Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!LLL-CRG.LLNL.GOV!bowles
From: bowles@LLL-CRG.LLNL.GOV (Jeff Bowles)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re:  long-distance monitoring
Message-ID: <8804141418.AA02735@lll-crg.llnl.gov>
Date: 14 Apr 88 14:18:37 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 34


	From: Natalie Prowse 
	Subject: long-distance monitoring
	
	It has recently come to my attention (from a very reliable
	source), that long-distance phone calls from Canada to the U.S.
	are monitored.  According to my source, a U.S. agency runs
	several Crays which do speech recognition and analysis,
	monitoring calls between Canada and the U.S. (and other
	countries too, I would suppose).  This  system searches for
	specific keywords and records conversations which contain
	information which would be of interest to this (and other?)
	government agencies.  Having not been on the net that long, I
	am curious as to whether or not this has been discussed
	before.  Is it true, partially true, or a complete falsehood
	(an "urban myth")??  It certainly is possible, which disturbs
	me greatly.

I believe that calls to all eastern block (bloc) countries are monitored
or at least examined, after the fact, with the idea that specific keywords
or projects need to be "noticed". For example, if there's a code word for
"particular type of nuclear sub" and it keeps being mentioned in a call to
Moscow, well, that's interesting to the NSA.

In the U.S. calls to local police/fire stations are often monitored or
recorded, but if they're operating strictly within the law, there's the
periodic "beep".

Calls to Canada monitored? Hmm. I wouldn't be suprised. You'd be a fool to
believe that "our government would NEVER do something like that."

	Jeff Bowles

ps. Did you get that, guys? Could you at least contact me to tell me where
you stored this conversation - I'd like a copy.