William Plummer, a senior Huawei executive in the United States, said the company had no idea it was an N.S.A. target, adding that in his personal opinion, “The irony is that exactly what they are doing to us is what they have always charged that the Chinese are doing through us.”[1]
My initial instinct on encountering the story of the NSA breaching Huawei servers and networks is simply to blow it off. It’s not like the Chinese government has a better reputation than the U.S. government for protecting its citizens’ privacy. And though Huawei denies a connection to the Chinese government,[2] there are plenty of U.S. corporations who have an interest in at least attempting to protect their customers’ privacy, but—one way or another—are cooperating with the NSA and the FBI. While we don’t know how voluntary their cooperation is, their cooperation may be more voluntary and more knowing than they admit or may be permitted to admit.[3] It’s reasonable to expect at least as much of Chinese corporations.
This is “Spy vs. Spy,” which was entertaining as an old Mad magazine feature, but frankly seems less than newsworthy. All it tells us is that the hue and cry that “they’re spying on us,” no matter who is pointing the finger, is nothing more than hypocrisy.
But the story does highlight a point. The U.S. government perceives Huawei to be a threat to national security. That is why it spies on the corporation.[4] Friends aren’t security threats. Only rivals are.
We already know that the bulk of domestic spying has nothing to to do with terrorism. We know that the spying doesn’t even work against terrorism.[5] That means the U.S. government, or at least the national security establishment, sees itself in a rivalry with everyone it is spying on. In the breathtaking scope of its activities,[6] it sees itself in a contest that justifies even the sleaziest tactics[7] with just about everyone on the planet. That seems a little ridiculous. It seems like overkill. It seems like paranoia. But as Washington’s Blog says in the title of a post, “Surveillence of Citizens Is ALWAYS Aimed at Crushing Dissent.”[8] And spying on pornography habits was intended to discredit radicals.[9]
The point of all this is hard to miss. We—all of us who aren’t spending millions of dollars to corrupt the political system—are the enemy. That’s why the national security establishment is shameless about what it does. And that’s why politicians care so little about us—except when they want our votes.
- [1]David E. Sanger and Nicole Perlroth, “N.S.A. Breached Chinese Servers Seen as Security Threat,” New York Times, March 22, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/world/asia/nsa-breached-chinese-servers-seen-as-spy-peril.html↩
- [2]David E. Sanger and Nicole Perlroth, “N.S.A. Breached Chinese Servers Seen as Security Threat,” New York Times, March 22, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/world/asia/nsa-breached-chinese-servers-seen-as-spy-peril.html↩
- [3]Spencer Ackerman, “US tech giants knew of NSA data collection, agency’s top lawyer insists,” Guardian, March 19, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/19/us-tech-giants-knew-nsa-data-collection-rajesh-de; James Ball and Spencer Ackerman, “NSA loophole allows warrantless search for US citizens’ emails and phone calls,” Guardian, August 9, 2013, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/09/nsa-loophole-warrantless-searches-email-calls; Stephen Braun et al., “Secret to Prism program: Even bigger data seizure,” Associated Press, June 15, 2013, http://bigstory.ap.org/article/secret-prism-success-even-bigger-data-seizure; Ryan Gallagher, “New Snowden Documents Show NSA Deemed Google Networks a ‘Target’,” Slate, September 9, 2013, http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/09/09/shifting_shadow_stormbrew_flying_pig_new_snowden_documents_show_nsa_deemed.html; Barton Gellman and Laura Poitras, “U.S., British intelligence mining data from nine U.S. Internet companies in broad secret program,” Washington Post, June 6, 2013, http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-intelligence-mining-data-from-nine-us-internet-companies-in-broad-secret-program/2013/06/06/3a0c0da8-cebf-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html; Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani, “NSA collects millions of e-mail address