XKeyscore: NSA Tool Collects Nearly Everything A User Does On The Internet
The Guardian - One presentation claims the XKeyscore program covers 'nearly everything a typical user does on the internet'
A top secret National Security Agency program allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals, according to documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden.
The NSA boasts in training materials that the program, called XKeyscore, is its "widest-reaching" system for developing intelligence from the internet.
The latest revelations will add to the intense public and congressional debate around the extent of NSA surveillance programs. They come as senior intelligence officials testify to the Senate judiciary committee on Wednesday, releasing classified documents in response to the Guardian's earlier stories on bulk collection of phone records and Fisa surveillance court oversight.
3 Shocking Revelations from NSA's Most Terrifying Program Yet
ALTERNET - Yes, the government can search your email, chats, searches, attachments. Snowden's most shocking leak yet reveals America's National Security State.
When Snowden first disclosed the extent of America’s national security state spying on the electronic lives of Americans, the Obama administration led by the president himself said the government was not looking at the details of one’s electronic communications, web searches and sites visited. Instead, it was looking at so-called “ meta-data,” which was akin to a phone bill listing calls but not listening in. On Wednesday, the White House declassified documents remaking that same argument.
But Wednesday’s disclosure by Snowden, reported by the U.K. Guardian, exposes that spin as a security state lie. The NSA has a computer program, called XKeyscore, that is its “widest-reaching” system for conducting digital dragnets. Screenshot presentations describing its capacities boast that it can trace “nearly everything a typical user does on the Internet,” including the content of emails, attachments, online seaches, websites visited, chats, phone numbers and user data. The 32-page slideshow uses examples of tracking overseas targets, but the software can be used domestically as well.
Here are three breathtaking revelations about Snowden’s XKeyscore disclosure.
Congress Moves To Reign In The Secret State
MSNBC - Momentum is building in Congress to reign in the surveillance state. Chris Hayes talks about new efforts at transparency and the latest NSA revelations courtesy of Edward Snowden with Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and The Guardian's Glenn Greenwald.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
X-Keyscore: How The NSA Can Track Americans Online
MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell discusses the implications of the X-Keyscore program with NSA expert, James Bamford. (Other)MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell discusses the implications of the X-Keyscore program with NSA expert, James Bamford.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
NSA's XKeyscore and Obama's trip to the Hill
Thom Hartmann talks about the latest NSA spy program and wonders if President Obama's surprise visit to Capitol Hill was designed to stop a hearing on it.
{youtube}m3so1EetHg4{/youtube}
As Edward Snowden Wins 1-Year Asylum in Russia, NSA Program Tracking Real-Time Internet Use Exposed, NSA Confirms Dragnet Phone Records Collection, But Admits It Was Key in Stopping Just 1 Terror Plot
DEMOCRACY NOW - National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden has been given one year temporary political asylum in Russia. Snowden has reportedly already left the Moscow airport where he has been holed up for over a month. On Wednesday,
The Guardian newspaper revealed details about another secret NSA program based on leaked documents provided by Snowden. The program, XKeyscore, allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals giving NSA analysts real-time access to "nearly everything a typical user does on the internet." To discuss these latest developments, we’re joined by Spencer Ackerman, national security editor at The Guardian.
Testifying before the Senate on Wednesday, National Security Agency Deputy Director John Inglis conceded that the bulk collection of phone records of millions of Americans under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act has been key in stopping only one terror plot — not the dozens officials had previously said.
Ahead of Wednesday’s Senate hearing, the Obama administration released three heavily censored documents related to its surveillance efforts, but the White House has refused to declassify the legal arguments underlying the dragnet or the original rulings by the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, on which the released order to collect phone records was based.
Meanwhile, the head of the NSA, General Keith Alexander, was repeatedly interrupted by critics of government surveillance in a speech Wednesday before the Black Hat conference, a gathering of hackers and cybersecurity professionals in Las Vegas. We’re joined by two guests: Spencer Ackerman, national security editor at The Guardian, and James Bamford, an investigative reporter who has covered the National Security Agency for three decades after helping expose its existence in the 1980s.
{mp4remote}http://dncdn.dvlabs.com/flash/dn2013-0801.mp4?start=1615.0{/mp4remote}
