Chasing Evil
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
Terrorism. Counter-terrorism. Surveillance. Business. Politics.
In the first six months of 2017, over 2500 people around the world were killed or injured in terrorist incidents for which the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility. Many of these attacks took place in countries with strident mass-surveillance laws designed to prevent just this sort of tragedy. Why was intelligence failing to prevent them? This gripping, compulsive documentary from the makers of A Good American finds a glimmer of hope after a thorough investigation into counter-terrorist activities.
Chasing Evil dissects the terror-attacks since Paris Bataclan in November 2015 and looks for common patterns. Why was intelligence failing? And why keep our governments pushing for more of the same? A road movie into surveillance reforms, power, money, and cover-ups. A search for a way out of this maze - with a glimpse of hope on the horizon.
Citation
Main credits
Moser, Friedrich (film director)
Moser, Friedrich (film producer)
Berger, Susanne (film producer)
Gummer, Louisa (narrator)
Other credits
Editing, Thomas Schneider, Boby Good; music, Thomas Kathriner.
Distributor subjects
No distributor subjects provided.Keywords
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There were 1500 people at the better
Klan. The concert hall was packed.
00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:29.850
I heard a very loud noise at
the back, like firecrackers.
00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:39.690
Alexis LaBrun is one of the
survivors of the bat batter,
00:00:39.690 --> 00:00:44.040
clan terror attack in Paris and
spokesperson of the Life for Paris Victims
00:00:44.040 --> 00:00:44.880
Association.
00:00:49.860 --> 00:00:54.690
So I turned and I saw sparks at
the back and I realized that this
00:00:54.690 --> 00:00:55.523
was gunfire.
00:01:00.420 --> 00:01:05.070
It was the longest hour and a half of
my life. Time was totally distorted.
00:01:21.150 --> 00:01:25.650
There were people dying
and there was crying,
00:01:26.100 --> 00:01:28.650
but as everybody has described,
00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:31.590
there also was some sort of silence.
00:01:33.870 --> 00:01:37.980
The waiting was almost unbearable
because I couldn't see what was going on.
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Someone was covering my view
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when we were finally evacuated.
It was sort of a miracle to me.
00:02:10.650 --> 00:02:14.850
London, Boston, Paris,
San Bernardino, Brussels,
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Orlando niece, WBO Anbar,
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San Re, Berlin, Westminster, Stockholm,
00:02:23.910 --> 00:02:27.180
and Manchester. 14 terrorist incidents.
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32 perpetrators over 400 dead more than
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2,400 injured bombs,
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firearms and ax trucks,
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and a car attackers between
the ages of 17 and 52.
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While the backgrounds of the
attackers are quite diverse,
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there seems to be a pattern
in each attack. At least.
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One of the terrorists was known
to the police in each attack.
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The perpetrators were part
of a network. In each attack,
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the terrorists were
communicating electronically
with each other or with their
00:03:02.710 --> 00:03:05.230
backers. In each attack,
00:03:05.290 --> 00:03:09.610
there was a digital footprint
clearly indicating radicalization.
00:03:10.300 --> 00:03:14.500
How can it be that despite
all these traces and evidence,
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the intelligence services had no
idea that these attacks were being
00:03:19.630 --> 00:03:20.463
plotted?
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What kind of information and what kind
of programs need intelligence services
00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:31.930
to protect us from bombings?
Like in Boston, like Paris,
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like in Brussels,
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mass surveillance is not appropriate.
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Yeah, this is an excellent
question because when we
look at the Boston Marathon
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bombings, for example,
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this was during the height of American
mass surveillance and they were
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collecting the phone calls of everyone.
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They were collecting the
internet activities of
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people indiscriminately just
in case they were useful,
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and it did not stop this attack,
and it did not stop this attack.
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Even though we had been specifically
warned by foreign intelligence
00:04:04.690 --> 00:04:08.560
services that these individuals
were associated with terrorism,
00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:12.670
much the same in Brussels.
So it begs the question,
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why did mass surveillance fail
to catch these individuals?
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It's not because they used encryption.
00:04:18.700 --> 00:04:21.130
It's not because they were
particularly skillful.
00:04:21.340 --> 00:04:23.620
It's not because they were just so clever.
00:04:24.670 --> 00:04:26.980
It's because when you collect everything,
00:04:27.160 --> 00:04:31.120
the communications of everyone in
a nation, you understand nothing.
00:04:31.660 --> 00:04:35.200
You get drowned in so much information
that you can't find what's actually
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relevant.
00:04:36.730 --> 00:04:39.790
Edwards Noden is not the
only one making this claim.
00:04:40.420 --> 00:04:42.880
Among the documents he
leaked to the press,
00:04:42.940 --> 00:04:47.800
there are several internal
memos by analysts at both
the N SS A and its British
00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:49.450
counterpart, G C H Q.
00:04:49.750 --> 00:04:54.580
These analysts complained about the flood
of collection with spot on headlines
00:04:54.970 --> 00:04:59.500
in praise of not knowing too many choices
00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:03.490
and cognitive overflow,
00:05:04.060 --> 00:05:08.860
a tsunami of intercept is declared
with analysts drowning and
00:05:08.860 --> 00:05:10.000
no end in sight.
00:05:16.060 --> 00:05:18.850
I don't fundamentally mind this
sort of mass surveillance approach.
00:05:18.970 --> 00:05:22.390
What I mind is, does it work? Is
it the best way of doing business?
00:05:22.570 --> 00:05:24.820
The problem that we face is
that with mass surveillance,
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we still go and get the intelligence we
want because there's still too much of
00:05:27.370 --> 00:05:31.690
it. So my complaint against
mass surveillance is not
one of civil liberties.
00:05:31.690 --> 00:05:34.900
It's one of efficacy. It just
doesn't work well enough.
00:05:48.400 --> 00:05:53.020
The perpetrator in the Bastille Day
attack in nice Mohamed Boal was a
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petty criminal known to the police
analysis of his mobile phone
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showed that he had contact
with radicals online.
00:06:01.160 --> 00:06:05.630
He declared his approval of the Charlie
UL massacre on the day of the attack.
00:06:06.020 --> 00:06:10.580
He drove his white truck up and
down the promenade despite a ban on
00:06:10.580 --> 00:06:11.720
motorized vehicles,
00:06:12.020 --> 00:06:16.880
despite a heightened state of
alert despite military patrols
00:06:16.880 --> 00:06:18.260
and police controls
00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:25.130
in Wurtzburg Ri Khan,
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AK was in contact with ISIS just
days before his train attack
00:06:29.900 --> 00:06:31.880
in SBA suicide bomber.
00:06:31.880 --> 00:06:36.710
Mohamed Dalil had phone contact with
ISIS Associates minutes before the
00:06:36.710 --> 00:06:37.543
explosion.
00:06:37.610 --> 00:06:41.780
His digital footprint showed a wealth
of radical ideas and statements,
00:06:42.080 --> 00:06:46.970
and he was receiving psychiatric
treatment as a suicide risk in the
00:06:46.975 --> 00:06:50.810
Normandy church attack during which a
priest was killed while conducting a mass,
00:06:51.140 --> 00:06:53.180
both attackers were known to the police.
