Global mass surveillance can be defined as themass surveillance of entire populations across national borders.[1]
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Its existence was not widely acknowledged by governments and the mainstream media until theglobal surveillance disclosures byEdward Snowden triggered a debate about theright to privacy in theDigital Age.[2][3] One such debate is the balance which governments must acknowledge between the pursuit of national security and counter-terrorism over a right to privacy. Although, to quote H. Akın Ünver "Even when conducted for national security and counterterrorism purposes, the scale and detail of mass citizen data collected, leads to rightfully pessimistic observations about individual freedoms and privacy".[4]
Its roots can be traced back to the middle of the 20th century when theUKUSA Agreement was jointly enacted by the United Kingdom and the United States, which later expanded to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to create the presentFive Eyes alliance.[5] The alliance developed cooperation arrangements with several "third-party" nations. Eventually, this resulted in the establishment of a global surveillance network, code-named "ECHELON" (1971).[6][7]
Theorigins of global surveillance can be traced back to the late 1940s after theUKUSA Agreement was collaboratively enacted by the United Kingdom and the United States, which eventually culminated in the creation of the global surveillance network code-named "ECHELON" in 1971.[6][7]
In the aftermath of the1970s Watergate affair and a subsequentcongressional inquiry led by Sen.Frank Church,[8] it was revealed that theNSA, in collaboration with Britain's GCHQ, had routinely intercepted the international communications of prominent anti-Vietnam War leaders such asJane Fonda and Dr.Benjamin Spock.[9] Decades later, a multi-year investigation by theEuropean Parliament highlighted the NSA's role ineconomic espionage in a report entitled 'Development of Surveillance Technology and Risk of Abuse of Economic Information', in 1999.[10]
However, for the general public, it was a series of detailed disclosures of internal NSA documents in June 2013 that first revealed the massive extent of the NSA's spying, both foreign and domestic. Most of these were leaked by an ex-contractor,Edward Snowden. Even so, a number of these older global surveillance programs such asPRISM,XKeyscore, andTempora were referenced in the 2013 release of thousands of documents.[11] Many countries around the world, includingWestern Allies and member states ofNATO, have been targeted by the "Five Eyes" strategic alliance of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the United States—five English-speakingWestern countries aiming to achieveTotal Information Awareness bymastering the Internet with analytical tools such as theBoundless Informant.[12] As confirmed by the NSA's directorKeith B. Alexander on 26 September 2013, the NSA collects and stores all phone records of all American citizens.[13] Much of the data is kept in large storage facilities such as theUtah Data Center, a US $1.5 billionmegaproject referred to byThe Wall Street Journal as a "symbol of the spy agency's surveillance prowess."[14]
Today, this global surveillance system continues to grow. It now collects so much digital detritus – e-mails, calls, text messages, cellphone location data and a catalog of computer viruses - that the N.S.A. is building a1-million-square-foot facility in the Utah desert to store and process it.
— The New York Times[15] (August 2012)
On 6 June 2013, Britain'sThe Guardian newspaper began publishing a series of revelations by an as yet unknown American whistleblower, revealed several days later to be ex-CIA and ex-NSA-contracted systems analyst Edward Snowden. Snowden gave a cache of documents to two journalists,Glenn Greenwald andLaura Poitras. Greenwald later estimated that the cache contains 15,000–20,000 documents, some very large and detailed, and some very small.[16][17] In over two subsequent months of publications, it became clear that the NSA had operated a complex web of spying programs that allowed it to intercept Internet and telephone conversations from over a billion users from dozens of countries around the world. Specific revelations were made about China, the European Union, Latin America, Iran and Pakistan, and Australia and New Zealand, however, the published documentation reveals that many of the programs indiscriminately collected bulk information directly from central servers and Internet backbones, which almost invariably carry and reroute information from distant countries.[citation needed]
Due to this central server and backbone monitoring, many of the programs overlapped and interrelated with one another. These programs were often carried out with the assistance of US entities such as theUnited States Department of Justice and theFBI,[18] were sanctioned by US laws such as theFISA Amendments Act, and the necessary court orders for them were signed by the secretForeign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Some of the NSA's programs were directly aided by national and foreign intelligence agencies, Britain'sGCHQ and Australia'sASD, as well as by large private telecommunications and Internet corporations, such asVerizon,Telstra,[19]Google, and Facebook.[20]
Snowden's disclosures of the NSA's surveillance activities are a continuation ofnews leaks which have been ongoing since the early 2000s. One year after theSeptember 11, 2001, attacks, former U.S. intelligence officialWilliam Binney was publicly critical of the NSA for spying on U.S. citizens.[21]
Further disclosures followed. On 16 December 2005,The New York Times published a report under the headline "Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts."[22] In 2006, further evidence of the NSA's domestic surveillance of U.S. citizens was provided byUSA Today. The newspaper released a report on 11 May 2006, regarding the NSA's "massive database" of phone records collected from "tens of millions" of U.S. citizens. According toUSA Today, these phone records were provided by several telecom companies such asAT&T,Verizon, andBellSouth.[23] In 2008, the security analystBabak Pasdar revealed the existence of the so-called "Quantico circuit" that he and his team discovered in 2003 when brought on to update the carrier's security system. The circuit provided the U.S. federal government with a backdoor into the network of an unnamed wireless provider, which was later independently identified asVerizon.[24]
Snowden made his first contact with journalistGlenn Greenwald ofThe Guardian in late 2012.[25] Thetimeline of mass surveillance disclosures by Snowden continued throughout the entire year of 2013.
