Getty Images Commuters on a train to London looking at their mobile phones and iPad texting and playing games
Over the last couple of years, through the revelations of Ed Snowden and independent reporting by others, we've learned more and more about the National Security Agency's spying programs. Indeed, there have now been so many revelations that it can be hard to keep them straight. So here's a handy guide to the most significant ways the NSA spies on people in the United States and around the world.
This was one of the first programs revealed by Snowden and it continues to be one of the most controversial. The Patriot Act allows the NSA to obtain business records that are relevant to terrorist investigations. The government claims that this gives it the power to obtain records phone number dialed, time and duration of call aboutevery domestic phone call in the United States. Last year the Obama administrationproposed changes to require judicial oversight of access to the database.
A slide disclosed by Snowden lists 9 major internet companies Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, YouTube, Skype, AOL, and Apple as participating in thePRISM program. The program allows the NSA to get private information such as emails, Facebook messages, and stored documents. It's not known how carefully these information requests are scrutinized.
Tailored Access Operations is the NSA's elite hacking unit. While some other NSA programs collect information in bulk, TAO engages in targeted attacks on high-value targets. It is believed that the NSA has a large library of exploits, allowing it to hack into a wide variety of consumer gadgets and business IT systems.
The NSAworks with countries around the world to tap into underseas fiber optic cables carrying vast quantities of fiber optic data. There's also evidence that the NSA has beentapping into fiber optic cables in the United States.
When you log into GMail, you'll see a "lock" icon indicating that communications between your computer and Google's server is protected by encryption. But until recently, Google didn't employ encryption when it moved data between its own servers. The NSA tapped into these connections and harvested large quantities of user data. Yahoo was also targeted.
Documents released by Snowden suggest that at least 35 world leadershave been targeted by the NSA, includingBrazilian president Dilma Rousseff and Mexican president Enrique Pea Nieto. There were also allegations last year that the NSA spied on Germanchancellor Angela Merkel, though a subsequent investigation cast doubt on that claim.
The NSA tapped into communications systems in Brazil andGermany and likely other countries as well to collect information about ordinary peoples' phone calls and emails.
The NSA has spied on cell phone networks around the world, collecting5 billion records per day about the locations of users' cell phones. The agency isn't allowed to deliberately target cell phone users in the United States, but some American cell phone records have been collected "incidentally."
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13 ways the NSA has spied on us
- WikiLeaks' Julian Assange: NSA critics got lucky because agency had no PR strategy - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- National Speakers Association New Jersey Chapter NSA - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- National Security Agency - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- NSA - Satu Hari Di Bulan Juni (TULUS) (COVER) - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Hong Kong: Protesters blow whistles for NSA whistle blower - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- An Inside Look at the NSA With Whistleblower William Binney (Part 2 of 2) - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- UK: China will offer fig leaves to US exposed by NSA leaker - Assange - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- NSA ~ (Autodidactism) Whistleblowing - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- Dropping #NSA Knowledge Like a Clumsy Librarian - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- Full Show: Disband The NSA or; Corruption in the Capitol FO SHIZZLE {aTV002} - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- NSA DOCUMENTARY SIX YEARS BEFORE SNOWDEN - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- ShmooCon 2014: The NSA: Capabilities and Countermeasures - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- NSA Knew Of Heartbleed Bug, Refused To Protect Americans - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- Former NSA Head To Become Columnist For Conservative Paper To Discuss Intelligence - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- An Inside Look at the NSA With Whistleblower William Binney (Part 1 of 2) - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- Keynote Address by Shri Shivshankar Menon, NSA at International Seminar on Kautilya - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- NSA Wiretapping: A 4th Amendment Violation?: Blake Norvell at TEDxSMU - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- Hang with Rand: Email Privacy, NSA Spying, and Defending Our Civil Liberties - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- NSA Surveillance and What To Do About It - Bruce Schneier - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- READER SUBMITTED: NSA CT April 2014 Meeting - April 28th, 2014 [April 28th, 2014]
- MVI 1847 Obama's NSA Denies FOIA About MH 370! - Video - April 28th, 2014 [April 28th, 2014]
- George Galloway's Sputnik: Ewen MacAskill on Guardian / Edward Snowden NSA leaks (26Apr14) - Video - April 28th, 2014 [April 28th, 2014]
- CIA & NSA DIRECTED ENERGY WEAPON ATTACK ON WHISTLE BLOWER - Video - April 28th, 2014 [April 28th, 2014]
