The number of people under NSA surveillance increased since 2015
NSA Targeted 106,000 Foreigners
The number of foreigners targeted under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act rose from 94,000 in fiscal year 2015, according to U.S. intelligence officials, who asked not to be identified discussing the information. The program lets agencies collect the content of emails and other communications from suspected foreign criminals operating outside the U.S., but it has become a flash point with some lawmakers for potential infringement of Americans’ constitutional rights.
Of course this quote is dramatically unspecific. In the quote they do not mention exactly what a "suspected criminal" is. Is there due process or is it merely a matter of there being a suspicion? A suspicion is an incredibly low bar and a "foreign criminal" means what? Could someone launching an ICO be deemed a "foreign criminal" for violating US laws? I'm not exactly sure and would like a lawyer to comment on this topic. Does the SEC have international jurisdiction or not and which criminals should we assume the NSA is referring to here?
The NSA does have legal mandate to spy on foreigners but I highly doubt it matters if those foreigners are "criminal" because the NSA isn't a law enforcement agency. In any case I find the wording to be interesting so I make note.
Under current law, the NSA can incidentally intercept the communications of a U.S. person and store that information in a database without a specific warrant, as long as the target of the surveillance is a foreigner suspected of terrorism or other crimes operating in another country.
The justification for the surveillance was the war on terrorism. Now suddenly there is "other crimes" added in with no clarity as to what these other crimes actually are. This is a red flag and the journalists and or congress need to be very clear what these "other crimes" are. If for example the foreign intelligence of another country such as Russia were to spy on US citizens under the vague justification of "criminal suspicion" or "other crimes" how would we feel about that?
Wyden and lawmakers including Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky have indicated they’ll seek changes to the program, such as ensuring that analysts can’t abuse the program by using it to reverse-target Americans without warrants.
Does this mean the NSA will be able to target American citizens if there is a warrant? Importantly, for all crypto zealots who refuse to pay their taxes, could it trigger NSA surveillance?
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Thanks Dana, great read. One way the U.S. government may plan to target and surveillance its own U.S citizens involved in cryptocurrencies is through mandated filings. Whether the IRS and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (finCEN) require U.S. citizens to disclose their cryptocurrency holdings as off-shore money/assets is to be seen. It's unclear where the crypto holdings would be considered "off shore assets" since it is simply code existing on the internet. Many of these initiatives (Form 114 Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts and Form 8938 Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets) were created to curtail money laundering and tax avoidance. The IRS in a webcast excluded cryptocurrency from Form 114 in 2014 (I believe just for that year), which seems kind of unofficial to me, put it in writing! There is little guidance that I am aware of since. And this is just talking about the users of cryptocurrency, the impact to crypto exchanges is a whole essay.
Off shore assets are completely legal. How does that justify surveillance? Tax evasion would justify surveillance obviously or people who go online claiming they'll never pay taxes.
As far as reporting requirements go, don't you think it's evil for the IRS to spend so much resources enforcing laws without even letting us know which laws apply to us? They have resources to do chain analysis but can't give us guidance? It seems as if there is nothing any of us can do to reduce our risk of being criminalized.
Many years ago, the prevalence of off-shore bank accounts prompted a crusade for surveillance related to US citizen's holdings in off-shore assets (The Bank Secrecy Act and FATCA Act). The items I discuss above are largely related to crime deterrence. I am not saying that makes it right for the government to have surveillance for any reason they see fit (although I am ok with with it for counter-terrorism purposes). In fact, even the mandated foreign information reporting requirements on everyday people (and even corporations) is very burdensome in its current state. There are so many forms that if not filed correctly carry a potential $10,000 USD penalty. In my opinion, the IRS/government should set dollar thresholds to weed out ordinary folks from the burdensome requirements. The Form 114 requirement for example starts at $10,000, is that really necessary, why not make it $1 million? We do deserve clear guidance as US citizens, absolutely agree. I view these forms as burdensome for any person to do by themselves without an advisor. Especially since, it is the criminals the IRS is targeting that are the least likely to fill out the forms in the first place - irony at its best.
On the other hand what about this? https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@jacor/new-bill-proposed-to-declare-bitcoin-at-us-borders
How would we declare it? Is this what you are referring to? So if we get off the airplane we have to do what? I'm guessing every time I leave the counter and enter again I have to fill out the form so the government can feel better about me? Can it be filled out over the Internet or do people have to remember to fill out that form every single time?
Hypothetical, if someone posts on Steemit from a foreign country then returns home to the US then their assets changed so now they have to report the slight changes? Or only $10,000 change has to be reported? I guess if people forget to report then the NSA gets activated or is the NSA automatically activated the moment they leave the country anyway? My guess is once an American citizen is outside the United States the NSA legally can put them under surveillance.
Thank you for linking, correct I am referring to filling out a form and filing it with the IRS/Financial Crimes network under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which is discussed in the linked article. However, the annual filing requirement under FATCA I believe is a separate rule from declaring an asset when crossing the border (the main discussion in the article). Again, so many burdensome and overlapping rules and so little guidance to legally comply :( .
nice post.
great post upvoted and followed and resteemed :)
Great informative article, i don't know where I stand on this though; I feel it's necessary in some aspects but very invasive to random people in others.
Espionage is a part of warfare no doubt. At the same time the foreigners being put under surveillance could be completely innocent people. So instead, there is this "criminal suspicion" justification added in but they won't be specific about which crimes? So anyone could be put under surveillance if someone at the NSA suspects criminal activity? Doesn't even make much sense since US has limited jurisdiction?
Thanks for turning this into a blog post. I remember this course really helped me out when you realised it a while back!!
every day nice post
The whole issue of the Government spying on its people is not just going to go away. Legally or illegaly, the Government will keep doing it. After all National Security is enough guise to do anything...