Documents leaked by Snowden in 2013 include court orders, memos, and policy documents related to a wide range of surveillance activities.
According to the April 2013 summary of documents leaked by Snowden, other than to combat terrorism, these surveillance programs were employed to assess the foreign policy and economic stability of other countries,[26] and to gather "commercial secrets".[27]
In a statement addressed to theNational Congress of Brazil in early August 2013, journalistGlenn Greenwald maintained that the U.S. government had usedcounter-terrorism as a pretext for clandestine surveillance in order to compete with other countries in the "business, industrial and economic fields".[28][29] In a December 2013 letter to theBrazilian government, Snowden wrote that "These programs were never about terrorism: they're about economic spying, social control, and diplomatic manipulation. They're aboutpower."[30] According to a White House panel member, the NSA didn't stop any terrorist attack.[31] However the NSA chief stated that surveillance programs stopped 54 terrorist plots.[32]
In an interview withDer Spiegel published on 12 August 2013, former NSA DirectorMichael Hayden admitted that "We (the NSA) steal secrets. We're number one in it". Hayden also added: "We steal stuff to make you safe, not to make you rich".[26]
According to documents seen by the news agencyReuters, these "secrets" were subsequently funneled to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans.[33] Federal agents are then instructed to "recreate" the investigative trail in order to "cover up" where the information originated.[33]
According to the congressional testimony ofKeith B. Alexander,Director of the National Security Agency, one of the purposes of its data collection is to store all the phone records inside a place that can be searched and assessed at all times. When asked by SenatorMark Udall if the goal of the NSA is to collect the phone records of all Americans, Alexander replied, "Yes, I believe it is in the nation's best interest to put all the phone records into a lockbox that we could search when the nation needs to do it."[34]
Other applications of global surveillance include the identification and containment of emerging global outbreaks. In 2003, global surveillance mechanisms were used to fight against theSARs pandemic.[35]
In theUnited States, the NSA is collecting the phone records of more than 300 million Americans.[36] The international surveillance toolXKeyscore allows government analysts to search through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals.[37][38][39] Britain's global surveillance programTempora intercepts thefibre-optic cables that form the backbone of the Internet.[40] Under the NSA'sPRISM surveillance program, data that has already reached its final destination would be directly harvested from the servers of the following U.S. service providers:Microsoft,Yahoo!,Google,Facebook,Paltalk,AOL,Skype,YouTube, andApple Inc.[41][42]
Contact chaining is a method that involves utilizing data related to social links among individuals, including call logs that connect phone numbers with each other, in order to pinpoint individuals associated with criminal groups. However, a lack of privacy guidelines can result in this process amassing an extensive portion of user data.[45]
The NSA uses the analysis of phone call and e-mail logs of American citizens to create sophisticated graphs of their social connections that can identify their associates, their locations at certain times, their traveling companions and other personal information.[44]
According totop secret NSA documents leaked by Snowden, during a single day in 2012, the NSA collectede-mailaddress books from:
Each day, the NSA collects contacts from an estimated 500,000buddy lists on live-chat services as well as from the inbox displays of Web-based e-mail accounts.[46] Taken together, the data enables the NSA to draw detailed maps of a person's life based on their personal, professional, religious and political connections.[46]
Federal agencies in the United States: Data gathered by these surveillance programs is routinely shared with the U.S.Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S.Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).[47] In addition, the NSA supplies domestic intercepts to theDrug Enforcement Administration (DEA),Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and other law enforcement agencies.[33]
Foreign countries: As a result of the NSA'ssecret treaties with foreign countries, data gathered by its surveillance programs are routinely shared with countries who are signatories to theUKUSA Agreement. These foreign countries also help to operate several NSA programs such asXKEYSCORE. (SeeInternational cooperation.)
