Bruce Schneier, as usual, says things very well

http://bruce-schneier.livejournal.com/1211785.html

Edward Snowden broke the law by releasing classified information. This isn't under debate; it's something everyone with a security clearance knows. It's written in plain English on the documents you have to sign when you get a security clearance, and it's part of the culture. The law is there for a good reason, and secrecy has an important role in military defense.

But before the Justice Department prosecutes Snowden, there are some other investigations that ought to happen.

We need to determine whether these National Security Agency programs are themselves legal. The administration has successfully barred anyone from bringing a lawsuit challenging these laws, on the grounds of national secrecy. Now that we know those arguments are without merit, it's time for those court challenges. ...

Do I think Schneier's investigations will happen? Sadly, no. I think Snowden will be pilloried and then we'll end up in an extradition tussle, not unlike Julian Asange. It'll take years, and perhaps there will be enough change in politics that such an investigation can happen.

Using metadata to identify Paul Revere

Metadata is what is being collected by PRISM, the NSA, et al. It shows who you called and how long you talked to them, and maybe your and their location, I don't know if they've revealed what the specifics of what metadata are being collected. As far as we know they are not collecting actual call contents, and considering what a flood of information that would be, it's unlikely. If they need that info, they can execute specific taps, whether or not they have a warrant for that, I won't bother exploring.

This article shows how by taking a person's name and what social clubs or organizations that they belong to that you can identify a likely suspect, just by looking at metadata. Using the names of 254 people and their potential memberships in seven different organizations, Revere pops to the top using different sorts of mathematical analysis.

This is a technique called Social Network Analysis and it's used by Google and Facebook, and probably LiveJournal, to try to target advertising. If most of my LJ friends are science fiction fans as indicated in our profiles, it could be extrapolated that all of my friends are fans of SF/F. And they would probably be mostly right. But not 100% correct, which leads to some weird ads popping up occasionally.

http://kieranhealy.org/blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metadata-to-find-paul-revere/

Good ol' Wisconsin: RNC legislators trying to shut-down an investigative journalism program

Gee, I can't imagine why they might want to do that! It's sad because it's pretty much zero dollars in the budget. Apparently the republicans on the legislative joint finance committee have been shifting their story around to try and justify their actions.

The author includes a fantastic quote from a staunch conservative who served for over 30 years starting in 1907: “Without an unfettered press, without liberty of speech, all of the outward forms and structures of free institutions are a sham, a pretense — the sheerest mockery. If the press is not free; if speech is not independent and untrammeled; if the mind is shackled or made impotent through fear, it makes no difference under what form of government you live, you are a subject and not a citizen.”

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/06/journalism-and-democracy-in-wisconsin/