- Book TV - 2014 San Antonio Book Festival: Panel on the NSA, Big Brother, and Democracy - Video - April 28th, 2014 [April 28th, 2014]
- NSA Throwdown: John Oliver v. 60 Minutes - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- NSA will sit on security vulnerabilities because of terrorism - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- New water records show NSA Utah Data Center likely behind schedule - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- MVI 1871 NSA Might Be OnTo Me! - Video - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- ZyXEL NSA 325 v2 Hands On - Deutsch / German notebooksbilliger.de - Video - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- German opposition says US should destroy Merkel's NSA file - Video - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- Germany: NSA spying "unacceptable" says SPD - Video - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- NSA Surveillance 2 - Video - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- NSA Surveillance Panel 1 - Video - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- Chalk Talk How Snowden Breached NSA Security - Video - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- NSA reveals some cyber security flaws are left secret - April 30th, 2014 [April 30th, 2014]
- NSA data center uses less water than expected - April 30th, 2014 [April 30th, 2014]
- April 2014 Breaking News Do you use Google or Yahoo? NSA Intercepts Google And Yahoo Traffic - Video - April 30th, 2014 [April 30th, 2014]
- Supreme Court could weigh in on NSA case, justice says - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- New NSA chief: Agency has lost trust - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- NSA on Heartbleed: 'We're not legally allowed to lie to you' - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- What's The NSA Doing Now? Training More Cyberwarriors - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Anonymous NSA - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Cutting off H2O to the NSA - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Brazil: Greenwald slams US media, shares tips to avoid NSA - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- NSA IS TRYINGG 2 KILL ME FAMS - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- What was more popular on Twitter, NSA, NRA or NBA..today? - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- CIS111: NSA Uncovered - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Views from the Street on NSA Activities and Liberty (6/6) - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Views from the Street on NSA Activities and Liberty (4/6) - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Views from the Street on NSA Activities and Liberty (3/6) - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Views from the Street on NSA Activities and Liberty (2/6) - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Views from the Street on NSA Activities and Liberty (1/6) - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Germany: NSA may have accidentally outed secret base - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- ZyXEL NSA 325 v2 Installations-Wizard - Deutsch / German notebooksbilliger.de - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Tech firms to increase alerts about police requests for data -- report - May 2nd, 2014 [May 2nd, 2014]
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits US, after the NSA eavesdropping scandal - Video - May 2nd, 2014 [May 2nd, 2014]
- NSA spies on more US citizens than Russians Snowden - May 3rd, 2014 [May 3rd, 2014]
- THE NEXT NSA?Police under scrutiny for using spying technology - May 3rd, 2014 [May 3rd, 2014]
- Ukraine and NSA will test Merkel - Video - May 3rd, 2014 [May 3rd, 2014]
- The Latest Attacks On NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden - Kevin Gosztola Discusses - Video - May 3rd, 2014 [May 3rd, 2014]
- Still Report #246 - NSA Classifies MH370 Material - Video - May 4th, 2014 [May 4th, 2014]
- Code Talker Induction into NSA Hall of Honor - Video - May 4th, 2014 [May 4th, 2014]
- NSA ( National Security Agency ) refusal to release documents on UFO's - Video - May 4th, 2014 [May 4th, 2014]
- Obama & NSA Refuse FOIA Request on Malaysia Flight deemed classified - Video - May 4th, 2014 [May 4th, 2014]
- Kafkawinstons World`s Channel Terminated NSA is replacing Channel`s with Sockpuppet Channel`s - Video - May 4th, 2014 [May 4th, 2014]
- NSA Volunteer Justin Hall at the NSA Comedy Tour February 2014 - Video - May 4th, 2014 [May 4th, 2014]
- Barack Obama on NSA Surveillance I'd Be Concerned Too If I Wasn't in Government - Video - May 4th, 2014 [May 4th, 2014]
- GBPPR Vision #26: Overview of the NSA's TAWDRYYARD Radar Retro-Reflector - Video - May 4th, 2014 [May 4th, 2014]
- NSA proof phone Case - Video - May 5th, 2014 [May 5th, 2014]
- 2014 NSA 2014 Million Dollar Publisher's Lab - Video - May 5th, 2014 [May 5th, 2014]
- Gen. Michael Hayden - the Former Director of NSA and the CIA - Video - May 5th, 2014 [May 5th, 2014]
- REVEALED: Here's The Solution To That Encoded NSA Puzzle Tweet - May 5th, 2014 [May 5th, 2014]
- Michael Hayden's Unwitting Case Against Secret Surveillance - May 5th, 2014 [May 5th, 2014]
- NSA's Encrypted Tweet: We're Hiring Code Breakers - May 5th, 2014 [May 5th, 2014]
- Russ Tice: Life as a NSA Whistleblower - Video - May 5th, 2014 [May 5th, 2014]
- What Is Going on at NSA These Days - Video - May 5th, 2014 [May 5th, 2014]
- What is the Role of the NSA? AFF Dallas Debates - Video - May 5th, 2014 [May 5th, 2014]
- Edward Snowden said CIA , and NSA had 52. 6 Billion for black budget - Video - May 5th, 2014 [May 5th, 2014]
- NSA looks to appeal to young cryptographers through coded ads - May 6th, 2014 [May 6th, 2014]
- Code Cracked: Mysterious NSA Tweet Is Decrypted in Seconds - May 6th, 2014 [May 6th, 2014]