00:06:53.750 --> 00:06:57.740
Both were in touch with a terror network
on the messaging program. Telegram,
00:06:58.340 --> 00:07:02.270
both were detained in Turkey while
attempting to secretly enter Syria.
00:07:02.840 --> 00:07:06.980
One of the attackers was released from
prison just four months previously
00:07:07.130 --> 00:07:11.990
against the state attorney's explicit
advice and was wearing an electronic
00:07:11.990 --> 00:07:12.823
tag.
00:07:13.130 --> 00:07:17.600
French intelligence received a warning
and a picture of the second attacker
00:07:17.840 --> 00:07:20.060
four days before the attack.
00:07:25.580 --> 00:07:29.000
It's hard to say whether more
data access to more information,
00:07:29.750 --> 00:07:32.900
actually it leads to more
actionable intelligence.
00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:37.970
That's a leap of faith. That's an
assumption that if you have more data,
00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:39.860
then you can make more sense of the data.
00:07:40.280 --> 00:07:43.430
What I would like to see more
of is more targeted efforts,
00:07:43.910 --> 00:07:47.120
more sophisticated strategies
that are not just, well,
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let's have more access to information,
00:07:49.250 --> 00:07:51.680
but let's have better
access to information,
00:07:52.130 --> 00:07:57.020
more targeted information collection
so that we're not letting our small
00:07:57.020 --> 00:07:59.540
teams of analysts drowned in data.
00:08:09.380 --> 00:08:13.520
I was working in nuclear terrorism
for about eight years and before that,
00:08:13.520 --> 00:08:15.770
working in counter-terrorism
for the United Nations.
00:08:19.430 --> 00:08:24.350
Then I started the most popular journal
in the field of terrorism called
00:08:24.350 --> 00:08:29.180
Perspectives on Terrorism
and just gravitated into
the analysis of social media
00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:31.010
and online radicalization.
00:08:44.570 --> 00:08:47.840
I was working with various governments
in Europe on trying to understand
00:08:49.580 --> 00:08:53.120
a new environment that was facing them
when the Islamic State came on the scene.
00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:06.690
The Islamic State is a new
kind of terrorist threat.
00:09:07.530 --> 00:09:11.280
ISIS perfectly masters the global
craving for media attention.
00:09:11.730 --> 00:09:15.570
It acts swiftly and has a
huge presence on social media.
00:09:23.310 --> 00:09:24.540
Set of common.
00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:29.700
The rise of Islamic state in transnational
terrorism brought with it a paradigm
00:09:29.705 --> 00:09:31.740
shift. So on the one hand,
00:09:31.740 --> 00:09:36.240
we have projected terror attacks that
are planned by networks and terror cells.
00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:39.030
On the other hand, we have casual attacks.
00:09:39.060 --> 00:09:43.260
That means radicalized individual
perpetrators carrying out the attack.
00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:53.010
Terrorism is about a lot of people
watching, not about a lot of people dead.
00:09:53.310 --> 00:09:55.740
That's a famous quote from Brian Jenkins.
00:09:56.040 --> 00:10:00.870
Attention is always at the core of what
terrorists want to achieve. Currently,
00:10:00.870 --> 00:10:05.400
their aim is to carry out these attacks
with the simplest possible means.
00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:32.970
ISIS came onto the scene and they were
using social media quite prophetically.
00:10:33.720 --> 00:10:35.370
They were radicalizing individuals online.
00:10:35.370 --> 00:10:36.690
They were recruiting people from Europe.
00:10:37.350 --> 00:10:40.620
I was in the midst of advising
European governments at the time,
00:10:41.310 --> 00:10:44.880
and they came to me and I came to them
with the proposition that we can do more
00:10:44.880 --> 00:10:45.713
on social media.
00:10:53.070 --> 00:10:54.570
From a technical point of view,
00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:58.320
analysis of social media
involves huge networks.
00:10:59.130 --> 00:11:02.310
Robert Wesley first tried
working with existing software,
00:11:02.550 --> 00:11:04.950
but soon discovered that it was too slow.
00:11:05.310 --> 00:11:08.400
His solution was to
develop his own program.
00:11:11.520 --> 00:11:14.070
Started looking for people in 2015,
00:11:15.630 --> 00:11:18.630
so I went out looking for
very specialized individuals,
00:11:19.930 --> 00:11:24.030
mathematicians that also had
hardcore engineering experience,
00:11:25.630 --> 00:11:30.350
artificial intelligence experts
that were very much in turn invested
00:11:30.770 --> 00:11:34.320
in analyzing content
online, analyzing networks,
00:11:34.620 --> 00:11:38.250
and being able to observe behaviors
within networks over time.
00:11:48.270 --> 00:11:50.100
YA is a mathematician,
00:11:50.250 --> 00:11:54.130
systems engineer and software engineer
with a professional background in the
00:11:54.130 --> 00:11:55.300
aviation industry.
00:11:57.580 --> 00:11:59.290
Robert Wesley, who's the C E o.
00:11:59.500 --> 00:12:03.100
Robert Wesley, our c e o,
contacted me via LinkedIn.
00:12:04.630 --> 00:12:06.940
I was looking for
something new at that time
00:12:11.860 --> 00:12:16.750
and he wanted to know my thoughts about
efficient representation and analysis of
00:12:16.750 --> 00:12:18.370
big social networks.
00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:29.620
I.
00:12:29.620 --> 00:12:33.610
Tried immediately to implement my
thoughts mathematically in mathematical
00:12:33.610 --> 00:12:35.590
terminology and while we had lunch,
00:12:35.590 --> 00:12:39.550
I proposed a possible method
and he shook my hand and said,
00:12:39.760 --> 00:12:40.660
welcome on board.
00:12:45.340 --> 00:12:49.660
Christian Wexel Baum is the chief data
scientist at a big data startup in
00:12:49.660 --> 00:12:50.680
Vienna, Austria.
00:12:51.250 --> 00:12:55.120
His background is in software
engineering and artificial intelligence.
00:12:57.670 --> 00:12:57.910
Before.
00:12:57.910 --> 00:13:01.360
Battle Clan, the attacks were more
something that happened to other people.
00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:04.570
There was an attack in
London, an attack in Madrid,
00:13:05.470 --> 00:13:07.240
but it felt as if people
just got used to it.
00:13:10.690 --> 00:13:10.840
When.
00:13:10.840 --> 00:13:12.250
Batter clan happened in France.
00:13:12.550 --> 00:13:16.480
I personally related strongly to the
victims in this case because the attack
00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:19.840
took place at a venue that I could have
gone to as well, an ordinary nightclub.
00:13:21.100 --> 00:13:24.130
I think Batter clan was memorable because
you could really identify with the
00:13:24.130 --> 00:13:24.963
victims there
00:13:26.650 --> 00:13:29.590
and also because as opposed
to London or Madrid.
00:13:30.850 --> 00:13:30.910
You.
00:13:30.910 --> 00:13:34.510
Could follow the batter clan attack
almost as a live stream on social media.
00:13:38.410 --> 00:13:41.770
Batter clan was the first terror attack
that really entered into your personal
00:13:41.770 --> 00:13:46.570
life on your mobile phones, in your
living rooms. You could follow everything.
00:13:46.630 --> 00:13:47.463
As it happened.
