Mon Jan 1, 0001

NSA Mass Surveillance: Snowden Revelations

PRISM (US-984XN)

Launched 2007 under Section 702 FISA Amendments Act. NSA collected data directly from servers of nine tech companies: Microsoft (2007), Yahoo (2008), Google (2009), Facebook (2009), PalTalk (2009), YouTube (2010), Skype (2011), AOL (2011), Apple (2012). Data: emails, chat logs, stored files, voice/video calls, photos, social networking details. Disclosed: Guardian and Washington Post, June 6, 2013.

XKeyscore

NSA search system. Training materials: covers “nearly everything a typical user does on the internet.” Analysts could search emails, browsing history, chat, and metadata without prior authorization. 700+ servers at 150 global sites. Revealed: Guardian, July 31, 2013.

Section 215 Bulk Metadata Collection

Under Section 215 USA PATRIOT Act. NSA collected phone metadata (numbers, duration, timestamps — not content) on virtually all domestic calls. Secret FISA Court order to Verizon Business Network Services dated April 25, 2013, required daily turnover of all call detail records. First Snowden document published (Guardian, June 5, 2013).

Upstream Collection

NSA tapped undersea fiber optic cables and internet backbone to collect communications in transit. Section 702 authorization. Programs: FAIRVIEW, STORMBREW, BLARNEY, OAKSTAR. Operated with telecom provider partnerships.

MUSCULAR (DS-200B)

Joint NSA/GCHQ program tapping private fiber optic links between Google and Yahoo data centers worldwide. Bypassed company servers. Operated from UK, claimed exemption from FISA oversight. Revealed: Washington Post, October 30, 2013.

Timeline

Edward Snowden, NSA contractor at Booz Allen Hamilton, copied classified documents spring 2013. First publications: June 5-6, 2013. Self-identified June 9. Fled Hong Kong to Moscow; received asylum August 1, 2013.

Scale

  • 200+ million text messages collected daily (DISHFIRE program)
  • Bulk phone metadata: hundreds of millions of Americans
  • Utah Data Center (completed 2014): built to store exabytes of intercepted data

Klayman v. Obama (D.D.C., December 16, 2013)

Judge Richard Leon ruled bulk metadata collection likely violated Fourth Amendment. Called it “almost Orwellian”: “I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary invasion’ than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every citizen.” Case No. 13-cv-0851.

USA FREEDOM Act (June 2, 2015)

Ended bulk collection of domestic phone metadata under Section 215. Records remained with carriers; NSA could query with FISA Court approval using specific selection terms. Did NOT reform Section 702 (PRISM/Upstream), did not address overseas collection, left XKeyscore-type capabilities intact.

Third-Party Doctrine Connection

Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735 (1979) was government’s primary legal justification for bulk metadata collection. Later narrowed by Carpenter v. United States, 585 U.S. 296 (2018).

Sources

  • The Guardian (June 5-6, July 31, 2013)
  • Washington Post (June 6, October 30, 2013)
  • Klayman v. Obama, Case No. 13-cv-0851 (D.D.C. 2013)
  • USA FREEDOM Act, Pub. L. 114-23