© Sputnik
The German intelligence spyware scandal illustrates how the US "collect it all" domestic surveillance philosophy has infected other democracies around the world, US National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower William Binney told Sputnik on Friday.
In April 2013, according to leaked documents, Germany's domestic security agency, the BND, agreed to provide the NSA with intelligence in exchange for a highly effective spy software program called XKeyscore, media reported on Wednesday.
The idea of mass domestic surveillance, Binney explained, is being adopted by Germany and other governments that have the resources and capabilities to carry it out while violating privacy rights that are supposed to be sacred in democratic societies.
"The impact is the loss of privacy around the world," Binney argued. "Countries that adopt this totalitarian procedure of population surveillance with the subsequent loss of privacy would find it hard to call themselves a democracy."
The practice of using technology to conduct mass surveillance has spread across the globe without limitation, including countries like Russia, which has an equivalent program called SORM, he claimed.
Stopping the state surveillance contagion, Binney noted, will require clear rules, stiff penalties and mechanisms to monitor violations.
Comment: While this admission by Wilkerson isn't really a revelation, it is good to hear from former officials confirming what has been known throughout history. Now who hands those 400 wealthy people their marching orders?