00:13:53.950 --> 00:13:58.120
130 Dead 352 injured.
00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:03.220
The Paris attacks in November, 2015 were
the bloodiest attack in France since
00:14:03.220 --> 00:14:04.120
World War ii,
00:14:04.390 --> 00:14:08.740
and they happened despite a heightened
state of alert and mass surveillance.
00:14:09.160 --> 00:14:13.870
The attacks carried out at six
separate locations simultaneously were
00:14:13.870 --> 00:14:18.670
plotted and executed by a well
organized terrace cell linked to isis.
00:14:27.040 --> 00:14:27.873
After the attack,
00:14:28.180 --> 00:14:31.840
I spoke to some colleagues from the area
of artificial intelligence and machine
00:14:31.845 --> 00:14:32.678
learning.
00:14:33.100 --> 00:14:37.060
We wondered if there was anything we
could do because ISIS and the other terror
00:14:37.060 --> 00:14:39.820
organizations were strongly
represented on social media.
00:14:40.810 --> 00:14:41.643
Media.
00:14:42.790 --> 00:14:46.360
So we thought since our strength was
machine learning and natural language
00:14:46.360 --> 00:14:47.193
processing,
00:14:47.290 --> 00:14:50.890
we had some great tools at hand that
could prevent online radicalization.
00:15:02.900 --> 00:15:06.650
At the same time I met Robert.
It was an amazing coincidence.
00:15:07.730 --> 00:15:11.120
Robert came from counter-terrorism and
was looking for someone with highly
00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:12.860
proficient machine learning skills.
00:15:12.950 --> 00:15:13.783
Machine learning.
00:15:13.940 --> 00:15:15.140
We agreed to collaborate.
00:15:16.700 --> 00:15:20.240
Then Robert introduced me to Y and
the three of us met to do our first
00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:21.073
BRAINSTORMINGS.
00:15:21.950 --> 00:15:22.800
Brainstorming.
00:15:26.750 --> 00:15:29.720
How's it going? Hey, how doing, man?
00:15:31.190 --> 00:15:34.760
Our first question was, what kind
of problem do we actually have?
00:15:35.690 --> 00:15:37.880
How can machine learning
help to solve this problem?
00:15:43.490 --> 00:15:43.615
And.
00:15:43.615 --> 00:15:46.520
We discovered that the problem
can be represented in a graph.
00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:51.680
We have actors that radicalize
the connects online that
are active in a social
00:15:51.680 --> 00:15:52.760
network of some kind.
00:16:00.560 --> 00:16:04.580
I can fix him and they're bridged.
Who are they connected to?
00:16:04.640 --> 00:16:08.780
Who's the bridge connected? Yes,
he's connected to the center here.
00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:09.950
Who is he connected to there?
00:16:11.090 --> 00:16:13.310
The world is a network.
Anything is a network.
00:16:16.760 --> 00:16:21.380
Everyone's connected, social media
connects them. Power grids connects us.
00:16:22.310 --> 00:16:24.500
Our personal interactions
offline connect us.
00:16:26.810 --> 00:16:31.370
The ability to represent everything in
life as a network means that we can run
00:16:31.550 --> 00:16:33.200
artificial intelligence. On top of that,
00:16:37.400 --> 00:16:40.940
we can run artificial intelligence to
tell us things that we weren't necessarily
00:16:40.940 --> 00:16:43.220
observing before. That's
what it's all about,
00:16:43.760 --> 00:16:46.520
being able to automate a
lot of the analysis process.
00:16:51.080 --> 00:16:53.180
Machine learning, meet graph theory.
00:16:53.390 --> 00:16:55.490
We combine machine
learning and graph theory,
00:16:55.670 --> 00:16:58.670
but also use genetic algorithms
and probabilistic methods.
00:16:59.090 --> 00:16:59.923
Probabilistic for.
00:17:07.910 --> 00:17:10.430
The data originates in
open source intelligence.
00:17:11.270 --> 00:17:15.110
This is a term that comprises all the
data that's openly publicly available
00:17:15.140 --> 00:17:15.973
online.
00:17:19.160 --> 00:17:19.220
For.
00:17:19.220 --> 00:17:22.460
Example, data used by radical
networks to recruit people.
00:17:26.690 --> 00:17:31.460
ISIS goes online and tries to find
new recruits and to do so they
00:17:31.460 --> 00:17:32.600
spread propaganda.
00:17:33.260 --> 00:17:36.890
They put it online on the web
and it's accessible to anybody
00:17:38.840 --> 00:17:41.240
because their goal is to reach
as many people as possible
00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:44.270
and we're grateful for that.
00:17:44.750 --> 00:17:47.660
We are happy that those people
are so open with their propaganda,
00:17:47.870 --> 00:17:52.470
with their radicalization because
they're basically saying, look,
00:17:52.860 --> 00:17:54.750
this is us and this is our data.
00:17:55.770 --> 00:17:59.520
The fan base of ISIS also provides
great open source intelligence.
00:18:00.390 --> 00:18:00.750
People.
00:18:00.750 --> 00:18:03.390
Openly declare themselves
as supporters of isis,
00:18:04.320 --> 00:18:08.550
connect with other supporters and speak
openly on Twitter about their plans,
00:18:08.580 --> 00:18:10.200
their ideas, their ideology.
00:18:11.460 --> 00:18:11.820
Intelligence.
00:18:11.820 --> 00:18:15.150
This is open source intelligence
for us. This is what we start from.
00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:26.940
This is.
00:18:26.940 --> 00:18:30.900
A perfect method to make assumptions
about radical networks without violating
00:18:30.900 --> 00:18:32.250
the privacy of the users.
00:18:32.670 --> 00:18:34.200
The privacy a user.
00:18:46.980 --> 00:18:49.110
Because everyone knows
that this data is public.
00:18:49.980 --> 00:18:53.160
All of them know when they're writing
on Twitter that Twitter is accessible to
00:18:53.160 --> 00:18:56.880
the public. It's like writing your
support for ISIS onto your house.
00:18:57.210 --> 00:18:58.890
This is what people do on Twitter.
00:19:03.750 --> 00:19:05.730
Named by common websites.
00:19:05.790 --> 00:19:08.460
We also collect data from blogs
and websites on the Darknet.
00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:13.800
Website named Darknet.
00:19:24.120 --> 00:19:24.990
And all this data.
00:19:25.620 --> 00:19:30.210
We can analyze everything without having
to monitor mobile phones or hacking
00:19:30.210 --> 00:19:34.200
emails or computers to check what
people think. This is what we use.
00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:39.713
This.
00:19:40.740 --> 00:19:43.650
This means we're not violating
the privacy of the devices
00:19:45.180 --> 00:19:49.290
and we don't need more
because the information we
can obtain publicly is enough
00:19:49.290 --> 00:19:51.060
to draw extensive conclusions.
00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:18.120
It's amazing how much you can actually
see from publicly available information,
00:20:18.630 --> 00:20:23.190
how much you can predict, how
many suspects you can identify,
00:20:23.970 --> 00:20:27.690
how many individuals you can model the
behavior around who are radicalizing.
00:20:31.330 --> 00:20:31.710
And.
00:20:31.710 --> 00:20:32.543
Years.
00:20:32.760 --> 00:20:36.600
We found several individuals
who are arrested in Europe.
