NSA whistleblower: Illegal data collection a ‘violation of everybody’s Constitutional rights’

[IDemo]

Bill Binney believes he helped create a monster.

Sitting in the innocuous surroundings of an Olive Garden in the Baltimore suburbs, the former senior National Security Agency (NSA) official even believes he owes the whole American people an apology.

Binney, a tall, professorial man in his late 60s, led the development of a secret software code he now believes is illegally collecting huge amounts of information on his fellow citizens. For the staunch Republican, who worked for 32 years at the NSA, it is a civil liberties nightmare come true.

So Binney has started speaking out as an NSA whistleblower – an act that has earned him an armed FBI raid on his home. “What’s happening is a violation of the constitutional rights of everybody in the country. That’s pretty straightforward. I could not be associated with it,” he told the Guardian.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/09/15/nsa-whistleblower-illegal-data-collection-a-violation-of-everybodys-constitutional-rights/

[burrowowl]

1. A brave and good man

[Comrade_McKenzie]

2. I hope the administration doesn't turn him into another Manning...

I have the utmost respect for brave people like Mr. Binney.

[MotherPetrie]

4. So do I and this is one issue the Obama admin. earns a big FAIL on

[struggle4progress]

7. Binney quit in 2001. He's not competent to tell us what Obama's doing

[struggle4progress]

6. Binney quit in 2001. He's not competent to tell us what Obama's doing

[Baitball Blogger]

3. NSS.

I'm still waiting for the class action suit to begin.

[struggle4progress]

5. ... Binney ... resigned from the agency in late 2001 ...

Former NSA Official Disputes Claims by NSA Chief
By Kim Zetter
07.29.12 2:25 PM
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/07/binney-on-alexander-and-nsa/

... I resigned from the NSA in late 2001. I could not stay after the NSA began purposefully violating the Constitution ...
Sworn Declaration of Whistleblower William Binney on NSA Domestic Surveillance Capabilities
http://publicintelligence.net/binney-nsa-declaration/


I'm happy to listen to what he has to say about stuff that happened before he quit, but he quit NSA over a decade ago in 2001, when Bush I had been in office less than a year, and I'm not going to give much credence to his accusations about Obama, since he doesn't have enough access to really know what's going on today

[rhett o rick]

8. I cant wait for the Neighborhood Watch to make their presence know here. They dont like

whistle-blowers. They dont like Assange and Wiki-Leaks. At least not under a Democratic administration. This is a violation of our Constitutional rights and I expect our Democratic government to stop this immediately.

[MadHound]

9. Yep, the disappearance of our civil liberties continues apace,

Hasn't missed a beat with the changing of the president in the Oval Office.

Nice to hear experts like Binney speaking out. I hope he remains safe, people like him tend to die at high rates.

[girl gone mad]

10. k & r