Is the NSA Using Cookies to Monitor Your Online Activities?

  • Thread starter Ivan Seeking
  • Start date
In summary: Maybe.In summary, the NSA has been using banned "cookies" to track people's web surfing activity despite strict federal rules banning most of them. Sony recently accidentally added software to some of their CDs that is illegal in some states and wound up crashing people's computers. Constitutional scholars and supreme court judges? Who cares?
  • #1
Ivan Seeking
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...if you have read the UFO Napster and the associated links.

NSA inadvertently uses banned 'cookies'

Thursday, December 29, 2005 Posted: 2349 GMT (0749 HKT)

NEW YORK (AP) -- The National Security Agency's Internet site has been placing files on visitors' computers that can track their Web surfing activity despite strict federal rules banning most of them.[continued]
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/12/29/spy.agency.privacy.ap/

I should add that we also have links to the CIA, DoD, USAF, US Army, and a few others, so who knows who might still be watching. If this bothers you, it might be best not to look.
 
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  • #2
eh gads! I looked! I couldn't help myself:cry:
 
  • #3
Don't feel bad, as of a few years ago, I had dpwnloaded and read every UFO file at every agency. I've also dug around all of their web sites as much as possible, but I had assumed that someone would pay attention to these things, esp since 911.

Oh yes, and we can't forget the FBI. We also have a link to the real X files.
 
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  • #4
LOL! Yeah, when I saw that in the news, I was surprised it was news. I guess I also assumed that if you were nosing around NSA websites, they'd be nosing back. It seems the problem comes in that the cookie keeps nosing even after you leave their site.
 
  • #5
I really liked the part about "inadvertently uses banned 'cookies'". Now that's funny!

I'm sure it was an accident...whoops...:biggrin:
 
  • #6
It appears its only been doing it recently since their last system software upgrade. How dangerous can a cookie be anyway?
 
  • #7
Well, they can track your internet activity which is a violation of privacy, but the funny, or maybe I should say that the scary thing is that advertising companies can do this legally.
 
  • #8
Dosn't the NSA have anything better to do then watch us on the "internets".I wonder if there any anti-spyware software that can remove the NSA spyware from our computers.
 
  • #9
It's not like cookies are programs, by themselves they can't do anything, they need a script to write/read cookie. So in order to effectively have a tracking cookie you need to have scripts available in plenty of sites that manage that cookie. This can easily be done with ads since they're available everywhere. So it's not really "spyware" exactly. The best way to avoid it is to periodically clean your cookies, block cookies from certain sites, or not go to those sites at all.
 
  • #11
Ivan Seeking said:
I really liked the part about "inadvertently uses banned 'cookies'". Now that's funny!
I'm sure it was an accident...whoops...:biggrin:
It actually seems worse to me if it was an accident...for an agency that's supposed to employ the experts in things like security, to have installed something on their servers that had features they didn't know about is a bit worrisome, to say the least. :rolleyes:
 
  • #12
Moonbear said:
It actually seems worse to me if it was an accident...for an agency that's supposed to employ the experts in things like security, to have installed something on their servers that had features they didn't know about is a bit worrisome, to say the least. :rolleyes:

In one sense...in most cases it might be easy to see how something like this might happen, but considering that it's the NSA, I really doubt that it was an accident.
 
  • #13
Greg Bernhardt said:
Can I be the first one to say "who cares"?


Why do I believe, Greg, that if it had been Microsoft doing this instead of NSA, you would care? Permanent cookies are snooping tools and snooping is what NSA is about.
 
  • #14
Greg Bernhardt said:
Can I be the first one to say "who cares"?

Constitutional scholars and supreme court judges?
 
  • #15
Greg Bernhardt said:
Can I be the first one to say "who cares"?
I'll be second.


If Microsoft did this, I wouldn't care that much either. If it went too far, then yes I would, but the NSA can do whatever it wants and I wouldnt't care. Hell, you could probably find out much more about a person's doings by looking at their Google search history which google stores.
 
