21-10-2013, 10:55 AM
It's in danger of becoming a waterfall isn't it. Of course, Blighty, Canada, Oz and NZ will remain politely aloof as they are all part of the UKUSA NSA system
Quote:Snowden leaks: France summons US envoy over NSA surveillance claims
Demand follows claims in Le Monde that US agency has been intercepting phone calls of French citizens on 'a massive scale'
- Sam Jones
- theguardian.com, Monday 21 October 2013 09.58 BST
- Jump to comments (43)
Le Monde published details from the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden suggesting that the US agency intercepted more than 70m calls in a month. Photograph: AP
The French government has summoned the US ambassador in Paris, demanding an explanation about claims that the National Security Agency has been engaged in widespread phone surveillance of French citizens.
On Monday, Le Monde published details from the NSA whistleblowerEdward Snowden suggesting that the US agency had been intercepting phone calls on what it terms "a massive scale".
The French interior minister, Manuel Valls, has described the revelations as shocking, and said he will be pressing for detailed explanations from Washington.
"Rules are obviously needed when it comes to new communication technologies, and that's something that concerns every country," he toldEurope-1 radio. "If a friendly country an ally spies on France or other European countries, that is completely unacceptable."
The report in Le Monde, which carries the byline of outgoing Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald who worked with Snowden to lay bare the extent of the NSA's actions - claims that between 10 December 2012 and 8 January 2013 the NSA recorded 70.3m phone calls in France.
According to the paper, the documents show that the NSA was allegedly targeting not only terrorist suspects but also politicians, businesspeople and members of the administration under a programme codenamed US-985D.
"The agency has several collection methods," says Le Monde. "When certain French phone numbers are dialled, a signal is activated that triggers the automatic recording of certain conversations. This surveillance also recovers SMS and content based on keywords."
Such methods, it added, allowed the NSA to keep a systematic record of each target's connections.
Le Monde said US authorities had declined to comment on the documents, which they regard as classified material.
Instead, they referred the paper to a statement made in June by the US director of National intelligence, in which James Clapper defended the legality of the practices.
"[They] are lawful and conducted under authorities widely known and discussed, and fully debated and authorised by Congress," he said. "Their purpose is to obtain foreign intelligence information, including information necessary to thwart terrorist and cyber-attacks against theUnited States and its allies."
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Carl Jung - Aion (1951). CW 9, Part II: P.14