By Steve Rhodes
“An enormous cache of phone records obtained by The Intercept reveals a major breach of security at Securus Technologies, a leading provider of phone services inside the nation’s prisons and jails,” the website reports.
“The materials – leaked via SecureDrop by an anonymous hacker who believes that Securus is violating the constitutional rights of inmates – comprise over 70 million records of phone calls, placed by prisoners to at least 37 states, in addition to links to downloadable recordings of the calls. The calls span a nearly two-and-a-half year period, beginning in December 2011 and ending in the spring of 2014.
“Particularly notable within the vast trove of phone records are what appear to be at least 14,000 recorded conversations between inmates and attorneys, a strong indication that at least some of the recordings are likely confidential and privileged legal communications – calls that never should have been recorded in the first place. The recording of legally protected attorney-client communications – and the storage of those recordings – potentially offends constitutional protections, including the right to effective assistance of counsel and of access to the courts.
“‘This may be the most massive breach of the attorney-client privilege in modern U.S. history,’ said David Fathi, director of the ACLU’s National Prison Project.”
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Here’s the most immediate local angle we know of so far:
“[T]he massive amount of data provided to The Intercept suggests that the scope of surveillance within the system goes far beyond what the original goals might have been. A 2012 Securus contract with the Illinois Department of Corrections describes an optional product called Threads, branding it ‘one of the most powerful tools in the intelligence community.’
“‘Securus has the most widely used platform in the industry, with approximately 1,700 facilities installed, over 850,000 inmates served, literally petabytes of intelligence data, and over 1 million calls processed per day,’ the company bragged to Illinois officials. ‘This valuable data is integrated directly into Threads and could be available at [Department of Correction]’s and [Department of Juvenile Justice]’s fingertips.'”
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Homan Square: A Report Back
A panel led by First Defense Legal Aid will discuss what the Chicago media denies is true with a bunch of people who have actually experienced it and never been interviewed by said Chicago media.
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CHICAGO MEDIA: We called a bunch of lawyers we know and they don’t know anything about Homan Square.
BEACHWOOD: Why don’t you call lawyers who actually have had clients there, instead of lawyers who haven’t? You can get some of their names from more than two dozen reports in the Guardian.
CHICAGO MEDIA: [silence]
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Own A Vizio Smart TV? It’s Watching You
In a statement, Vizio said customers’ “non-personal identifiable information may be shared with select partners – to permit these companies to make, for example, better-informed decisions regarding content production, programming and advertising.”
Riiiiiight.
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Fantasy Fix: Always Awesome Alshon
Mea culpa, including Jay Cutler and Jeremy Langford notes.
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The Blue & Orange Kool-Aid Report
Voodoo Football With Dr. Death & Mrs. Wifey.
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BeachBook
I can barely with this …
Posted by The Beachwood Reporter on Wednesday, November 11, 2015
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TweetWood
A sampling.
JFC, Chicagoans out in winter gear today. Save something for January! #NotParkaWeatherYet
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) November 12, 2015
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Obamacrats.
Final inversion of dems on Article II, example 2: “No. I don’t believe in AUMFs” (Senator Reid.) https://t.co/Rmr4YOFXSt
— Jack Goldsmith (@jacklgoldsmith) November 12, 2015
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Nominee to oversee Wall St. works at think tank dedicated to blocking regulation https://t.co/atnyTpXFgn by @lhfang pic.twitter.com/PPMICqxi1j
— The Intercept (@the_intercept) November 12, 2015
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US media dutifully mock the notion of US coups because, especially in that region, USG would never do such a thing https://t.co/rPzB6zy6DL
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) November 12, 2015
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Watched my local news last night & the Blazing Fire Correspondent & Drunk Driving Reporter had very interesting discussion abt journalism.
— Tom the Turkey (@firetomfriedman) November 12, 2015
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Securely insecure.
Posted on November 12, 2015

