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In an exclusive interview with The Guardian, this pioneer in internet privacy warned that the dangers of metadata surveillance go beyond mass-scale aggregation. Metadata can also be collected on an individual level to monitor and go after journalists' sources. He explains:
You're a journalist for the Guardian. You know that the Guardian sometimes writes stories that are of great interest to intelligence agencies. Well, what if the intelligence agencies want to see if a journalist at the Guardian is talking to a particular sensitive source?
You don't have to do a lot of data mining for that. All you have to do is find that so-and-so, some government employee, is talking to some journalist at the Guardian. Then somebody's in a heap of trouble.
PGP was created by Zimmermann in 1991 as an encrypted, more private alternative to commercial email communications. He has developed a host of other privacy technologies as well, including an app for encryption smart phone calls.
In early September it was revealed that the NSA had virtually defeated encryption safeguards to protect online privacy, by breaking code and controlling and manipulating technology companies.
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Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |

In an exclusive interview with The Guardian, this pioneer in internet privacy warned that the dangers of metadata surveillance go beyond mass-scale aggregation. Metadata can also be collected on an individual level to monitor and go after journalists' sources. He explains:
You're a journalist for the Guardian. You know that the Guardian sometimes writes stories that are of great interest to intelligence agencies. Well, what if the intelligence agencies want to see if a journalist at the Guardian is talking to a particular sensitive source?
You don't have to do a lot of data mining for that. All you have to do is find that so-and-so, some government employee, is talking to some journalist at the Guardian. Then somebody's in a heap of trouble.
PGP was created by Zimmermann in 1991 as an encrypted, more private alternative to commercial email communications. He has developed a host of other privacy technologies as well, including an app for encryption smart phone calls.
In early September it was revealed that the NSA had virtually defeated encryption safeguards to protect online privacy, by breaking code and controlling and manipulating technology companies.
_____________________

In an exclusive interview with The Guardian, this pioneer in internet privacy warned that the dangers of metadata surveillance go beyond mass-scale aggregation. Metadata can also be collected on an individual level to monitor and go after journalists' sources. He explains:
You're a journalist for the Guardian. You know that the Guardian sometimes writes stories that are of great interest to intelligence agencies. Well, what if the intelligence agencies want to see if a journalist at the Guardian is talking to a particular sensitive source?
You don't have to do a lot of data mining for that. All you have to do is find that so-and-so, some government employee, is talking to some journalist at the Guardian. Then somebody's in a heap of trouble.
PGP was created by Zimmermann in 1991 as an encrypted, more private alternative to commercial email communications. He has developed a host of other privacy technologies as well, including an app for encryption smart phone calls.
In early September it was revealed that the NSA had virtually defeated encryption safeguards to protect online privacy, by breaking code and controlling and manipulating technology companies.
_____________________