A special branch of the NSA called "Follow the Money" (FTM) monitors international payments, banking and credit card transactions and later stores the collected data in the NSA's financial databank, "Tracfin".[48]
Mobile phone tracking refers to the act of attaining the position and coordinates of a mobile phone. According toThe Washington Post, the NSA has been tracking the locations of mobile phones from all over the world by tapping into the cables that connect mobile networks globally and that serve U.S. cellphones as well as foreign ones. In the process of doing so, the NSA collects more than 5 billion records of phone locations on a daily basis. This enables NSA analysts to map cellphone owners' relationships by correlating their patterns of movement over time with thousands or millions of other phone users who cross their paths.[49][50][51][52][53][54][55]
In order to decode private conversations, the NSA has cracked the most commonly used cellphone encryption technology,A5/1. According to a classified document leaked by Snowden, the agency can "process encrypted A5/1" even when it has not acquired an encryption key.[56] In addition, the NSA uses various types of cellphone infrastructure, such as the links between carrier networks, to determine the location of a cellphone user tracked byVisitor Location Registers.[57]
As worldwide sales ofsmartphones grew rapidly, the NSA decided to take advantage of the smartphone boom. This is particularly advantageous because the smartphone contains a variety of data sets that would interest an intelligence agency, such as social contacts, user behaviour, interests, location, photos andcredit card numbers and passwords.[58]
According to the documents leaked by Snowden, the NSA has set uptask forces assigned to several smartphone manufacturers andoperating systems, includingApple Inc.'siPhone andiOS operating system, as well asGoogle'sAndroid mobile operating system.[58] Similarly, Britain'sGCHQ assigned a team to study and crack theBlackBerry.[58] In addition, there are smaller NSA programs, known as "scripts", that can perform surveillance on 38 different features of theiOS 3 andiOS 4 operating systems. These include themapping feature,voicemail and photos, as well asGoogle Earth,Facebook andYahoo! Messenger.[58]
In contrast to thePRISM surveillance program, which is a front-door method of access that is nominally approved by theFISA court, theMUSCULAR surveillance program is noted to be "unusually aggressive" in its usage of unorthodox hacking methods to infiltrate Yahoo! and Googledata centres around the world. As the program is operated overseas (United Kingdom), the NSA presumes that anyone using a foreign data link is a foreigner, and is, therefore, able to collect content and metadata on a previously unknown scale from U.S. citizens and residents.[59] According to the documents leaked by Snowden, the MUSCULAR surveillance program is jointly operated by the NSA and Britain'sGCHQ agency.[60] (SeeInternational cooperation.)
TheFive Eyes have made repeated attempts to spy on Internet users communicating in secret via the anonymity networkTor. Several of their clandestine operations involve the implantation of malicious code into the computers of anonymous Tor users who visit infected websites. In some cases, the NSA and GCHQ have succeeded in blocking access to the anonymous network, diverting Tor users to insecure channels. In other cases, the NSA and the GCHQ were able to uncover the identity of these anonymous users.[61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69]
Under theRoyal Concierge surveillance program, Britain's GCHQ agency uses an automated monitoring system to infiltrate thereservation systems of at least 350 luxuryhotels in many different parts of the world.[70] Other related surveillance programs involve the wiretapping of room telephones and fax machines used in targeted hotels, as well as the monitoring of computers, hooked up to the hotel network.[70]
The U.S.National Security Agency (NSA), the U.S.Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and Britain'sGovernment Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) have been conducting surveillance on the networks of many online games, includingmassively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) such asWorld of Warcraft, as well asvirtual worlds such asSecond Life, and theXbox gaming console.[71]
According to the April 2013 summary of disclosures, the NSA defined its "intelligence priorities" on a scale of "1" (highest interest) to "5" (lowest interest).[26] It classified about 30 countries as "3rd parties", with whom it cooperates but also spies on:
Other prominent targets included members and adherents of the Internet group known as "Anonymous",[26] as well as potential whistleblowers.[73] According to Snowden, the NSA targeted reporters who wrote critically about the government after 9/11.[74]
As part of a joint operation with theCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA), the NSA deployed secret eavesdropping posts in eighty U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide.[75] The headquarters ofNATO were also used by NSA experts to spy on the European Union.[76]
In 2013, documents provided by Edward Snowden revealed that the followingintergovernmental organizations, diplomatic missions, and government ministries have been subjected to surveillance by the "Five Eyes":