books globally,” Washington Post, October 15, 2013, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-collects-millions-of-e-mail-address-books-globally/2013/10/14/8e58b5be-34f9-11e3-80c6-7e6dd8d22d8f_story.html; Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani, “NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide, Snowden documents say,” Washington Post, October 30, 2013, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.html; Barton Gellman, Ashkan Soltani, and Andrea Peterson, “How we know the NSA had access to internal Google and Yahoo cloud data,” Washington Post, November 4, 2013, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/11/04/how-we-know-the-nsa-had-access-to-internal-google-and-yahoo-cloud-data/; Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill, “NSA Prism program taps in to user data of Apple, Google and others,” Guardian, June 6, 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data; Glenn Greenwald et al., “Revealed: how Microsoft handed the NSA access to encrypted messages,” Guardian, July 11, 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-collaboration-user-data; Sam Gustin, “Watchdogs: NSA Tech Data Deal Doesn’t Go Far Enough,” Time, January 28, 2014, http://business.time.com/2014/01/28/nsa-tech-transparency-deal/; Josh Harkinson, “Report: NSA Mimics Google to Monitor “Target” Web Users,” Mother Jones, September 12, 2013, http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/09/flying-pig-nsa-impersonates-google; kiketoa [pseud.], “#PRISM : let’s have a look at the big picture,” Reflets, June 24, 2013, http://reflets.info/prism-lets-have-a-look-at-the-big-picture/; Dana Liebelson, “Google, Yahoo, Facebook, and Twitter Have a New Lobbying Target—the NSA,” Mother Jones, November 15, 2013, http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/11/nsa-bills-google-facebook-yahoo-twitter-lobbying; Declan McCullagh, “FBI pressures Internet providers to install surveillance software,” CNet, August 2, 2013, http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57596791-38/fbi-pressures-internet-providers-to-install-surveillance-software/; Claire Cain Miller, “Secret Court Ruling Put Tech Companies in Data Bind,” New York Times, June 13, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/14/technology/secret-court-ruling-put-tech-companies-in-data-bind.html; Lisa O’Carroll, “Yahoo, Google, Facebook and more face fight to salvage reputations over NSA leaks,” Guardian, June 10, 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jun/10/apple-google-giants-nsa-revelations; Nicole Perlroth, “After N.S.A. Disclosures, Yahoo Moves to Encrypt Internal Traffic,” New York Times, November 18, 2013, http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/18/after-n-s-a-disclosures-yahoo-moves-to-encrypt-internal-traffic/; Nicole Perlroth and John Markoff, “N.S.A. May Have Penetrated Internet Cable Links,” New York Times, November 25, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/technology/a-peephole-for-the-nsa.html; Dominic Rushe, Spencer Ackerman and James Ball, “Yahoo and Google furious over reports NSA secretly intercepts data links,” Guardian, October 30, 2013, http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/30/google-reports-nsa-secretly-intercepts-data-links; Bruce Schneier, “New NSA Leak Shows MITM Attacks Against Major Internet Services,” Schneier on Security, September 13, 2013, https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/09/new_nsa_leak_sh.html; Bruce Schneier, “Schneier on Security: NSA Eavesdropping on Google and Yahoo Networks,” Schneier on Security, October 31, 2013, https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/10/nsa_eavesdroppi_2.html; Chris Strohm, “Silicon Valley nerds seek revenge on NSA spies with coding,” Sydney Morning Herald, November 18, 2013, http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/security-it/silicon-valley-nerds-seek-revenge-on-nsa-spies-with-coding-20131117-hv3i7.html.html; Ashkan Soltani, Andrea Peterson, and Barton Gellman, “NSA uses Google cookies to pinpoint targets for hacking,” Washington Post, December 10, 2013, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/12/10/nsa-uses-google-cookies-to-pinpoint-targets-for-hacking/; Mark Sweney, “NSA Prism programme a game changer on web privacy, says Sir Martin Sorrell,” Guardian, June 19, 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/jun/19/nsa-prism-privacy-martin-sorrell; Mario Trujillo, “Report: NSA gathers millions of email address books,” Hill, October 14, 2013, http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/328481-report-nsa-gathers-millions-of-email-address-books; Washington Post, “NSA slides explain the PRISM data-collection program,” June 29, 2013, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/prism-collection-documents/↩
