximate number
arc99 May 12th, 2014 at 23:59
burqa, I tend to worry about the development of a black market in information which would be used for unethical or criminal purposes. it happens with guns where firearms manufactured by legitimate companies, end up in the hands of killers and terrorists, not by any illegal means but by a series of entirely legal purchases and sales.
as we rightly concern ourselves with how our own government and others acquire and use our information, I think we also need to be aware of the inevitability of an underground market for any commodity that has value and can easily be transferred. That commodity would be information and my fear is that the day is not too far off when it is not necessary for criminals to hack Target’s servers to steal our information. It will be available legally by simply contacting the right buyers and sellers.
fahvel May 13th, 2014 at 02:27
you are sadly describing tomorrow – do you believe in any way that governments whose only real concern is maintaining powerwithin a tight circle will ever be honest or stop peeking in your drawers?