Criminal Justice & the Rule of Law Executive Branch Intelligence

Data Mining and Edward Snowden

Paul Rosenzweig
Monday, June 10, 2013, 5:19 PM
Many, of course, will doubt the power of data mining, geolocation and other cyber techniques to resolve ambiguities.  One would have thought, however, that Edwards Snowden the (in)famous NSA leaker would not be unaware of the power of distributed network analytics.  Yet it seems he is.  According to this report analysis of Snowden's Guardian video interview says he is (or was) at the Mira hotel in Hong Kong.  As the writer, Kerry Patton notes:
After seeing pictures of Edward Snowden, via h
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Many, of course, will doubt the power of data mining, geolocation and other cyber techniques to resolve ambiguities.  One would have thought, however, that Edwards Snowden the (in)famous NSA leaker would not be unaware of the power of distributed network analytics.  Yet it seems he is.  According to this report analysis of Snowden's Guardian video interview says he is (or was) at the Mira hotel in Hong Kong.  As the writer, Kerry Patton notes:
After seeing pictures of Edward Snowden, via his recent Guardian interview, it has been concluded that only one hotel in all of Hong Kong maintains a specific décor resembling that found in his recent interview pictures.  That hotel is the Mira Hotel in Hong Kong.
Unless, of course, Snowden is actually smarter than that and the Mira Hotel background is a phony ... but for now, I recommend all the media looking for him (and the Hong Kong police?) check out the Mira.  Even if he is gone or its a red herring, its a good starting place ....
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Paul Rosenzweig

Paul Rosenzweig

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Paul Rosenzweig is the founder of Red Branch Consulting PLLC, a homeland security consulting company and a Senior Advisor to The Chertoff Group. Mr. Rosenzweig formerly served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy in the Department of Homeland Security. He is a Professorial Lecturer in Law at George Washington University, a Senior Fellow in the Tech, Law & Security program at American University, and a Board Member of the Journal of National Security Law and Policy.

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