SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Snowden to EU: NSA is Spying on Human Rights Organizations
In video testimony to Council of Europe, Snowden reveals NSA spying on 'trillions' of private communications and violating EU privacy laws
Apr 08, 2014
The National Security Agency has spied on renowned human rights organizations, snooped on "trillions" of private communications, and directly violated EU privacy laws, whistle-blower Edward Snowden revealed Tuesday to the Council of Europe.
Speaking from Moscow, Snowden appeared via video-link before this EU human rights body's hearing on mass surveillance in Strasbourg, France, during which he revealed that the NSA deliberately spied on human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. "The NSA has targeted leaders and staff members of these sorts of organizations, including domestically within the borders of the United States," he told members of European parliament.
Furthermore, Snowden revealed that the NSA is using data-mining tools like XKeyscore to track "trillions" of private communications. This includes spying on the travel patterns of EU citizens with connection to wrongdoing. According to Snowden, "This technology offers the most significant new threat to civil liberties in the modern era."
"The screening of trillions of private communications for the vaguest of association or some other nebulous pre-criminal activity is a violation of the human right to be free from unwarranted interference, to be secure in our communications and private affairs - and it must be addressed," he stated.
"These processes are abusive," he charged. "This is clearly a disproportionate use of an extraordinarily intrusive authority."
_____________________
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. 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. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare was a staff writer for Common Dreams from 2013-2016. She is currently web editor and reporter for In These Times.
amnesty internationaldata miningedward snowdeneuropean unionhuman rights watchmoscownsaprivatizationtechnologywhistleblowers
The National Security Agency has spied on renowned human rights organizations, snooped on "trillions" of private communications, and directly violated EU privacy laws, whistle-blower Edward Snowden revealed Tuesday to the Council of Europe.
Speaking from Moscow, Snowden appeared via video-link before this EU human rights body's hearing on mass surveillance in Strasbourg, France, during which he revealed that the NSA deliberately spied on human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. "The NSA has targeted leaders and staff members of these sorts of organizations, including domestically within the borders of the United States," he told members of European parliament.
Furthermore, Snowden revealed that the NSA is using data-mining tools like XKeyscore to track "trillions" of private communications. This includes spying on the travel patterns of EU citizens with connection to wrongdoing. According to Snowden, "This technology offers the most significant new threat to civil liberties in the modern era."
"The screening of trillions of private communications for the vaguest of association or some other nebulous pre-criminal activity is a violation of the human right to be free from unwarranted interference, to be secure in our communications and private affairs - and it must be addressed," he stated.
"These processes are abusive," he charged. "This is clearly a disproportionate use of an extraordinarily intrusive authority."
_____________________
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare was a staff writer for Common Dreams from 2013-2016. She is currently web editor and reporter for In These Times.
The National Security Agency has spied on renowned human rights organizations, snooped on "trillions" of private communications, and directly violated EU privacy laws, whistle-blower Edward Snowden revealed Tuesday to the Council of Europe.
Speaking from Moscow, Snowden appeared via video-link before this EU human rights body's hearing on mass surveillance in Strasbourg, France, during which he revealed that the NSA deliberately spied on human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. "The NSA has targeted leaders and staff members of these sorts of organizations, including domestically within the borders of the United States," he told members of European parliament.
Furthermore, Snowden revealed that the NSA is using data-mining tools like XKeyscore to track "trillions" of private communications. This includes spying on the travel patterns of EU citizens with connection to wrongdoing. According to Snowden, "This technology offers the most significant new threat to civil liberties in the modern era."
"The screening of trillions of private communications for the vaguest of association or some other nebulous pre-criminal activity is a violation of the human right to be free from unwarranted interference, to be secure in our communications and private affairs - and it must be addressed," he stated.
"These processes are abusive," he charged. "This is clearly a disproportionate use of an extraordinarily intrusive authority."
_____________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.