DuringWorld War II, theBRUSA Agreement was signed by the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom for the purpose of intelligence sharing.[85] This was later formalized in theUKUSA Agreement of 1946 as asecret treaty. The full text of the agreement was released to the public on 25 June 2010.[86]
Although the treaty was later revised to include other countries such as Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Turkey, and the Philippines,[86] most of the information sharing has been performed by the so-called "Five Eyes",[87] a term referring to the following English-speakingwestern democracies and their respective intelligence agencies:
– TheAustralian Signals Directorate of Australia[87]
– TheCommunications Security Establishment of Canada[87]
– TheGovernment Communications Security Bureau of New Zealand[87]
– TheGovernment Communications Headquarters of the United Kingdom, which is widely considered to be a leader in traditional spying due to its influence on countries that were once part of theBritish Empire.[87]
– TheNational Security Agency of the United States, which has the biggest budget and the most advanced technical abilities among the "five eyes".[87]
Left:SEA-ME-WE 3, which runs across theAfro-Eurasiansupercontinent from Japan toNorthern Germany, is one of the most importantsubmarine cables accessed by the "Five Eyes". Singapore, a former British colony in the Asia-Pacific region (blue dot), plays a vital role in intercepting Internet and telecommunications traffic heading from Australia/Japan to Europe, and vice versa. An intelligence-sharing agreement between Singapore and Australia allows the rest of the "Five Eyes" to gain access toSEA-ME-WE 3.[88]
Right:TAT-14, a telecommunications cable linking Europe with the United States, was identified as one of few assets of "Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources" of the US on foreign territory. In 2013, it was revealed that British officials "pressured a handful of telecommunications and Internet companies" to allow the British government to gain access toTAT-14.[89]
According to the leaked documents, aside from the Five Eyes, most other Western countries have also participated in the NSA surveillance system and are sharing information with each other.[90] In the documents the NSA lists "approved SIGINT partners" which are partner countries in addition to the Five Eyes. Glenn Greenwald said that the "NSA often maintains these partnerships by paying its partner to develop certain technologies and engage in surveillance, and can thus direct how the spying is carried out." These partner countries are divided into two groups, "Second Parties" and "Third Parties". The Second Parties are doing comprehensive cooperation with the NSA, and the Third Parties are doing focused cooperation.[91][92] However, being a partner of the NSA does not automatically exempt a country from being targeted by the NSA itself. According to an internal NSA document leaked by Snowden, "We (the NSA) can, and often do, target the signals of most 3rd party foreign partners."[93]
TheAustralian Signals Directorate (ASD), formerly known as the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD), shares information on Australian citizens with the other members of theUKUSA Agreement. According to a 2008Five Eyes document leaked by Snowden, data of Australian citizens shared with foreign countries include "bulk, unselected, unminimised metadata" as well as "medical, legal or religious information".[96]
In close cooperation with other members of theFive Eyes community, the ASD runs secret surveillance facilities in many parts ofSoutheast Asia without the knowledge of Australian diplomats.[97] In addition, the ASD cooperates with theSecurity and Intelligence Division (SID) of theRepublic of Singapore in an international operation to intercept underwater telecommunications cables across theEastern Hemisphere and thePacific Ocean.[98]
In March 2017 it was reported that, on advice from the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, more than 500 Iraqi and Syrian refugees, have been refused entry to Australia, in the last year.[99]
TheCommunications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC) offers the NSA resources for advanced collection, processing, and analysis. It has set upcovert sites at the request of NSA.[100] The US-CanadaSIGNT relationship dates back to a secret alliance formed duringWorld War II, and was formalized in 1949 under the CANUSA Agreement.[100]
On behalf of the NSA, the CSEC opened secret surveillance facilities in 20 countries around the world.[101]
As well, theCommunications Security Establishment Canada has been revealed, following theglobal surveillance disclosures to be engaging in surveillance on Wifi Hotspots of major Canadian Airports, collecting meta-data to use for engaging in surveillance on travelers, even days after their departure from said airports.[102]
ThePolitiets Efterretningstjeneste (PET) of Denmark, a domestic intelligence agency, exchanges data with the NSA on a regular basis, as part of a secret agreement with the United States.[103] Being one of the "9-Eyes" of theUKUSA Agreement, Denmark's relationship with the NSA is closer than the NSA's relationship with Germany, Sweden, Spain, Belgium or Italy.[104]
