SEXINT is the practice of monitoring and/or characterizing/indexing the pornographic preferences of internet users in an effort to later use the information forblackmail. The term is aportmanteau ofsexualintelligence retrieved on anintelligence service target and was first used byJennifer Granick, Director of Civil Liberties at theStanford Center for Internet and Society.[1][2]
The term was first used specifically in reference to the practice byFive Eyes member, theNational Security Agency of the United States of America. It is unclear how often these programs and methods are used in comparison to other Five Eyes initiatives such asOptic Nerve (GCHQ), andXKEYSCORE.
A leaked NSA document from October 2012 identified six people, allMuslims, whom the document termed "radicalizers" and presented as potential targets of this method. The document does not accuse any of the six targets of involvement in terrorist plots, but rather states that "the NSA believes the targeted individuals radicalize people through the expression of controversial ideas via YouTube, Facebook and other social media websites".[3]
