News Jun 17, 2014 at 6:00 am

The Stranger Asks Glenn Greenwald About Microsoft, Snowden, and What to Fear Now

Eli Sanders
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Comments

1
Ask Glenn Greenwald's views on Gun Control and Immigration Reform.
ferret on June 17, 2014 at 7:03 AM Report this
2
This is excellent work. Thank you, Eli.
yelahneb on June 17, 2014 at 7:04 AM Report this
3
@1, how are those germane to privacy? Do we have to agree with all of someone's views in order to agree that we shouldn't be living in a police surveillance state? If there's one thing we can all agree on, this is it. It's contrary to our country's basic principles and Bill of Rights.
Original Andrew on June 17, 2014 at 7:35 AM Report this
4

I have some issues with this thinking.

Elliot Rodgers. If all this snooping and analyzing were going on...wouldn't he have been caught way in advance? Or the Tsarnaev brothers? Seems like there are plenty of big things that go on where we are either clueless...or are we choosing a path of inaction?

Second, I don't think it's enough to refer to the progenitors of these efforts as Them. Who is them...specifically...names, addresses, bank account...and why are they doing this and what is the goal?

Cui bono?
Supreme Ruler Of The Universe on June 17, 2014 at 8:08 AM Report this
5
@3 Being shot dead for trivial reason by someone getting easy access to firearms does wonders to a person's privacy..
ferret on June 17, 2014 at 8:47 AM Report this
6
Two things. First, can we all agree that character assassination does nothing to address the issues raised by Snowden and Greenwald. Second, the NSA's policy of "collect it all", given the laws of physics, means they can't listen to or read it all. The danger lies in government be able to store all this information and then search it all for whatever purposes it desires. If you believe the history of government actions shows it to be a noble force for good then I can see why you're not worried but I guess if that is your belief I have to say you haven't been paying attention. "Them" is any group that acquires power and uses it in a non-transparent way. Power corrupts and without the public able to monitor its use it corrupts absolutely.

on June 17, 2014 at 9:03 AM Report this
7
Ferret, is it your goal to discredit Greenwald's reporting on privacy and civil liberties by bringing up unrelated issues?
thebagman on June 17, 2014 at 9:24 AM Report this
8
The New Yorker isn't "propagandistic." Despite having a few shitty writers and shills on their payroll (paging Malcolm Gladwell), the New Yorker still provides the best long-form journalism in the States.
Jizzlobber on June 17, 2014 at 9:52 AM Report this
9
It's not necessarily relevant to harp on what he says about the New Yorker, but what he has said about other journalists and how he's treated those who have disagreed with him on a few key issues is why a lot of people don't like him or reject him out of hand, even when his work is self-evidently important. He needs to concentrate more on reporting and less on self-aggrandizement and going on the attack because the work he's doing is very important.
Jizzlobber on June 17, 2014 at 9:54 AM Report this
10
@7 I am not discrediting Glenn Greenwald's reporting if it is called reporting on Edward Snowden, or the out of control data mining by the NSA.

I just point out that Glenn Greenwald isn't this progressive hero that he paints himself as, given he has some pretty far out views that are quite different than many progressives, and fall into the libertarian category..
ferret on June 17, 2014 at 10:33 AM Report this
11
@9 I would say that his tendency for hysterical hyperbole might be another reason why a lot of people don't like him.

There's this: '...they have nothing but contempt and indifference toward the privacy of their users. And that includes, I would say, first and foremost, Microsoft.'

I have been at Microsoft in a division where they were absolutely manic about issues related to user privacy/security, so much so that it greatly inhibited the ability to accomplish anything. Plenty of evidence that they had plenty of awe and fear of the government however. One would hope that the Snowden revelations and the resulting uproar would embolden technology companies to challenge government authority. That might be hoping too much however.
Rhizome on June 17, 2014 at 10:37 AM Report this
12
Great stuff, Eli. Thanks.
sikandro on June 17, 2014 at 10:43 AM Report this
14
Cripes if they are letting Sarge in the door there are definitely some holes in the security.
Rhizome on June 17, 2014 at 10:53 AM Report this
15
As of 2001, Microsoft, was surreptitiously capable of storing all web searches and history, cookies, emails among other data that could literally not be viewed within Windows itself. I can only imagine how they've improved on their abilities post 9/11.

http://membrane.com/security/secure/Micr…

Skype used to be point to point, ie, would connected directly to whomever you wanted to talk with. For some reason, one of Microsoft first updates after purchase was to introduce their own servers as a middleman during every conversation there after. This might be what Greenald is referring to.
Large Hardon Colluder on June 17, 2014 at 11:07 AM Report this
16
I have a terrible feeling that a suspiciously anonymous tip will lead to the discovery of kiddie porn on Greenwald's computer.

Usually the government is faster to discredit their enemies than this.
CPN on June 17, 2014 at 11:40 AM Report this
17
Ferret, I don't see any evidence that Greenwald cares about being a "progressive hero." I think that he cares about issues and says what he sincerely believes. If he wanted to be a progressive hero, he'd simply change his positions to fit liberal orthodoxy to shut down those who would attempt to derail the conversation by doing what you did in the first comment here.
thebagman on June 17, 2014 at 12:01 PM Report this
18
#16: So essentially you've already devised a conspiracy theory just in case anything bad comes out? (not that I think that will happen necessarily)
Jizzlobber on June 17, 2014 at 12:09 PM Report this
19
@10, why do you believe that the way you perceive Greenwald "painting himself as a progressive hero" (and please link to where he does this) is more important than the vast invasions of privacy he's helped to reveal?
LJM on June 17, 2014 at 3:38 PM Report this
20
@10, Also, if you believe that the government doesn't own your body, or that the criminal justice system is broken and that minorities suffer under it disproportionately, or that we shouldn't be bombing innocent men, women, and children, or that immigrants should have easier ways to come to America, then your beliefs, also, "fall into the libertarian category."

Terrifying, I know.
LJM on June 17, 2014 at 3:44 PM Report this
21
20: He's talking about anarcho-capitalists, not civil libertarians, obviously. These things need to be kept in distinct categories.
Jizzlobber on June 17, 2014 at 4:53 PM Report this
22
Yes, trust the paranoid libertarian! What could go wrong?

@16 An American white libertarian living in the third world? I'm sure he's got nothing to hide...
sirkowski on June 17, 2014 at 9:21 PM Report this

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