TheDirectorate-General for External Security (DGSE) of France maintains a close relationship with both the NSA and the GCHQ after discussions for increased cooperation began in November 2006.[105] By the early 2010s, the extent of cooperation in the joint interception of digital data by the DGSE and the NSA was noted to have increased dramatically.[105][106]
In 2011, a formalmemorandum for data exchange was signed by the DGSE and the NSA, which facilitated the transfer of millions ofmetadata records from the DGSE to the NSA.[107] From December 2012 to 8 January 2013, over 70 million metadata records were handed over to the NSA by French intelligence agencies.[107]
TheBundesnachrichtendienst (BND) of Germany systematically transfers metadata from German intelligence sources to the NSA. In December 2012 alone, the BND provided the NSA with 500 million metadata records.[108] The NSA granted the Bundesnachrichtendienst access toX-Keyscore,[109] in exchange for the German surveillance programsMira4 andVeras.[108]
In early 2013,Hans-Georg Maaßen, President of the German domestic security agencyBundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), made several visits to the headquarters of the NSA. According toclassified documents of the German government, Maaßen agreed to transfer all data records of persons monitored in Germany by the BfV viaXKeyscore to the NSA.[110] In addition, the BfV works very closely with eight other U.S. government agencies, including theCIA.[111] UnderProject 6, which is jointly operated by the CIA, BfV, and BND, a massive database containing personal information such asphotos,license plate numbers,Internet search histories and telephonemetadata was developed to gain a better understanding of the social relationships of presumedjihadists.[112]
In 2012, the BfV handed over 864data sets of personal information to the CIA, NSA and seven otherU.S. intelligence agencies. In exchange, the BND received data from U.S. intelligence agencies on 1,830 occasions. The newly acquired data was handed over to the BfV and stored in a domestically accessible system known asNADIS WN.[113]
![The Dagger Complex in Darmstadt, Germany, is operated by the United States Army on behalf of the NSA. Similar to the NSA's Utah Data Center, the Dagger Complex is able to process, store, and decrypt millions of data pieces.[114]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aDagger_Complex_01.jpg)
![The Bad Aibling Station in Bavaria, Germany, was operated by the NSA until the early 2000s. It is currently run by the BND. As part of the global surveillance network ECHELON, it is the largest listening post outside Britain and the USA.[115]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aRadomes_of_Bad_Aibling_Station_1.jpg)
TheIsraeli SIGINT National Unit (ISNU) routinely receives raw, unfiltered data of U.S. citizens from the NSA. However, a secret NSA document leaked by Snowden revealed that U.S. government officials are explicitly exempted from such forms ofdata sharing with the ISNU.[116] As stated in a memorandum detailing the rules of data sharing on U.S. citizens, the ISNU is obligated to:
Destroy upon recognition any communication contained in rawSIGINT provided by NSA that is either to or from an official of the U.S. government. "U.S. government officials" include officials of the Executive Branch (includingWhite House, Cabinet Departments, and independent agencies); theU.S. House of Representatives and Senate (members and staff); and the U.S. Federal Court system (including, but not limited to, theSupreme Court).
— Memorandum of understanding between the NSA and Israel (circa 2009)
According to the undated memorandum, the ground rules for intelligence sharing between the NSA and the ISNU were laid out in March 2009.[116] Under the data sharing agreement, the ISNU is allowed to retain the identities of U.S. citizens (excluding U.S. government officials) for up to a year.[116]
In 2011, the NSA asked the Japanese government to intercept underwater fibre-optic cables carrying phone and Internet data in theAsia-Pacific region. However, the Japanese government refused to comply.[117]
Under the reign ofMuammar Gaddafi, the Libyan regime forged a partnership with Britain's secret serviceMI6 and the U.S.Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to obtain information about Libyan dissidents living in the United States and Canada. In exchange, Gaddafi allowed the Western democracies to use Libya as a base forextraordinary renditions.[118][119][120][121][122]
TheAlgemene Inlichtingen en Veiligheidsdienst (AIVD) of the Netherlands has been receiving and storing data of Internet users gathered by U.S. intelligence sources such as the NSA'sPRISM surveillance program.[123] During a meeting in February 2013, the AIVD and theMIVD briefed the NSA on their attempts to hackInternet forums and to collect the data of all users using a technology known asComputer Network Exploitation (CNE).[124]
TheNorwegian Intelligence Service (NIS) has confirmed that data collected by the agency is "shared with the Americans".[125]Kjell Grandhagen, head of Norwegian military intelligence told reporters at a news conference that "We share this information with partners, and partners share with us ... We are talking about huge amounts of traffic data".[126]
