US authorized NSA to carry out surveillance on BJP in 2010

Voldemort

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WASHINGTON: America's top spy agency was authorized by a US court in 2010 to carry out surveillance on the BJP along with five other political organizations across the globe, including Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and Pakistan Peoples Party, according to a classified document.

The document lists the 193 foreign governments as well as foreign factions and other entities that were part of a 2010 certification approved by the foreign intelligence surveillance court. The list includes India.
"These are the entities about which the NSA may conduct surveillance, for the purpose of gathering foreign intelligence," the paper said, citing documents provided to it by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

It said each year a new certification must be approved by the court to permit such surveillance under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act.

"Virtually no foreign government is off-limits for the National Security Agency, which has been authorized to intercept information 'concerning' all but four countries, according to top-secret documents," The Post reported.



The four countries are Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The certification of surveillance also includes other international organisations like World Bank, IMF, the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
"The NSA is not necessarily targeting all the countries or organizations identified in the certification, the affidavits and an accompanying exhibit; it has only been given authority to do so," The Post said.

Without specifically responding to questions related to surveillance on India and the BJP in particular, NSA spokesperson Vanee' Vines told PTI that the agency collects foreign intelligence based on specific intelligence requirements set by the President, the director of national intelligence, and departments and agencies through the National Intelligence Priorities Framework.



Snowden leaked thousands of classified documents to media uncovering the existence of numerous global surveillance programmes, many of them run by the NSA, triggering an outrage worldwide.

US authorized NSA to carry out surveillance on BJP in 2010 - The Times of India
 

W.G.Ewald

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Two separate threads need merging?
 

tarunraju

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Here's what I pulled out of my magic ass.
  • US spies on BJP way back in 2010 (probably just telephone/email snooping)
  • Flash-forward to 2014, and Modi plans to open up the defense production industry for FDI
  • US companies get a huge Bohner
  • Israelis leak this information to Snowden, who then leaks it to the general public
  • Indian media begins to question FDI and Modi's engagement with the US
 

W.G.Ewald

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Here's what I pulled out of my magic ass.
  • US spies on BJP way back in 2010 (probably just telephone/email snooping)
  • Flash-forward to 2014, and Modi plans to open up the defense production industry for FDI
  • US companies get a huge Bohner
  • Israelis leak this information to Snowden, who then leaks it to the general public
  • Indian media begins to question FDI and Modi's engagement with the US
Now that's funny. I say that because I can't "Like" it.
 

VivekShah

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If US only spied only on its enemies, the intelligence community wouldn't be doing its job.
I don't understand, how is BJp a threat? BJP and US share many common interests such as fight against Islamic terror and such. I used to be very pro US and now am skeptical about US-India relations. Also one wonders who are vested interests that leaked this story just now, seems fishy.
 

Voldemort

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m.timesofindia.com/india/India-to-lodge-protest-with-US-over-NSA-snooping-on-BJP/articleshow/37597124.cms
 

cobra commando

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NEW DELHI: Reacting strongly to reports of BJP being spied upon by US National Security Agency (NSA), India today summoned a top US diplomat here to raise the issue, saying it was "totally unacceptable" that an Indian organisation or Indian individual's privacy was transgressed upon. India also sought an assurance from the US that it will not happen again. However, officials did not say who was the US diplomat summoned by the External Affairs Ministry. Significantly, the US currently has an interim ambassador Kathleen Stephens who came in after former US Ambassador Nancy Powell resigned from her post. India also noted that it had raised the issue with the US administration in Washington and the Embassy here in July and November last year when reports emerged that NSA had spied upon individuals and entities and said it was still "awaiting a response from American on this". India had reacted sharply when the reports of snooping by NSA came to light after revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden last year. BJP figures in the list of foreign political parties along with Lebanon's Amal, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and the Pakistan Peoples Party on whom the National Security Agency (NSA) was given permission to carry out surveillance, says the document made public on Monday by 'The Washington Post'. The document lists the 193 foreign governments as well as foreign factions and other entities that were part of a 2010 certification approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The list includes India. "These are the entities about which the NSA may conduct surveillance for the purpose of gathering foreign intelligence," the paper had said, citing documents provided to it by Snowden.

