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65 Things We've Learned About the NSA
(Updated: October 30, 2013)
National Security Agency secretly broke into the main communications links
that connect Yahoo and Google data centers around the world.
Washington Post, October 30, 2013
NSA eavesdropped on Vatican phone calls, possibly spying on conclave
that selected Pope Francis.
Chicago Tribune, October 30, 2013
White House signed off on spying of foreign leaders, according to
intelligence agency officials.
Los Angeles Times, October 28, 2013
Administration source claims the President never approved NSA tapping
phones of foreign leaders because “the NSA has so many eavesdropping
programs, it would not have listed all of them for the president.”
CNN, October 28, 2013
NSA recently tracked over 60 million calls in Spain in the space of a month.
Reuters, October 28, 2013
NSA monitored phone calls of 35 world leaders.
The Guardian, October 24, 2013
German government claims it has information that the US may have
monitored cell phone conversations of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Reuters, October 23, 2013
NSA spent $652 million to implant spyware on tens of millions of computers.
BBC, October 22, 2013
NSA collected more than 70 million French phone records in a single month.
Washington Post, October 21, 2013
NSA hacked Mexican President Felipe Calderon's email account.
Der Spiegel, October 20, 2013
Documents reveal NSA’s extensive involvement in killer drone program.
Washington Post, October 16, 2013
NSA collects contacts from an estimated 500,000 buddy lists on live chat
services each day.
Washington Post, October 14, 2013
NSA Director defends the organizations mass surveillance programs, but
believes the spies need to do a better job of explaining them to the public.
New York Times, October 12, 2013
Despite increasing controversy and criticism, secret court renews NSA’s
authorization to continue sweeping phone data.
Office of the Director of Natational Intelligence press release, October 11, 2013
NSA’s computer HQ, bigger than Google’s largest data center, has
experienced 10 electricity meltdowns and repeated loss of equipment
in the last year.
Wall Street Journal, October 7, 2013
NSA targeted Tor network, relied upon by dissidents and activists for
anonymous communication.
The Guardian, October 4, 2013
Newly unsealed document reveal that email provider used by Edward
Snowden ordered to hand over encryption codes for Snowden’s messages
(and those of all 400,000 other users) or pay $5,000 per day fine.
Wired, October 2, 2013
NSA chief admits misleading the public with figures on terror plots foiled
by spying.
Washington Times, October 2, 2013
In 2010 and 2011 the NSA conducted a secret test of a program to collect
bulk data about the cellphone locations of Americans.
New York Times, October 2, 2013
Privacy activist who initiated protest letter to NSA refused entry to the US
—and officials refuse to tell him why.
The Guardian, October 1, 2013
NSA ‘Marina’ project tracks users browser activity and contact info for the
last year, and can be used to create lifestyle profiles of millions of people—
including US citizens who aren't suspects.
The Guardian, September 30, 2013
CEO imprisoned after he wouldn't spy for NSA wasn't allowed to mention
this during his trial, or to present evidence that his prosecution may have
been in retaliation for his refusal.
Washington Post, September 30, 2013
Since 2010, the NSA has tracked the social network connections of US
citizens.
New York Times, September 28, 2013l
NSA employee made unauthorized intercepts of the phone calls of
numerous women over a period of six years without it being detected.
The Guardian, September 27, 2013
Director of NSA tells the Senate Intelligence Committee that there is no
legal limit to how much phone date the government can collect.
Wall Street Journal, September 26, 2013
Senator Feinstein admits NSA is collecting Internet data upstream through
secret agreements with telco companies—in direct contradiction to NSA
public statements.
C-Span, September 26, 2013
Newly released documents show the NSA spied on Muhammad Ali, Martin
Luther King, Frank Church, Howard Baker and others.
The Guardian, September 26, 2013
NSA spy center in Utah has an estimated data capacity of 5 zettabytes—
the equivalent of 1.25 trillion DVDs.
NPR, September 23, 2013
NSA gathers 13.5 billion pieces of information on India over the course of
just 30 days.