In cooperation with the NSA, the NIS has gained access to Russian targets in theKola Peninsula and other civilian targets. In general, the NIS provides information to the NSA about "Politicians", "Energy" and "Armament".[127] Atop secret memo of the NSA lists the following years as milestones of theNorway-United States of America SIGNT agreement, or NORUS Agreement:
The NSA perceives the NIS as one of its most reliable partners. Both agencies also cooperate to crack the encryption systems of mutual targets. According to the NSA, Norway has made no objections to its requests.[128]
TheDefence Ministry of Singapore and itsSecurity and Intelligence Division (SID) have been secretly intercepting much of the fibre optic cable traffic passing through the Asian continent. In close cooperation with theAustralian Signals Directorate (ASD/DSD), Singapore's SID has been able to interceptSEA-ME-WE 3 (Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 3) as well asSEA-ME-WE 4telecommunications cables.[98] Access to these international telecommunications channels is facilitated by Singapore's government-owned operator,SingTel.[98]Temasek Holdings, a multibillion-dollarsovereign wealth fund with a majority stake in SingTel, has maintained close relations with the country's intelligence agencies.[98]
Information gathered by theGovernment of Singapore is transferred to theGovernment of Australia as part of an intelligence sharing agreement. This allows the "Five Eyes" to maintain a "stranglehold on communications across theEastern Hemisphere".[88]
In close cooperation with theCentro Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI), the NSA intercepted 60.5 million phone calls in Spain in a single month.[129][130]
TheFörsvarets radioanstalt (FRA) of Sweden (codenamedSardines)[131] has allowed the "Five Eyes" to access underwater cables in theBaltic Sea.[131] On 5 December 2013,Sveriges Television (Swedish Television) revealed that the FRA has been conducting a clandestine surveillance operation targeting the internal politics of Russia. The operation was conducted on behalf of the NSA, which receives data handed over to it by the FRA.[132][133]
According to documents leaked by Snowden, the FRA of Sweden has been granted access to the NSA's international surveillance programXKeyscore.[134]
TheFederal Intelligence Service (NDB) of Switzerland exchanges information with the NSA regularly, on the basis of a secret agreement to circumvent domestic surveillance restrictions.[135][136] In addition, the NSA has been granted access to Swiss surveillance facilities inLeuk (canton ofValais) andHerrenschwanden (canton ofBern), which are part of the Swiss surveillance programOnyx.[135]
According to the NDB, the agency maintains working relationships with about 100 international organizations. However, the NDB has denied any form of cooperation with the NSA.[137] Although the NSA does not have direct access to Switzerland'sOnyx surveillance program, the Director of the NDB acknowledged that it is possible for other U.S. intelligence agencies to gain access to Switzerland's surveillance system.[137]
In 2025, the Swiss government started the consultation of the "Telecommunications surveillance and companies obliged to cooperate".[138] This law - if passed - was branded as enabling "surveillance worse than the US" in Switzerland.[139]
The British government allowed the NSA to store personal data of British citizens.[140]
UnderProject MINARET, anti-Vietnam War dissidents in the United States were jointly targeted by the GCHQ and the NSA.[141][142]
![RAF Menwith Hill, near Harrogate, North Yorkshire, is the biggest listening post outside the United States. It was used by U.S. military personnel to spy on Britons on behalf of MI5 and MI6.[143]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aMenwith-hill-radomes.jpg)
 National Security Agency surveillance |
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 Map of global NSA data collection as of 2007[update], with countries subject to the most data collection shown in red |
Programs
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The CIA paysAT&T more than US$10 million a year to gain access to international phone records, including those of U.S. citizens.[144]
The NSA'sForeign Affairs Directorate interacts with foreign intelligence services and members of theFive Eyes to implement global surveillance.[145]
The FBI acts as theliaison between U.S. intelligence agencies andSilicon Valley giants such asMicrosoft.[47]
In the early 2010s, theDHS conducted a joint surveillance operation with the FBI to crack down on dissidents of theOccupy Wall Street protest movement.[146][147][148]
The NSA supplies domestic intercepts to theDrug Enforcement Administration (DEA),Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and other law enforcement agencies, who use intercepted data to initiate criminal investigations against US citizens. Federal agents are instructed to "recreate" the investigative trail in order to "cover up" where the information originated.[33]
Weeks after theSeptember 11 attacks, U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush signed thePatriot Act to ensure no disruption in the government's ability to conduct global surveillance:
This new law that I sign today will allow surveillance of all communications used byterrorists, includinge-mails, theInternet andcell phones.