Snooping Row: India Summons top US Diplomat - The New Indian Express
 

Neo

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I don't understand, how is BJp a threat? BJP and US share many common interests such as fight against Islamic terror and such. I used to be very pro US and now am skeptical about US-India relations. Also one wonders who are vested interests that leaked this story just now, seems fishy.
US spied on its 51st state, the UK and even on Merkel's Germany. Are they a threat to them?

USA is a selfish nation who doesn't even spare her closest allies. India is nowhere close to be considered an ally. They will keep spying on you.
 
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Voldemort

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US spied on iys 51st state, the UK and even on Germany. Are they a threat to them?

USA is a selfish nation whi dorsn't even spare her closest allies. India is nowhere close to be compared an ally. They will keep spying on you.
You are right on this one. We must not trust USA as a partner.
 

Spindrift

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It's every nation's prerogative to look out for it's own interest and US tasked it's intelligence agencies to gather information that send it up the ladder so that the policy makers could take proper decisions and the NSA did their job effectively and efficiently. Instead of blaming NSA and US we should ask the question why was it that our counter-intel agencies not able to prevent that.
 

t_co

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Instead of blaming NSA and US we should ask the question why was it that our counter-intel agencies not able to prevent that.
Because India, unlike China, welcomes Facebook, Google, and IBM with open arms. If India wants to help protect itself from the NSA, it must either ban Facebook, Google, et al or every Indian must make an effort not to use those sites.
 

Voldemort

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Because India, unlike China, welcomes Facebook, Google, and IBM with open arms. If India wants to help protect itself from the NSA, it must either ban Facebook, Google, et al or every Indian must make an effort not to use those sites.
How will NSA spy on a political party through Facebook and Google? It must have been done by paying someone off in the party in exchange for info. Not difficult to do.

In a democracy, such steps cannot be taken. And also should not be.

Only way to stop stop these things is to strengthen counter Intelligence capabilities.
 

ladder

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If US only spied only on its enemies, the intelligence community wouldn't be doing its job.
Still Foggy bottom armed with all the intelligence report fails miserably in predicting the outcome ( as seen from recent incidents) . Then we must have to conclude that we are looking at the working of bunch of idiots who are not able to process raw data to any meaningful conclusions.
 

t_co

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How will NSA spy on a political party through Facebook and Google?
Given how many members of said political party use FB/Google, it is not hard to set up a cross site exploit using a FB or Google page (or an exploit buried on the Google library server) to plant malware on devices of said party without their knowledge.

It must have been done by paying someone off in the party in exchange for info. Not difficult to do.
Not necessarily, although that certainly could have been part of the NSA's "multi-vector, Omni-dimensional approach".

In a democracy, such steps cannot be taken. And also should not be.
Really? Ask Germany, France, and Israel, all of whom have expressly barred certain govt employees from doing anything with a wide range of Google/FB related sites.

Only way to stop stop these things is to strengthen counter Intelligence capabilities.
The #1 step in counter-cyber-intelligence is forcing all cyber activities to transact on local servers and local pipes, and carefully screening any data that goes in or out of the country. The software/hardware architecture of FB/Google's cloud makes it expressly impossible to do that - it makes it so that a network engineer in California will, by definition, have more visibility into Indian internet traffic than any IB officer could have. The only way to defeat that is to force FB/Google to re-architect their cloud - which requires an Indian government with a spine - or ban them altogether.
 

W.G.Ewald

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Still Foggy bottom armed with all the intelligence report fails miserably in predicting the outcome ( as seen from recent incidents) . Then we must have to conclude that we are looking at the working of bunch of idiots who are not able to process raw data to any meaningful conclusions.
That would be one conclusion. The other would be that Obama ignores the intel that is provided to him, or refuses to be briefed. In fact, the latter is true. How bizarre to actually have a president who only know what he sees in the newspapers.
 

W.G.Ewald

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I don't understand, how is BJp a threat? BJP and US share many common interests such as fight against Islamic terror and such. I used to be very pro US and now am skeptical about US-India relations. Also one wonders who are vested interests that leaked this story just now, seems fishy.
Good questions. Under Obama national security and foreign policy are a shambles. Those seem to be the only conclusions.
 

pkroyal

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There are a lot of out of work Int agents in USA on active service who are basically DR ( Desk Riders)
Humanint is their weak spot, so what goes on Internet, Mobile telephony, Correspondence from Embassies, and gup shup with some politician in a country passes off as Int

It is Israel which is good at Humanint, so the roles can be reversed
US int agencies can pick up a lesson or two from Israel
 

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