- [4]David E. Sanger and Nicole Perlroth, “N.S.A. Breached Chinese Servers Seen as Security Threat,” New York Times, March 22, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/world/asia/nsa-breached-chinese-servers-seen-as-spy-peril.html↩
- [5]Peter Bergen, et al., “Do NSA’s Bulk Surveillance Programs Stop Terrorists?” New America Foundation, January 13, 2014, http://www.newamerica.net/publications/policy/do_nsas_bulk_surveillance_programs_stop_terrorists; Kevin Collier, “Study finds the NSA isn’t using your phone records to catch terrorists,” Daily Dot, January 13, 2014, http://www.dailydot.com/politics/nsa-metadata-terror-new-america-foundation/; Anita Kumar, “NSA phone collection does not prevent terrorism, according to report,” McClatchy, January 13, 2014, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/01/13/214297/nsa-phone-collection-does-not.html; Mike Masnick, “NSA Goes From Saying Bulk Metadata Collection ‘Saves Lives’ To ‘Prevented 54 Attacks’ To ‘Well, It’s A Nice Insurance Policy’,” TechDirt, January 13, 2014, http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140111/22360125843/nsa-goes-saying-bulk-metadata-collection-saves-lives-to-prevented-54-attacks-to-well-its-nice-insurance-policy.shtml; Leonard Pitts, Jr., “If collecting megadata doesn’t work, why do we do it?” Miami Herald, January 21, 2014, http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/01/21/3884563/if-collecting-megadata-doesnt.html↩
- [6]Democracy Now!, “NSA Whistleblowers: “All U.S. Citizens” Targeted by Surveillance Program, Not Just Verizon Customers,” June 6, 2013, http://www.democracynow.org/2013/6/6/nsa_whistleblowers_all_us_citizens_targeted; Scott Shane, “No Morsel Too Minuscule for All-Consuming N.S.A.,” New York Times, November 2, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/03/world/no-morsel-too-minuscule-for-all-consuming-nsa.html; WashingtonsBlog, “Americans Are The Most Spied On People In World History,” December 5, 2012, http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/12/americans-the-most-spied-on-people-in-world-history.html; ↩
- [7]Spencer Ackerman and James Ball, “Optic Nerve: millions of Yahoo webcam images intercepted by GCHQ,” Guardian, February 27, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/27/gchq-nsa-webcam-images-internet-yahoo; Democracy Now! “Peeping Webcam? With NSA Help, British Spy Agency Intercepted Millions of Yahoo Chat Images,” February 28, 2014, http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/28/peeping_webcam_with_nsa_help_british; Glenn Greenwald, Ryan Gallagher, and Ryan Grim, “Top-Secret Document Reveals NSA Spied On Porn Habits As Part Of Plan To Discredit ‘Radicalizers’,” Huffington Post, November 26, 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/26/nsa-porn-muslims_n_4346128.html; Jonathan Turley, “Obama Administration Gathering Records on Porn Site Usage To Use Against People Viewed As Radical,” November 27, 2013, http://jonathanturley.org/2013/11/27/obama-administration-and-nsa-gathering-records-on-porn-site-usage-to-use-against-people-viewed-as-radical/↩
- [8]Washingtons Blog [pseud.], “Surveillence of Citizens Is ALWAYS Aimed at Crushing Dissent,” Big Picture, January 13, 2014, http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2014/01/surveillence-of-citizens-is-always-aimed-at-crushing-dissent/↩
- [9]Glenn Greenwald, Ryan Gallagher, and Ryan Grim, “Top-Secret Document Reveals NSA Spied On Porn Habits As Part Of Plan To Discredit ‘Radicalizers’,” Huffington Post, November 26, 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/26/nsa-porn-muslims_n_4346128.html; Jonathan Turley, “Obama Administration Gathering Records on Porn Site Usage To Use Against People Viewed As Radical,” November 27, 2013, http://jonathanturley.org/2013/11/27/obama-administration-and-nsa-gathering-records-on-porn-site-usage-to-use-against-people-viewed-as-radical/↩