— U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush on the implementation of thePatriot Act after theSeptember 11 attacks[149]
The Patriot Act was extended by U.S. PresidentBarack Obama in May 2011 to further extend the federal government's legal authority to conduct additional forms of surveillance such asroving wiretaps.[150]
Over 70 percent of theUnited States Intelligence Community's budget is earmarked for payment to private firms.[151] According toForbes magazine, the defense technology companyLockheed Martin is currently the US's biggest defense contractor, and it is destined to be the NSA's most powerful commercial partner and biggest contractor in terms of dollar revenue.[152]
In a joint operation with the NSA, the American telecommunications corporationAT&T operatesRoom 641A in theSBC Communications building inSan Francisco to spy on Internet traffic.[153] The CIA paysAT&T more than US$10 million a year to gain access to international phone records, including those of U.S. citizens.[144]
Projects developed byBooz Allen Hamilton include theStrategic Innovation Group to identifyterrorists through social media, on behalf of government agencies.[154] During thefiscal year of 2013, Booz Allen Hamilton derived 99% of its income from the government, with the largest portion of its revenue coming from theU.S. Army.[154] In 2013, Booz Allen Hamilton was hailed byBloomberg Businessweek as "the World's Most Profitable Spy Organization".[155]
British Telecommunications (code-namedRemedy[156]), a major supplier of telecommunications, granted Britain's intelligence agency GCHQ "unlimited access" to its network of undersea cables, according to documents leaked by Snowden.[156]
The American multinational corporationMicrosoft helped the NSA to circumvent software encryption safeguards. It also allowed the federal government to monitor web chats on theOutlook.com portal.[47] In 2013, Microsoft worked with the FBI to allow the NSA to gain access to the company'scloud storage serviceSkyDrive.[47]
The French telecommunications corporationOrange S.A. shares customer call data with the French intelligence agency DGSE, and the intercepted data is handed over to GCHQ.[157]
RSA Security was paid US$10 million by the NSA to introduce acryptographicbackdoor in its encryption products.[158]
Strategic Forecasting, Inc., more commonly known asStratfor, is a global intelligence company offering information to governments and private clients includingDow Chemical Company,Lockheed Martin,Northrop Grumman,Raytheon, theU.S. Department of Homeland Security, theU.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, and theU.S. Marine Corps.[159]
The British telecommunications companyVodafone (code-namedGerontic[156]) granted Britain's intelligence agency GCHQ "unlimited access" to its network of undersea cables, according to documents leaked by Snowden.[156]
In-Q-Tel, which receives more than US$56 million a year in government support,[160] is aventure capital firm that enables the CIA to invest inSilicon Valley.[160]
Palantir Technologies is adata mining corporation with close ties to the FBI, NSA and CIA.[161][162]
Based inPalo Alto, California, the company developed a data collection and analytical program known asPrism.[163][164]
In 2011, it was revealed that the company conducted surveillance onGlenn Greenwald.[165][166]
Several countries have evaded global surveillance by constructing secretbunker facilities deep below the Earth's surface.[167]
Despite North Korea being a priority target, the NSA's internal documents acknowledged that it did not know much aboutKim Jong-un and his regime's intentions.[72]
In October 2012, Iran's police chief Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam alleged thatGoogle is not a search engine but "a spying tool" for Western intelligence agencies.[168] Six months later in April 2013, the country announced plans to introduce an "IslamicGoogle Earth" to evade global surveillance.[169]
Libya evaded surveillance by building "hardened and buried" bunkers at least 40 feet below ground level.[167]
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The global surveillance disclosure has caused tension in thebilateral relations of the United States with several of its allies and economic partners as well as in its relationship with theEuropean Union. On 12 August 2013, President Obama announced the creation of an "independent" panel of "outside experts" to review the NSA's surveillance programs. The panel is due to be established by the Director of National Intelligence,James R. Clapper, who will consult and provide assistance to them.[170]
According to a survey undertaken by the human rights groupPEN International, these disclosures have had achilling effect on American writers. Fearing the risk of being targeted by government surveillance, 28% of PEN's American members have curbed their usage of social media, and 16% haveself-censored themselves by avoiding controversial topics in their writings.[171]
![According to Snowden's documents, the United Nations Headquarters and the United Nations General Assembly were targeted by NSA employees disguised as diplomats.[75]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aUN_General_Assembly_hall.jpg)