The Hindu, September 23, 2013
NSA pays around $300 million per dollars to AT&T, Verizon and other
telecom companies in exchange for access to phone calls.
Forbes, September 23, 2013
Secret court that authorized NSA spying contradicted the US Supreme
Court on constitutional rights.
The Guardian, September 22, 2013
Justice Department internal ethics watchdog never probed judges’ concerns
about NSA surveillance.
USA Today, September 19, 2013
Department of Justice tried to stop USA Today from running the above
story.
Cryptome.org, September 19, 2013
USA telecommunications companies have never challenged NSA demands
to hand over bulk metadata.
Wired. September 17, 2103
NSA monitors banks and credit card transactions -- sometimes in apparent
violation of national laws and global regulations.
Der Spiegel, September 16, 2013
NSA spent taxpayer dollars to build a war room modeled to look like the
USS Enterprise from Star Trek.
PBS, September 13, 2013
NSA disguised itself as Google to spy.
CNET, September 12, 2013
NSA shares raw intelligence, including private information of American
citizens with Israel. Secret deal places no limits on how Israel uses this data.
The Guardian, September 11, 2013
Yahoo CEO announces that she would have face prison if she told the truth
about her company’s participation in NSA spying.
The Guardian, September 11, 2013
NSA violated laws on phone spying for years and misled the secret court
that oversaw its operations.
Bloomberg News, September 11, 2013
NSA violations led judge to consider viability of surveillance program.
The Guardian, September 10, 2013
NSA used its influence to undermine vital web security standards.
Boing Boing, September 8, 2013
NSA can access private data on iPhones, BlackBerry and Android devices.
Washington Post, September 8, 2013
The NSA invested billions of dollars in a program code-named Bullrun to
hack the encryption that protects banking data, medical records, etc.
New York Times September 5, 2013
NSA hacks “tens of thousands” of private computers every year.
Wired, September 4, 2013
NSA spyed on private emails of the Presidents of Brazil and Mexico.
NBC News, September 2, 2013
NSA spied on news broadcaster Al Jazeera
Der Spiegel, August 31, 2013
NSA believes it has the right to turn any private business into mass
surveillance operation.
USA Today, August 27, 2013
NSA bugged the United Nations
The Atlantic, August 25, 2013
NSA employees used surveillance technology to spy on their lovers.
Washington Post, August 24, 2103
NSA paid millions to Google, Yahoo, Facebook and other companies to
fund their help in surveillance.
The Guardian, August 22, 2013
NSA program traced more than email metadata, but also included
online communications—covering 75% of all web traffic.
Wall Street Journal, August 20, 2013
NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year.
Washington Post, August 15, 2013
Members of Congress denied acces to basic information about the NSA.
The Guardian, August 4, 2013
NSA tool collects “nearly everything a user does on the internet”
The Guardian, July 31, 2013
Low-level NSA analysts could access information on private citizens with
little or no supervison or court oversight.
ABC News, July 28, 2013
Microsoft gave NSA tools to unlock Outlook encryption even before
official launch.
The Guardian, July 12, 2013
NSA head James Clapper lied to Congress under oath.
Washington Post, June 30, 2013
Misleading NSA fact sheet on surveillance program pulled from
web after senators’ criticism
Washington Post, June 25, 2013
Secret court has authorized broad orders allowing NSA to use information
"inadvertently" collected from US citizens.
The Guardian, June 20, 2013
NSA swaps data with thousands of firms.
Bloomberg, June 14, 2013
NSA program code-named Boundless Informant gathered 3 billion pieces
of intelligence in a single 30-day period.
The Guardian, June 11, 2013
NSA’s new Utah spy center will cover1.5 million square feet and use
enough electricity to power 65,000 homes.
NPR, June 10, 2013
AT&T, Sprint also provide user information to the NSA.
Wall Street Journal, June 7, 2013
NSA Prism program taps into user data of Apple, Google, Facebook
and others.
The Guardian June 6, 2013
NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers daily.
