The NSA is harvesting millions of faces from photos shared online - by Lindsay Abrams

The US National Security Agency is collecting “millions of images per day” from photos shared online for use in its advanced facial recognition programs, a new report from the documents obtained by Edward Snowden reveals. The New York Times reports that the agency culls faces from “emails, text messages, social media, videoconferences and other communications,” gaining “tremendous untapped potential” to track intelligence targets throughout the world. 

“It’s not just the traditional communications we’re after: It’s taking a full-arsenal approach that digitally exploits the clues a target leaves behind in their regular activities on the net to compile biographic and biometric information” that can help “implement precision targeting,” noted one 2010 document, according to the Times.

The extent to which Americans are being tracked in this manner is unclear: an NSA spokeswoman said that the agency does not have access to databases of driver’s licenses or passport photos, but did not say whether it could access photos of foreign visa applicants. She also declined to comment on whether the agency collects Americans’ faces through Facebook and other social media channels. But “because the agency considers images a form of communications content,” she told the Times, “the N.S.A. would be required to get court approval for imagery of Americans collected through its surveillance programs, just as it must to read their emails or eavesdrop on their phone conversations.”

More than anything else, however, the revelations are a reminder of our increased vulnerability to being tracked online by any number of interested parties.
Read more: Revealed: The NSA is harvesting millions of faces from photos shared online - Salon.com

NSA Spy Scandal: Germany not satisfied with US assurances over NSA spying on EU Citizens

The chancellor of Germany spoke alongside United States President Barack Obama on Friday about the National Security Agency's surveillance practices for the first time in the US since she voiced concerns last year about leaked NSA operations.

A joint news conference Friday afternoon at the White House Rose Garden in downtown Washington, DC between the two primarily concerned the escalating situation in Ukraine, but both Pres. Obama and Chancellor Angela Merkel also discussed the NSA in the wake of disclosures that last year propelled the secretive American spy agency into the international spotlight.

Although Merkel has adamantly spoken out against the NSA's surveillance practices in the months since those disclosures first surfaced last June, Friday's meeting at the president's home marked her first visit to the White House since.

After both Obama and Merkel made prepared remarks at the Rose Garden about the Ukrainian crisis, the American president took a moment to put aside queries from the press and instead bring it upon himself to address the tensions between America and Germany that have worsened as a result of the NSA leaks.

Read more: Germany not satisfied with US assurances over NSA spying — RT USA

EU-US Free Trade Talks: NSA spying scandal clouds second round of EU-US free trade talks

Originally, the second round of talks on the so-called Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership(TTIP) between the European Union and the United States was scheduled to be held in October. However, the US government shutdown postponed negotiations.

Moreover, allegations that the US intelligence agency NSAspied on EU leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, sparked bitter recriminations and calls in Europe to halt TTIP talks.

Issues of trust had been raised, an EU official close to negotiations told the German DPA news agency on Friday, adding that the matter would not be a subject on the agenda of the talks.

Nevertheless, the EU's personal data protection standards would not be compromised in the discussions as the transfer of data in general was a key component of a modern economy, the official said.

The current round of talks, which began Monday, covers services, investment, energy, raw materials and focuses on regulatory issues. Negotiations were still in an exploratory phase, the EU official said, adding that it would take a further round to identify more clearly where the talks might need a political impulse.

Tariffs between the EU and the United States are already rather low, meaning that the free trade talks need to focus on reducing regulations and bureaucratic hurdles. Controversial sectors are said to be agriculture, including food safety, as well as the auto industry. Harmonizing regulatory standards in the car industry, for example, might cut costs by 20 percent, the EU estimated.

Note EU-Digest: several members of the EU parliament have voiced the suggestion that if these talks ever come to an agreement it, not only the national parliaments would have to agree but that the agreement  should also be subject to an EU- referendum  with all member countries participating.

Read moreNSA spying scandal clouds second round of EU-US free trade talks | Business News | DW.DE | 11.11.2013