00:20:37.110 --> 00:20:41.400
We had identified them six months in
advance when they stopped their online
00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:42.233
activity.
00:20:52.150 --> 00:20:55.180
Stopping online activity
is a behavioral change,
00:20:55.510 --> 00:20:59.500
and that's a behavioral change that our
software is able to pick up on and we
00:20:59.500 --> 00:21:03.280
can indicate that as an alert to
governments that we don't know what's
00:21:03.285 --> 00:21:06.940
happening. Maybe they've deradicalize,
maybe they've radicalized further.
00:21:07.360 --> 00:21:10.030
Maybe they're going dark and more
secretive with their actions.
00:21:16.390 --> 00:21:19.160
From TEUs.
00:21:20.110 --> 00:21:23.650
We are trying to get a grip on terrorism
with the help of technology and the
00:21:23.650 --> 00:21:26.650
ultimate goal is being able
to predict terror attacks.
00:21:37.190 --> 00:21:40.750
On the 2nd of May, 2016, I wrote
the first lines of the software.
00:21:41.020 --> 00:21:44.290
We were sitting in an empty room At
that time, I didn't even have a server,
00:21:44.350 --> 00:21:47.050
I just had a laptop.
This is where it started.
00:21:48.970 --> 00:21:50.530
The first version of the backend,
00:21:50.770 --> 00:21:54.610
our server-based software was
ready to use at the end of July 20.
00:21:54.610 --> 00:21:59.290
16,016.
00:22:06.040 --> 00:22:08.290
After that, we conducted
our first test runs.
00:22:09.820 --> 00:22:10.065
From.
00:22:10.065 --> 00:22:10.750
This point on,
00:22:10.750 --> 00:22:14.200
we could prove that we would be
able to stick to our design goals.
00:22:14.380 --> 00:22:19.060
That means processing and analysis of
social networks at a high velocity and
00:22:19.060 --> 00:22:23.740
with little reaction time, which
enables us to analyze data in real time.
00:22:26.860 --> 00:22:30.310
I'm talking about milliseconds here.
Whereas others would need minutes or.
00:22:30.340 --> 00:22:31.173
Hours.
00:22:41.150 --> 00:22:44.770
What the team in Vienna was not
aware of at that point in time,
00:22:45.370 --> 00:22:49.000
they weren't the first ones to
have come across that solution.
00:22:49.540 --> 00:22:54.070
A similar system had already been
invented in the labs of the N SS A,
00:22:56.590 --> 00:22:59.170
the mastermind behind it. Bill Binney,
00:22:59.320 --> 00:23:01.690
former technical director of the N SS A,
00:23:03.700 --> 00:23:08.140
but then his program was killed
off shortly before nine 11.
00:23:17.410 --> 00:23:21.700
Welcome to you both and welcome to
the British Parliament, both houses.
00:23:22.030 --> 00:23:26.170
I'm dealing with a very important piece
of legislation that we've been asked to
00:23:26.170 --> 00:23:27.003
look at.
00:23:27.040 --> 00:23:31.990
Do you think actually this bill is
necessary at all and do the provisions
00:23:31.990 --> 00:23:36.640
of the bill strike the right balance
between privacy on the one hand
00:23:37.360 --> 00:23:40.090
and security on the other?
Mr. Binny perhaps to start?
00:23:40.630 --> 00:23:41.110
Yes. Well,
00:23:41.110 --> 00:23:44.650
first I'd like to thank the committee for
giving me the opportunity to come here
00:23:44.650 --> 00:23:48.170
and give some testimony and hopefully
I can help you with some of the issues
00:23:48.170 --> 00:23:51.380
you're discussing here in your
committee. My big objection,
00:23:51.380 --> 00:23:55.850
both with both N S A and
at G C H Q and all of the
00:23:55.855 --> 00:23:59.180
associated law enforcement agencies that
are affiliated with them and how they
00:23:59.180 --> 00:24:03.760
deal with data is fundamentally
circling around bulk acquisition of
00:24:03.830 --> 00:24:05.630
data of any type.
00:24:06.110 --> 00:24:10.400
Why do you think the British government,
with all this G C H Q experience,
00:24:10.460 --> 00:24:13.040
its relationship with the N S A et cetera,
00:24:13.100 --> 00:24:15.680
why has it taken the approach that it has,
00:24:15.740 --> 00:24:19.820
which is so diametrically opposed
to what you are advocating? Why?
00:24:20.270 --> 00:24:22.430
I think I know exactly why, okay.
00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:26.870
They took it because the N S A did and
N S A did it because of contractors and
00:24:26.870 --> 00:24:29.150
the interest in contractors
and getting money and feeding,
00:24:29.270 --> 00:24:32.030
and I accused them publicly.
I've accused them of this,
00:24:32.060 --> 00:24:34.910
of trading the security of the people of
the United States in the free world for
00:24:34.910 --> 00:24:36.980
money and this is why they did it.
00:24:39.110 --> 00:24:43.910
We have heard from a number of law
enforcement officers and security services
00:24:44.150 --> 00:24:49.130
witnesses who are at the rock
face now, not 15 years ago,
00:24:49.580 --> 00:24:53.870
and their evidence has
been that they need these
00:24:53.870 --> 00:24:54.703
powers.
00:24:54.830 --> 00:24:58.790
Are you telling this committee that each
and every one of those witnesses are
00:24:58.790 --> 00:25:01.400
wrong and indeed possibly
misleading the committee?
00:25:01.880 --> 00:25:02.713
I guess I am.
00:25:08.510 --> 00:25:13.310
Bill Benny's evidence leads to Washington
DC A Pentagon report has been written
00:25:13.315 --> 00:25:14.930
about Bill Benny's program,
00:25:15.380 --> 00:25:19.130
but it's still classified 15
years after the investigation.
00:25:19.790 --> 00:25:22.430
Only a few people have
ever read this report.
00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:25.040
One of them is Patrick Edington.
00:25:26.030 --> 00:25:30.620
Edington is a policy analyst in
Homeland Security at the Cato Institute,
00:25:30.860 --> 00:25:34.730
an influential think
tank. In January, 2017,
00:25:35.030 --> 00:25:39.890
Edington sued the US government over
declassification of the Pentagon report
00:25:40.100 --> 00:25:41.900
about Bill Benny's program.
00:25:42.740 --> 00:25:47.300
There are over a hundred
paragraphs in that report that are
00:25:47.305 --> 00:25:51.440
redacted. About 80 of
them are unclassified.
00:25:54.920 --> 00:25:56.510
In spring 2013,
00:25:56.840 --> 00:26:01.340
Patrick Edington was allowed to read the
Pentagon Report and he was immediately
00:26:01.340 --> 00:26:04.130
fascinated by the world
laid out before him.
00:26:05.900 --> 00:26:09.680
I had the chance to read the real
thing, the classified version,
00:26:10.430 --> 00:26:14.270
and it absolutely made my
blood boil the level of waste,
00:26:14.270 --> 00:26:16.100
fraud and abuse that was
exposed in the report.
00:26:16.730 --> 00:26:19.550
The kind of retaliatory measures
that were engaged in by senior N Ss A
00:26:19.550 --> 00:26:21.290
management, all these kinds of things,
00:26:21.950 --> 00:26:24.650
and this is the stuff that they're
basically withholding from the public.
00:26:24.650 --> 00:26:26.900
This is the stuff that they
don't want the public to know.
00:26:29.270 --> 00:26:32.060
The concept behind thin
thread was revolutionary.
00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:35.990
Instead of collecting everything
and then searching for keywords,
00:26:36.380 --> 00:26:40.280
binny used a different approach.
The content of a phone call,
00:26:40.280 --> 00:26:43.040
a text message or an email was irrelevant.
00:26:43.350 --> 00:26:47.370
What was relevant was who
communicated with whom, when,
00:26:47.670 --> 00:26:51.000
how often, and from where. In short,
00:26:51.420 --> 00:26:53.160
the metadata was important.
00:26:53.730 --> 00:26:57.600
The problem was that it was in direct
conflict with another program that the
00:26:57.605 --> 00:27:00.930
agency was pushing downtown with
Congress that was going to cost multiple
00:27:00.930 --> 00:27:01.980
billions of dollars.
00:27:02.310 --> 00:27:07.260
The code name of Thin Thread's
competitor Trailblazer Fin Thread
00:27:07.260 --> 00:27:12.180
was ready for operation in November,
2000. However, N SS a director,
00:27:12.185 --> 00:27:17.100
Michael Hayden and NSA's senior leadership
managed to delay its deployment over
00:27:17.100 --> 00:27:21.600
the course of nine months until it was
finally killed off in August, 2001,
00:27:21.810 --> 00:27:23.940
three weeks prior to nine 11,
00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:26.880
right after the terror attacks,
00:27:27.060 --> 00:27:31.740
the N S A began its mass surveillance
programs and Benny left the
00:27:31.740 --> 00:27:32.573
agency.
00:27:32.760 --> 00:27:37.140
A test run of Thin thread conducted by
Benny's colleague Tom Drake in early
00:27:37.140 --> 00:27:42.000
2002 proved that NSA's
database actually contained
00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:46.650
information about the nine 11 terrorists
and that the N SS A had ditched the
00:27:46.650 --> 00:27:49.980
only search program
able to find that data.
00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:54.480
Conclusion nine 11 could have
been prevented with thin thread
00:27:54.990 --> 00:27:58.140
NSA's response completely
shut the program down.
00:28:05.760 --> 00:28:10.710
It remains one of the most extraordinary
documents that I have seen in my
00:28:10.710 --> 00:28:12.090
almost 30 years in Washington,
00:28:15.090 --> 00:28:18.270
And I've read my share of
investigative reports here.
00:28:18.270 --> 00:28:22.800
You had a small dedicated group of
significant people who came up with a
00:28:22.800 --> 00:28:26.430
completely revolutionary system
for next to no money at all,
00:28:27.660 --> 00:28:31.290
that very likely would've detected the
hijackers before they ever would've had
00:28:31.290 --> 00:28:32.490
an opportunity to strike,
00:28:33.780 --> 00:28:38.100
and they got sandbag by a
bunch of inside the beltway
00:28:38.280 --> 00:28:40.770
bandits with a lot of help.
00:28:41.760 --> 00:28:44.910
This was the worst part from
their own management at N S A,
00:28:45.690 --> 00:28:47.490
including the very senior
leadership of N S A.
00:28:48.180 --> 00:28:51.720
The people who were
responsible for all of this
00:28:53.190 --> 00:28:57.630
thus far at least have gotten off
scot-free. There's been no judgment,
00:28:57.630 --> 00:28:58.800
there's been no accountability,
00:28:59.820 --> 00:29:02.970
and so it simply makes you
wonder at the end of the day,
00:29:03.660 --> 00:29:07.140
what else is going on in N S A and
elsewhere in the intelligence community.
00:29:08.040 --> 00:29:12.720
The British Parliament disregarded Bill
Binney and the evidence he gave before
00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:15.750
the Joint Parliamentary Committee
on the new surveillance law.
00:29:17.640 --> 00:29:19.230
In November, 2016,
00:29:19.470 --> 00:29:24.090
the Investigatory Powers Act was passed
making the UK the most surveilled
00:29:24.090 --> 00:29:25.770
country in the Western world.
00:29:35.850 --> 00:29:36.570
However,
00:29:36.570 --> 00:29:40.950
the Invest Powers Act failed to
prevent both the Westminster attack in
00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:45.400
March, 2017 and the attack in
Manchester two months later.
00:29:47.590 --> 00:29:52.480
Again, the perpetrators in both cases
were already known to the police.
00:29:58.930 --> 00:30:03.220
Several other countries recently passed
new surveillance laws among them,
00:30:03.220 --> 00:30:06.460
Germany, France, Austria, and Switzerland.
00:30:10.630 --> 00:30:14.230
The reasons why governments want to
dramatically expand their surveillance
00:30:14.230 --> 00:30:17.080
capabilities are manifold.
00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:19.630
There's a kind of unholy alliance.
00:30:19.630 --> 00:30:23.500
People who want more spying for one
reason enable people who want more spying
00:30:23.500 --> 00:30:24.130
for another reason.
00:30:24.130 --> 00:30:28.870
So one of the obvious and most banal
reasons is just civil service empire
00:30:28.870 --> 00:30:29.685
building, right?
00:30:29.685 --> 00:30:33.430
If you work in the government and you
can radically expand the mission of your
00:30:33.430 --> 00:30:37.090
department, you get more budget, you get
more stability, you get more reports.
00:30:38.290 --> 00:30:42.880
The org chart focuses on you in a more
meaningful way and you gain more power
00:30:42.880 --> 00:30:44.410
and more long-term power.
00:30:46.780 --> 00:30:47.613
On the other hand,
00:30:47.830 --> 00:30:51.730
technological progress has turned the
world of intelligence agencies upside
00:30:51.730 --> 00:30:52.563
down.
00:30:55.630 --> 00:30:58.180
I was in the British Army for 32 years,
00:30:58.240 --> 00:31:01.690
and over the course of that career,
00:31:02.350 --> 00:31:06.430
the balance of intelligence
00:31:06.430 --> 00:31:07.570
changed.
00:31:08.020 --> 00:31:12.820
It changed from human to sigint
00:31:12.820 --> 00:31:13.660
dramatically.
00:31:14.080 --> 00:31:14.320
Well,
00:31:14.320 --> 00:31:19.120
the image that most people get from
the spy world is of people at the
00:31:19.120 --> 00:31:20.170
C I A who
00:31:24.070 --> 00:31:29.020
go undercover and they find a lot
00:31:29.020 --> 00:31:30.280
of secrets and so forth.
00:31:30.580 --> 00:31:34.780
In reality is spy world
really now is technical.
00:31:34.780 --> 00:31:39.490
It's made up of N S A, which
does a lot of eavesdropping,
00:31:39.520 --> 00:31:41.500
picks up communications around the world,
00:31:41.500 --> 00:31:44.410
is probably the largest
intelligence agency in the world,
00:31:45.280 --> 00:31:49.750
and the other one is the National
Geospatial Intelligence Agency,
00:31:50.590 --> 00:31:54.970
which analyzes all the imagery picked
up around the world and there's
00:31:55.480 --> 00:32:00.220
thousands of miles of film and
billions of pictures that's taken
00:32:00.460 --> 00:32:03.100
by all the drones over the Middle East.
00:32:03.100 --> 00:32:04.960
All the satellites that circle the globe,
00:32:06.550 --> 00:32:09.970
I mean the CI now is
basically running drones.
00:32:20.080 --> 00:32:23.260
But when you dig into how the C
I A directs the drone strikes,
00:32:23.260 --> 00:32:26.410
you find out that they're
basically running another N SS a.
00:32:26.470 --> 00:32:30.310
They do an entire signals intelligence
package to figure out who to kill.
00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:35.500
And it's an interesting question,
why would the C I A sunset?
00:32:35.500 --> 00:32:39.920
Its human intelligence function in favor
of a signals intelligence function when
00:32:39.950 --> 00:32:43.040
obviously governments
need both to do security,
00:32:43.610 --> 00:32:47.690
and I think that thinking
about the private sector
and its incentives is useful
00:32:47.690 --> 00:32:51.950
here because signals intelligence
produces enormous procurements.
00:32:55.850 --> 00:33:00.410
After the US invaded
Iraq, this was 2003, 2004,
00:33:00.860 --> 00:33:04.490
citizens were being dragged in to
be interrogated by US military.
00:33:05.270 --> 00:33:09.110
A lot of the interrogation was
being done by a company called Khaki
00:33:09.110 --> 00:33:09.950
International,
00:33:10.490 --> 00:33:15.080
and it struck me as obscene
that we would have a company
00:33:15.080 --> 00:33:18.680
doing interrogation of
enemy prisoners for profit.
00:33:22.520 --> 00:33:27.170
I looked into this company itself and
learned a lot about the company and who
00:33:27.170 --> 00:33:31.880
ran it and the fact that there was former
high level national security officials
00:33:31.880 --> 00:33:34.010
were helping advise the company,
00:33:34.010 --> 00:33:38.360
and many former military
people were in management
00:33:39.050 --> 00:33:42.860
positions at the company
and they obviously had a
very close relationship with
00:33:42.860 --> 00:33:44.180
the Department of Defense,
00:33:44.720 --> 00:33:49.580
and so this drew me into
investigating why and how so much
00:33:49.580 --> 00:33:51.440
intelligence had been outsourced.
00:33:51.440 --> 00:33:55.970
My best estimate at the
time was that 50% of the
00:33:55.970 --> 00:34:00.230
workforce was contracted, and this
actually seemed pretty high to me.
00:34:01.820 --> 00:34:04.190
A few years later when I
was working on my book,
00:34:04.250 --> 00:34:08.780
I got a document that was an
unclassified document that showed
00:34:09.170 --> 00:34:11.800
the percentage of money going
00:34:13.520 --> 00:34:16.310
into the intelligence community
that was going to private sector,
00:34:16.550 --> 00:34:18.560
and it was actually 70%.
00:34:21.530 --> 00:34:26.030
We have over the last decade been
increasingly concerned about the
00:34:26.240 --> 00:34:28.760
privatization of the federal government.
00:34:29.030 --> 00:34:32.150
This was something that really was
beginning during the Clinton Gore
00:34:32.150 --> 00:34:34.100
administration on a broad scale.
00:34:34.105 --> 00:34:38.570
There was a perception that this would
increase efficiencies in government by
00:34:38.570 --> 00:34:43.040
turning what had previously been work
that was done by federal employees to the
00:34:43.045 --> 00:34:43.878
private sector.
00:34:44.420 --> 00:34:49.220
We have done a lot of analysis that
demonstrates that just on a flat financial
00:34:50.090 --> 00:34:53.810
cost benefit analysis that often it
costs as much as three times as much in
00:34:53.815 --> 00:34:57.230
fact, to be relying on private
contractors than federal employees.
00:34:57.230 --> 00:35:00.350
And when you think about it, it's sort
of reasonable to expect that, right?
00:35:00.350 --> 00:35:03.080
These are private sector businesses
that are trying to make money.
00:35:06.440 --> 00:35:10.940
Mass surveillance is a huge
business in the US alone.
00:35:11.090 --> 00:35:15.860
Surveillance has become a business
that makes 100 billion each year.
00:35:16.610 --> 00:35:18.680
The money comes from secret budgets,
00:35:19.010 --> 00:35:23.630
is handed over to secret contractors
for secret operations and is even exempt
00:35:23.630 --> 00:35:26.180
from legally required
audits of public spending.
00:35:27.260 --> 00:35:32.120
It is an invitation to self-serve
an invitation many are happy to
00:35:32.120 --> 00:35:32.953
accept.
00:35:39.630 --> 00:35:43.920
We have long taken the position that
much of what we see is really legalized
00:35:43.920 --> 00:35:46.620
corruption, so what this means
is it may not be illegal,
00:35:46.710 --> 00:35:48.660
but it doesn't mean that it's not wrong.
00:35:52.770 --> 00:35:53.603
Today,
00:35:53.640 --> 00:35:58.560
five companies control 80% of the entire
private surveillance market in the
00:35:58.560 --> 00:36:01.920
us. Without these corporate
surveillance giants,
00:36:02.280 --> 00:36:06.870
everything would break down at
the N SS A C I A and the 14 other
00:36:06.930 --> 00:36:08.670
US intelligence agencies.
00:36:11.190 --> 00:36:13.920
The private surveillance
monopolies have taken over
00:36:24.450 --> 00:36:28.500
the military. Industrial surveillance
complex is not just an American issue.
00:36:28.890 --> 00:36:31.800
Europe's leading security
researcher, Ben Hayes,
00:36:31.920 --> 00:36:36.570
has outlined how the EU
Commission has since 2003 tried to
00:36:36.570 --> 00:36:41.550
create and foster a European military
industrial surveillance complex in
00:36:41.550 --> 00:36:44.760
order to be competitive on the
international surveillance market.
00:36:53.070 --> 00:36:53.903
For me,
00:36:54.450 --> 00:36:59.340
it all started in 2003 when the
00:36:59.340 --> 00:37:04.200
European Commission appointed
announced that it had established
00:37:04.200 --> 00:37:07.800
out of nowhere what it called
the group of personalities,
00:37:08.700 --> 00:37:13.350
and this this group was set
up to advise the European
00:37:13.350 --> 00:37:15.150
Commission on
00:37:17.100 --> 00:37:21.120
a security research agenda. Now, the
context for this was after nine 11,
00:37:21.960 --> 00:37:26.820
the US government started throwing
money research subsidies to
00:37:26.820 --> 00:37:29.400
big companies to look at
security technologies,
00:37:29.400 --> 00:37:31.950
any kind of technology that
could help keep us safe,
00:37:32.160 --> 00:37:35.940
enhance our homeland security
deal with the threat of terrorism.
00:37:35.940 --> 00:37:40.140
So in the US there was money pouring
into this field for industry,
00:37:40.145 --> 00:37:41.400
for academic research.
00:37:42.120 --> 00:37:45.780
The EU and its wisdom suggested that
00:37:47.970 --> 00:37:52.740
if it didn't essentially replicate
what was happening in the us,
00:37:52.770 --> 00:37:57.120
then we as Europeans
would be at a competitive
00:37:57.120 --> 00:38:00.990
disadvantage because US
companies would be leading.
00:38:00.990 --> 00:38:05.310
What everyone could already see was
going to be a huge lucrative global
00:38:05.310 --> 00:38:08.790
industry, but we would also be at
a security disadvantage because we,
00:38:09.000 --> 00:38:13.530
European states would be forced to buy
technology from Israel, from China,
00:38:13.590 --> 00:38:14.423
from the us.
00:38:18.480 --> 00:38:21.600
In charge of the European
efforts, other usual suspects,
00:38:22.680 --> 00:38:27.330
arms manufacturers such as Les,
E A D S, Saab, fin Mechanica,
00:38:27.540 --> 00:38:29.130
B a E systems deal,
00:38:29.160 --> 00:38:34.110
and Indra plus European telecommunications
companies and IT giants such as
00:38:34.115 --> 00:38:34.948
Erickson, and.
00:38:35.740 --> 00:38:39.850
We need to foster industrial
competitiveness. This
was their key message.
00:38:39.910 --> 00:38:44.260
This is looking at every kind of
element of security, counter-terrorism,
00:38:44.380 --> 00:38:48.430
border control, crisis
management, surveillance.
00:38:55.150 --> 00:38:58.360
The effects of these policies
go way beyond the arms industry.
00:39:01.000 --> 00:39:03.460
The surveillance business is now huge.
00:39:03.730 --> 00:39:06.250
The security business is now huge,
00:39:06.880 --> 00:39:08.950
hundreds of billions of dollars annually
00:39:10.960 --> 00:39:14.500
by border controls, by
air surveillance drones.
00:39:14.770 --> 00:39:19.660
Let us analyze all of this
telecommunications content data that
00:39:19.665 --> 00:39:21.130
you as governments have gathered.
00:39:22.060 --> 00:39:24.940
Let us put C C T V in every street.
00:39:25.240 --> 00:39:28.870
Let us develop satellite surveillance
techniques, whatever it may be. I mean,
00:39:28.900 --> 00:39:30.100
the field is huge.
00:39:30.820 --> 00:39:34.990
You have a position where governments
are kind of desperate to be seen.
00:39:34.990 --> 00:39:37.600
To be doing something,
you've got to be strong.
00:39:37.600 --> 00:39:39.040
You've got to be tough on terrorism.
00:39:39.850 --> 00:39:44.050
The trouble is the public do not know what
00:39:44.260 --> 00:39:48.910
powers the government is handing
over to the police and the
00:39:48.910 --> 00:39:50.170
security services.
00:39:50.710 --> 00:39:55.210
They're asking for things
which they can't even
00:39:55.390 --> 00:39:57.970
explain how it's going to work.
00:39:58.030 --> 00:40:02.080
What is the technology that's going
to be used to siphon up all this
00:40:02.080 --> 00:40:02.913
information?
00:40:03.160 --> 00:40:07.630
Who is going to be in
charge of this system of
00:40:07.900 --> 00:40:11.620
interrogating all these databases?
Because the government don't know.
00:40:11.950 --> 00:40:16.330
The government are asking for a carte
blanche to do whatever they want.
00:40:24.070 --> 00:40:28.720
These recordings were made by an F B
I drone during a Black Lives Matter
00:40:28.720 --> 00:40:30.340
protest in Baltimore.
00:40:35.770 --> 00:40:40.510
There's a whole bunch of extraordinary
research going on since the Arab
00:40:40.510 --> 00:40:45.070
Spring. The Arab spring just came out of
nowhere. It took everyone by surprise.
00:40:47.770 --> 00:40:51.550
You look at the Occupy movement in the
us, which also came out of nowhere,
00:40:51.550 --> 00:40:53.080
alright? It was dealt with pretty quickly,
00:40:53.080 --> 00:40:57.700
but it came out of nowhere and was
suddenly blockading things and shutting
00:40:57.705 --> 00:41:02.260
things down and setting up
huge presences in squares,
00:41:02.260 --> 00:41:06.400
and so suddenly, as a security agency,
00:41:06.910 --> 00:41:09.760
you are saying, well, we
have to try to predict this.
00:41:31.540 --> 00:41:35.090
Many of these things were organized
through social media and spread through
00:41:35.090 --> 00:41:38.930
social media and were grounded in
00:41:39.710 --> 00:41:44.390
internet communication means that
states now have a very strong
00:41:44.395 --> 00:41:45.380
interest in saying, well,
00:41:45.380 --> 00:41:49.940
how can we predict the next
radical domestic movement we have?
00:41:49.940 --> 00:41:53.510
What is it that stops someone who's
going on a demonstration tomorrow from
00:41:54.140 --> 00:41:58.670
setting up the next occupy the day
after? How can we predict this?
00:41:58.670 --> 00:41:59.900
How can we mitigate this?
00:42:10.700 --> 00:42:12.710
Not only Black Lives Matter,
00:42:12.710 --> 00:42:17.420
activists were targeted by state
surveillance on behalf of the
00:42:17.420 --> 00:42:19.040
New York Police Department.
00:42:19.220 --> 00:42:24.140
The Italian company hacking team
hacked the mobile phones of the Occupy
00:42:24.145 --> 00:42:25.250
movement's leaders.
00:42:27.770 --> 00:42:31.760
The Tea party in the US was
subjected to targeted surveillance.
00:42:32.480 --> 00:42:37.370
Anti-war activists became targets,
as did anti-fracking activists
00:42:39.290 --> 00:42:43.610
in the uk. Greenpeace was
surveilled in Austria.
00:42:43.850 --> 00:42:46.910
Animal rights activists
were branded as terrorists.
00:42:50.690 --> 00:42:51.950
Of course, as soon as you do that,
00:42:52.130 --> 00:42:57.050
you are looking at the threats posed
by your own citizens and arguably,
00:42:57.200 --> 00:43:02.030
you are undermining the very democracy
that brings people out on the streets
00:43:02.030 --> 00:43:06.140
and moves them to join movements
like occupying the first place.
00:43:09.440 --> 00:43:14.030
You're taking away the legitimacy of these
things and couching these people as a
00:43:14.030 --> 00:43:18.500
threat to prevent these movements
taking shape or having influence in the
00:43:18.500 --> 00:43:19.333
future.
00:43:31.490 --> 00:43:36.470
If you think that all the rights and
freedoms and wonderful things that we talk
00:43:36.470 --> 00:43:40.850
about, that's where they came from.
They didn't fall out of the sky.
00:43:40.910 --> 00:43:42.680
They came from movements like these,
00:43:42.680 --> 00:43:46.670
from the suffragettes to
police reform, to everything,
00:43:47.090 --> 00:43:49.640
all of the freedoms that
we take for granted now,
00:43:49.645 --> 00:43:53.360
were born out of radical movements
and people doing direct action,
00:43:53.360 --> 00:43:57.830
and if the job of the
state is now to prevent,
00:43:57.830 --> 00:43:58.910
manage,
00:43:59.180 --> 00:44:03.500
nullify these kinds of
00:44:03.500 --> 00:44:08.420
self-organization, then I think
we're in profoundly dangerous times.
00:44:23.030 --> 00:44:25.400
One year after they started
working on their software,
00:44:25.850 --> 00:44:30.200
the team in Vienna has nearly finished
the project. They are running a test,
00:44:31.500 --> 00:44:35.910
an analysis of the ISIS network in
Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
00:44:49.260 --> 00:44:53.130
If this test with freely
accessible data is successful,
00:44:53.430 --> 00:44:57.360
the software will be ready for use
directly at its source on the web.