  • #16
Moonbear said:
It actually seems worse to me if it was an accident...for an agency that's supposed to employ the experts in things like security, to have installed something on their servers that had features they didn't know about is a bit worrisome, to say the least. :rolleyes:
Sony recently accidentally added software to some of their CDs that is illegal in some states and wound up crashing people's computers.
I think it's very possible that someone didn't think much about legal ramifications of certain types of softwares especially when the programmer isn't the one whose job it is to check such things and the legal experts probably don't know that much about programming and software.

Accident that they put it there, I doubt it.
Accident that what it does turned out to be illegal, very possible.
 
  • #17
Mistakes like this have happened in other big beurocracies and businesses. Why not at the NSA also? It may have fallen into a grey area as far as who's job it is to cover this within the company, it got overtaken by other more important events that needed peoples attention and got put on the back burner, who knows. It's called slipping through the cracks.

Besides the NSA would die of boredom watching me :biggrin: or you could web surf some disgusting sites and have the NSA folks puking at their desks until they leave you alone :smile: :smile:
 
  • #18
Francis M said:
Mistakes like this have happened in other big beurocracies and businesses. Why not at the NSA also? It may have fallen into a grey area as far as who's job it is to cover this within the company, it got overtaken by other more important events that needed peoples attention and got put on the back burner, who knows. It's called slipping through the cracks.
Besides the NSA would die of boredom watching me :biggrin: or you could web surf some disgusting sites and have the NSA folks puking at their desks until they leave you alone :smile: :smile:


Or you could just go to like "Al Quada Fan Club" and see what happend
 
  • #19
Or you could just delete the cookies.
 
  • #20
selfAdjoint said:
Why do I believe, Greg, that if it had been Microsoft doing this instead of NSA, you would care? Permanent cookies are snooping tools and snooping is what NSA is about.
I don't like the idea of anyone snooping using cookies, regardless of whether they are the government or some company hoping to turn a profit. But, that's why I delete cookies from time to time.
 
  • #21
Even after deleting all cookies, my anti-spyware has found a few before.
 
  • #22
Ivan Seeking said:
Even after deleting all cookies, my anti-spyware has found a few before.
When I still used a PC, I used to find cookies stored in two different folders on my computer. Only one of those folders was emptied when I used the "clear cookies" option. I had to manually delete the others. Of course, you also instantly re-acquire cookies for whatever site you're viewing at the time you clear them.
 
  • #23
In the temp files, right?
 
  • #24
Interestingly, the NSA site seems to be having problems. Can anyone else completely open this?
http://www.nsa.gov/ufo/ufo00020.pdf

Or, can you open documents on this page?
http://www.nsa.gov/ufo/
 
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  • #25
Has anyone else tried...or is ya'll chicken?

:biggrin:
 
  • #26
first one yes
second one no
 
  • #27
Cosmo16 said:
first one yes

Did it load completely? Mine starts to load to where I can see the first page, but it only loads about ten percent and then stops. I have installed some new software [updated anti-spyware] so I'm suspicious that the problem is mine.
 
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FAQ: Is the NSA Using Cookies to Monitor Your Online Activities?

What is the NSA?

The NSA stands for the National Security Agency, which is a United States government agency responsible for collecting and analyzing intelligence and data for national security purposes.

Why has the NSA been watching me?

The NSA has been conducting surveillance on individuals and organizations in order to gather intelligence and monitor potential threats to national security. This can include monitoring electronic communications and activities.

How does the NSA collect data?

The NSA uses a variety of methods to collect data, including intercepting and monitoring electronic communications such as phone calls, emails, and internet activity. They also have partnerships with telecommunications companies and access to data from social media platforms.

Is the NSA watching everyone?

The NSA's surveillance activities are primarily focused on gathering intelligence and monitoring potential threats to national security. However, their methods can result in the collection of data from a large number of individuals and organizations, including those who are not suspected of any wrongdoing.

Is the NSA's surveillance legal?

The legality of the NSA's surveillance activities has been a topic of much debate and controversy. Some argue that it violates privacy rights and is unconstitutional, while others argue that it is necessary for national security purposes. The legality of specific surveillance programs and methods is often determined by the courts and is subject to ongoing debate and scrutiny.

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