Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Secrecy of a program undermined it's effectiveness. It seems clear from this document that they completely failed to learn what the 9/11 commission blamed the attacks on: not that we didn't have the intelligence, that the intelligence was managed and communicated poorly.

I can't imagine as an FBI agent to investigate random phone numbers and told they were relevant without any context, especially when most of them are nothing. And if nobody can use this intelligence, why collect it? It sounds like big data buzzwords gone mad.

Even worse is the secret legal memos. If judges aren't allowed access to the legal documents about the program, how can they be expected to protect our democratic institutions and freedoms? Even most of the Bush and Obama administration's counsel were kept in the dark about the legal memos.

A power grab? If so, a pretty ineffective one, it seems nobody has benefited from the stellar wind program or even has access to information from it.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: