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USA: NSA: "In for a penny, in for a pound": a philosophy of surveillance

14 August 2015

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A recent article published by The Intercept (11 August) examines the work of the NSA's in-house "surveillance philosopher" - the "Socrates of SIGINT" - and his willingness to be "constantly and completely monitored". His columns, from an internal NSA internal newsletter, were included amongst the files leaked by Edward Snowden.

See: The Philosopher of Surveillance - What Happens When a Failed Writer Becomes a Loyal Spy? (The Intercept, link):

"ARE YOU THE SOCRATES of the National Security Agency?

"That was the question the NSA asked its workforce in a memo soliciting applications for an in-house ethicist who would write a philosophically minded column about signals intelligence. The column, which would be posted on a classified network at the NSA, should be absorbing and original, the memo said, asking applicants to submit a sample to show they had what it takes to be the “Socrates of SIGINT.”

"In 2012, the column was given to an analyst in the Signals Intelligence Directorate who wrote that initially he opposed the government watching everyone but came around to total surveillance after a polygraph exam did not go well. In a turn of events that was half-Sartre and half-Blade Runner, he explained that he was sure he failed the polygraph because the examiner did not know enough about his life to understand why at times the needle jumped."

Selected documents:

  • The SIGINT Philosopher is Back - With a New Face! (pdf)
  • The SIGINT Philosopher: Descartes Would Have Been a Lousy SIGINT Reporter (pdf)

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