00:44:58.410 --> 00:45:03.150
The identities are being anonymized and
represented as combinations of letters
00:45:03.150 --> 00:45:06.570
and digits. After that,
00:45:06.780 --> 00:45:10.590
the actors in the network and their
relationships will be represented in a
00:45:10.590 --> 00:45:11.423
graph.
00:45:18.510 --> 00:45:23.400
The more influential the actor, the
bigger the circle, the more connections,
00:45:23.520 --> 00:45:25.440
the higher the density of the network.
00:45:27.060 --> 00:45:29.190
Individual actors can be marked.
00:45:29.970 --> 00:45:33.390
You can click on them to make their
profile in the social networks appear.
00:45:42.900 --> 00:45:45.990
Also, their direct
connections can be analyzed.
00:45:46.560 --> 00:45:48.960
The profile shows amongst other things.
00:45:49.170 --> 00:45:54.030
This actor's proximity to a network
center as well as the relationship between
00:45:54.060 --> 00:45:54.893
actors.
00:45:57.060 --> 00:46:00.960
The connection between actors can also
be identified in geographic terms.
00:46:01.290 --> 00:46:05.790
As we can see in this example, this
member of a network is based in Raku,
00:46:06.030 --> 00:46:08.850
Syria. The stronghold
of the Islamic state.
00:46:14.340 --> 00:46:18.160
One connection leads to a large
node in the Syrian port of Laia.
00:46:24.870 --> 00:46:25.703
From there,
00:46:25.920 --> 00:46:30.360
there are direct connections to Europe
to another large node in Cologne,
00:46:30.660 --> 00:46:34.170
a small one in Berlin and
another one in Malmo, Sweden.
00:46:38.410 --> 00:46:42.900
There is a connection from Cologne
to another node in the US in
00:46:42.900 --> 00:46:43.733
Philadelphia.
00:46:50.220 --> 00:46:54.390
From Philadelphia, another direct
connection links back to Syria
00:47:00.350 --> 00:47:04.950
from the Syrian node connections lead
to Qatar, Pakistan, and Indonesia,
00:47:10.710 --> 00:47:14.670
the world as a network. That
is what the software depicts.
00:47:24.180 --> 00:47:28.860
The data can also be represented
in a list with just one
00:47:28.870 --> 00:47:32.530
click, you can compile a ranking
of the actors, for example,
00:47:32.740 --> 00:47:34.270
according to their threat potential.
00:47:42.880 --> 00:47:47.500
The team in Vienna is aware that their
program could also be used for something
00:47:47.500 --> 00:47:50.680
other than uncovering networks
of potential terrorists.
00:47:54.340 --> 00:47:55.173
Edward Snowden.
00:47:55.420 --> 00:47:59.800
We know since Ed Snowden that surveillance
tools aren't used only to prevent
00:47:59.800 --> 00:48:03.040
crime, but also for spying
activities of all kinds,
00:48:03.310 --> 00:48:04.600
including spying on your own. Partner.
00:48:08.070 --> 00:48:08.903
Partner.
00:48:12.910 --> 00:48:17.380
The Vienna team's response to the
question of abuse is privacy By design,
00:48:17.680 --> 00:48:21.010
this means that protection of
privacy is built into the system.
00:48:25.620 --> 00:48:26.453
An.
00:48:28.000 --> 00:48:32.710
Antoine de the French author and pilot
wrote about technology and tried to
00:48:32.710 --> 00:48:36.160
answer the question, what
is secure technology?
00:48:36.580 --> 00:48:38.830
What is highly developed technology?
00:48:41.080 --> 00:48:44.740
Since he was a pilot, his answer
focused on aviation technology,
00:48:44.740 --> 00:48:46.600
but it can also be applied. Generally,
00:48:47.050 --> 00:48:51.250
good and secure technology is technology
that I do not have to think about.
00:48:52.210 --> 00:48:54.670
That means if I sit on
a plane as a passenger,
00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:56.740
I don't have to think about the engine.
00:48:59.920 --> 00:49:01.150
Regarding the software.
00:49:01.330 --> 00:49:05.710
This means that metadata analysis
collects only data relating to
00:49:05.715 --> 00:49:06.490
suspects,
00:49:06.490 --> 00:49:11.110
which is encrypted immediately after
a request is made to access the
00:49:11.110 --> 00:49:15.520
data, an independent authority will
generate three keys for decryption,
00:49:15.670 --> 00:49:19.780
one for the police or intelligence
agency, one for the judiciary,
00:49:19.930 --> 00:49:21.910
and one for the legislative oversight.
00:49:22.450 --> 00:49:25.450
Only when all three keys
are employed together,
00:49:25.600 --> 00:49:27.730
can data be inspected and used?
00:49:29.350 --> 00:49:31.360
Every access is logged.
00:49:31.720 --> 00:49:35.380
A digital record is generated
every time data is accessed.
00:49:35.620 --> 00:49:39.730
That way the parties involved have the
chance to justify themselves in a court
00:49:39.730 --> 00:49:42.070
of law. In the event of abuse or error.
00:49:42.370 --> 00:49:47.290
This process is executed in
a few milliseconds and it
is completely automated on
00:49:47.290 --> 00:49:49.810
the basis of precisely defined criteria.
00:49:51.010 --> 00:49:55.960
Never has a program come closer to a
solution that factors in both security
00:49:56.170 --> 00:49:59.890
and the fundamental right
to privacy to equal degrees.
00:50:01.870 --> 00:50:05.290
It depends on how
governments use our software,
00:50:05.710 --> 00:50:10.150
because what our software
does is it allows them to
identify threats very early,
00:50:10.690 --> 00:50:13.390
and then you have a set of options
of how you deal with these threats.
00:50:13.780 --> 00:50:18.460
You send a social worker, do you engage
in the different type of surveillance?
00:50:18.880 --> 00:50:22.960
What do you actually do? Once you've
identified a threat really early in time,
00:50:27.660 --> 00:50:29.690
You can't end terrorism
through technology,
00:50:29.990 --> 00:50:34.010
you can end it with some
sort of easy solution.
00:50:34.370 --> 00:50:36.440
It's a systemic problem for us.
00:50:36.920 --> 00:50:39.410
It's a problem that wasn't
born in the past 10 years.
00:50:39.740 --> 00:50:44.660
There are people within my group of
colleagues who were born well after this
00:50:44.660 --> 00:50:48.440
began. It's existed before
and it'll continue to exist.
00:50:48.740 --> 00:50:51.830
These are societal problems.
They're religious problems,
00:50:52.460 --> 00:50:53.840
they're individual problems.
00:50:54.500 --> 00:50:58.010
People become angry for a variety of
different things and choose a terroristic
00:50:58.015 --> 00:51:01.400
path to achieve their
objectives. It's just a tactic.
00:51:01.670 --> 00:51:04.970
It's a strategy for obtaining
some sort of future vision,
00:51:05.990 --> 00:51:08.990
and as long as it's effective,
it'll continue to be used.
00:51:14.750 --> 00:51:16.790
You want to prevent people
from engaging in terrorism.
00:51:17.960 --> 00:51:19.550
You have to take away
the benefits for them.