![Citing Snowden's documents, The Guardian reported that British officials had set up fake Internet cafes at the 2009 G-20 London summit to spy on the delegates' use of computers, and to install key-logging software on the delegates' phones. This allowed British representatives to gain a "negotiating advantage" at the summit.[172]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aLondon_Summit_2009-1.jpg)
![According to Snowden's interview with the South China Morning Post, the U.S. government has been hacking numerous non-military targets in China for years. Other high-priority targets include academic institutions such as the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing.[173]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aTsinghua_University_-_Square_building.JPG)
![The Council of the European Union, with its headquarters at the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels, was targeted by NSA employees working near the headquarters of NATO. An NSA document dated September 2010 explicitly names the Europeans as a "location target".[174]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aJustus_Lipsius%2c_Eastern_side.jpg)
![The reservations system of Russia's Aeroflot airline was hacked by the NSA.[175]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aAeroflot_A321-200_VP-BWN_SVO_Jun_2011.png)
![Petrobras, currently the world's leader in offshore deepwater drilling, is a "prominent" target of the U.S. government.[176]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aOil_platform_P-51_(Brazil).jpg)
![From 2002 to 2013, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel was targeted by the U.S. Special Collection Service.[177]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aAngela_Merkel_(2008).jpg)
![Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (pictured) and Defense Minister Ehud Barak were included in a list of surveillance targets used by the GCHQ and the NSA.[178]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aEhud_Olmert_2006.jpg)
![Joaquín Almunia, who served as the European Commissioner for Competition and the Vice-President of the European Commission, was targeted by Britain's GCHQ agency.[79]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aJoaquin_Almunia_Mercosul.jpg)
![Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife were placed under surveillance by the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD).[179] During the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, the ASD cooperated with the NSA to conduct mass surveillance on the Indonesian hosts.[180]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aSusilo_Bambang_Yudhoyono%2c_official_presidential_portrait_(2004).jpg)
![The video gaming network Xbox Live was placed under surveillance to unravel possible terrorist plots.[181]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aXbox-Duke-Controller.jpg)
Snowden used the press to inform the world that a global surveillance state may be being built. This led to the beginning of a global political debate on digital communications surveillance.
It wasn't until 1971 that the UKUSA allies began ECHELON
"Is it the goal of the NSA to collect the phone records of all Americans?" Udall asked at Thursday's hearing. "Yes, I believe it is in the nation's best interest to put all the phone records into a lockbox that we could search when the nation needs to do it. Yes," Alexander replied.
The Utah facility, one of the Pentagon's biggest U.S. construction projects, has become a symbol of the spy agency's surveillance prowess, which gained broad attention in the wake of leaks from NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
What they are doing is collecting the phone records of more than 300 million Americans.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Snowden: Yes, of course. We're (the NSA) in bed together with the Germans the same as with most other Western countries.
The NSA classifies about 30 other countries as "3rd parties," with whom it cooperates, though with reservations. Germany is one of them. "We can, and often do, target the signals of most 3rd party foreign partners," the secret NSA document reads.
Seit Juli 2013 testet der Verfassungsschutz die Späh- und Analysesoftware XKeyscore. Sollte der Geheimdienst das Programm im Regelbetrieb nutzen, hat sich das BfV verpflichtet, alle Erkenntnisse mit der NSA zu teilen. Das hatte der Präsident des Bundesamtes, Hans-Georg Maaßen, dem US-Dienst zugesichert. Im Januar und Mai war Maaßen zu Besuchen bei der NSA.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Niet alleen Amerikaanse inlichtingendiensten monitoren internetters wereldwijd. Ook Nederlandse geheime diensten krijgen informatie uit het omstreden surveillanceprogramma 'Prism'.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Die NSA hat sowohl mit der Schweiz wie Dänemark eine geheime Vereinbarung abgeschlossen, die den Austausch von Geheimdienstinformationen regelt. Die Vereinbarung berechtigt die NSA, eigene Schlüsselbegriffe in die Abhörsysteme beider Staaten einspeisen zu lassen. Im Tausch für damit gewonnene Erkenntnisse der schweizerischen und dänischen Auslandaufklärung erhalten der NDB und der dänische Geheimdienst PET von der NSA Informationen, die sie im eigenen Land aufgrund gesetzlicher Schranken nicht selber sammeln dürfen. Das geheime Abkommen macht auch die Schweiz zu einem NSA-Horchposten.
The Palo Alto., California-based start-up has drawn attention because of its Prism software product
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