The Guardian, June 5, 2013
(Updated: October 30, 2013)
National Security Agency secretly broke into the main communications links
that connect Yahoo and Google data centers around the world.
Washington Post, October 30, 2013
NSA eavesdropped on Vatican phone calls, possibly spying on conclave
that selected Pope Francis.
Chicago Tribune, October 30, 2013
White House signed off on spying of foreign leaders, according to
intelligence agency officials.
Los Angeles Times, October 28, 2013
Administration source claims the President never approved NSA tapping
phones of foreign leaders because “the NSA has so many eavesdropping
programs, it would not have listed all of them for the president.”
CNN, October 28, 2013
NSA recently tracked over 60 million calls in Spain in the space of a month.
Reuters, October 28, 2013
NSA monitored phone calls of 35 world leaders.
The Guardian, October 24, 2013
German government claims it has information that the US may have
monitored cell phone conversations of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Reuters, October 23, 2013
NSA spent $652 million to implant spyware on tens of millions of computers.
BBC, October 22, 2013
NSA collected more than 70 million French phone records in a single month.
Washington Post, October 21, 2013
NSA hacked Mexican President Felipe Calderon's email account.
Der Spiegel, October 20, 2013
Documents reveal NSA’s extensive involvement in killer drone program.
Washington Post, October 16, 2013
NSA collects contacts from an estimated 500,000 buddy lists on live chat
services each day.
Washington Post, October 14, 2013
NSA Director defends the organizations mass surveillance programs, but
believes the spies need to do a better job of explaining them to the public.
New York Times, October 12, 2013
Despite increasing controversy and criticism, secret court renews NSA’s
authorization to continue sweeping phone data.
Office of the Director of Natational Intelligence press release, October 11, 2013
NSA’s computer HQ, bigger than Google’s largest data center, has
experienced 10 electricity meltdowns and repeated loss of equipment
in the last year.
Wall Street Journal, October 7, 2013
NSA targeted Tor network, relied upon by dissidents and activists for
anonymous communication.
The Guardian, October 4, 2013
Newly unsealed document reveal that email provider used by Edward
Snowden ordered to hand over encryption codes for Snowden’s messages
(and those of all 400,000 other users) or pay $5,000 per day fine.
Wired, October 2, 2013
NSA chief admits misleading the public with figures on terror plots foiled
by spying.
Washington Times, October 2, 2013
In 2010 and 2011 the NSA conducted a secret test of a program to collect
bulk data about the cellphone locations of Americans.
New York Times, October 2, 2013
Privacy activist who initiated protest letter to NSA refused entry to the US
—and officials refuse to tell him why.
The Guardian, October 1, 2013
NSA ‘Marina’ project tracks users browser activity and contact info for the
last year, and can be used to create lifestyle profiles of millions of people—
including US citizens who aren't suspects.
The Guardian, September 30, 2013
CEO imprisoned after he wouldn't spy for NSA wasn't allowed to mention
this during his trial, or to present evidence that his prosecution may have
been in retaliation for his refusal.
Washington Post, September 30, 2013
Since 2010, the NSA has tracked the social network connections of US
citizens.
New York Times, September 28, 2013l
NSA employee made unauthorized intercepts of the phone calls of
numerous women over a period of six years without it being detected.
The Guardian, September 27, 2013
Director of NSA tells the Senate Intelligence Committee that there is no
legal limit to how much phone date the government can collect.
Wall Street Journal, September 26, 2013
Senator Feinstein admits NSA is collecting Internet data upstream through
secret agreements with telco companies—in direct contradiction to NSA
public statements.
C-Span, September 26, 2013
Newly released documents show the NSA spied on Muhammad Ali, Martin
Luther King, Frank Church, Howard Baker and others.
The Guardian, September 26, 2013
NSA spy center in Utah has an estimated data capacity of 5 zettabytes—
the equivalent of 1.25 trillion DVDs.
NPR, September 23, 2013
NSA gathers 13.5 billion pieces of information on India over the course of
just 30 days.
The Hindu, September 23, 2013
NSA pays around $300 million per dollars to AT&T, Verizon and other
telecom companies in exchange for access to phone calls.
Forbes, September 23, 2013
Secret court that authorized NSA spying contradicted the US Supreme
Court on constitutional rights.
The Guardian, September 22, 2013
Justice Department internal ethics watchdog never probed judges’ concerns
about NSA surveillance.
USA Today, September 19, 2013
Department of Justice tried to stop USA Today from running the above
story.
Cryptome.org, September 19, 2013
USA telecommunications companies have never challenged NSA demands
to hand over bulk metadata.
Wired. September 17, 2103
NSA monitors banks and credit card transactions -- sometimes in apparent
violation of national laws and global regulations.
Der Spiegel, September 16, 2013
NSA spent taxpayer dollars to build a war room modeled to look like the
USS Enterprise from Star Trek.
PBS, September 13, 2013
NSA disguised itself as Google to spy.
CNET, September 12, 2013
NSA shares raw intelligence, including private information of American
citizens with Israel. Secret deal places no limits on how Israel uses this data.
The Guardian, September 11, 2013
Yahoo CEO announces that she would have face prison if she told the truth
about her company’s participation in NSA spying.
The Guardian, September 11, 2013
NSA violated laws on phone spying for years and misled the secret court
that oversaw its operations.
Bloomberg News, September 11, 2013
NSA violations led judge to consider viability of surveillance program.
The Guardian, September 10, 2013
NSA used its influence to undermine vital web security standards.
Boing Boing, September 8, 2013
NSA can access private data on iPhones, BlackBerry and Android devices.
Washington Post, September 8, 2013
The NSA invested billions of dollars in a program code-named Bullrun to
hack the encryption that protects banking data, medical records, etc.
New York Times September 5, 2013
NSA hacks “tens of thousands” of private computers every year.
Wired, September 4, 2013
NSA spyed on private emails of the Presidents of Brazil and Mexico.
NBC News, September 2, 2013
NSA spied on news broadcaster Al Jazeera
Der Spiegel, August 31, 2013
NSA believes it has the right to turn any private business into mass
surveillance operation.
USA Today, August 27, 2013
NSA bugged the United Nations
The Atlantic, August 25, 2013
NSA employees used surveillance technology to spy on their lovers.
Washington Post, August 24, 2103
NSA paid millions to Google, Yahoo, Facebook and other companies to
fund their help in surveillance.
The Guardian, August 22, 2013
NSA program traced more than email metadata, but also included
online communications—covering 75% of all web traffic.
Wall Street Journal, August 20, 2013
NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year.
Washington Post, August 15, 2013
Members of Congress denied acces to basic information about the NSA.
The Guardian, August 4, 2013
NSA tool collects “nearly everything a user does on the internet”
The Guardian, July 31, 2013
Low-level NSA analysts could access information on private citizens with
little or no supervison or court oversight.
ABC News, July 28, 2013
Microsoft gave NSA tools to unlock Outlook encryption even before
official launch.
The Guardian, July 12, 2013
NSA head James Clapper lied to Congress under oath.
Washington Post, June 30, 2013
Misleading NSA fact sheet on surveillance program pulled from
web after senators’ criticism
Washington Post, June 25, 2013
Secret court has authorized broad orders allowing NSA to use information
"inadvertently" collected from US citizens.
The Guardian, June 20, 2013
NSA swaps data with thousands of firms.
Bloomberg, June 14, 2013
NSA program code-named Boundless Informant gathered 3 billion pieces
of intelligence in a single 30-day period.
The Guardian, June 11, 2013
NSA’s new Utah spy center will cover1.5 million square feet and use
enough electricity to power 65,000 homes.
NPR, June 10, 2013
AT&T, Sprint also provide user information to the NSA.
Wall Street Journal, June 7, 2013
NSA Prism program taps into user data of Apple, Google, Facebook
and others.
The Guardian June 6, 2013
NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers daily.
The Guardian, June 5, 2013
