10 Ways the NSA Is Spying on You Right Now | ExpressVPN Blog
In 2013, Edward Snowden revealed the NSA collects personal data on every American, as well as many more people worldwide. The shockwave of the revelations still ripples today.
The NSA is the U.S. National Security Agency. Although it ostensibly works to protect U.S. citizens and interests, the NSA monitors every American and the people of many allied countriesall with the backing of the U.S. government and large portions of Congress.
But its not only the NSA spying on its own people. Its counterparts at the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) are also spying on and hacking targets of interest.
Here are eight ways the NSA is still spying on you, right now, according to documents leaked by Edward Snowden and further investigation by the press.
In 2018, the NSA acquired data from over 600 million phone calls and text messages. It proceeded to delete many of them, citing technical irregularities but didnt specify how many were expunged from servers. The USA FREEDOM Act, passed in 2015, puts the onus on telecommunication providers to hold on to phone records, after which they can be requested by the NSA rather than the spy agency keeping tabs on them directly.
This has meant that the overall extent of phone records collected by the NSA has gone downbut its hard to take their word at face value. After all, it wouldnt be the first time that the NSA has straight up lied about its surveillance policies.
Facebook, Google, Apple, and six other leading online services have all gone on record as having given their customers data to the NSA, as legally required by the PRISM program. Data shared includes emails, messages, and documents.
When the NSA finds a security hole in a popular consumer device, it does not fix the security hole, but instead exploits it. The NSAs hacking unit, Tailored Access Operations, has developed a whole range of hacking exploits. These enable the NSA to break into consumer electronics devices and IT systems as it sees fit.
The NSA has made the job of hacking security devices easier for itself by coercing many manufacturers to build vulnerabilities into products. The NSA supposedly created new guidelines surrounding this practice after the Snowden revelations but refuses to say what those guidelines are.
If that isnt enough, the NSA is known to intercept shipments of computers and phones to put backdoors on them. The backdoor circumvents security measures of the device, allowing the NSA to spy on the end user.
When you move around town, cell phone towers can calculate your exact position. Though the NSA claims it no longer collects this bulk data itself, cell phone providers are still required to do so, and they, in turn, must surrender those records to the NSA when ordered by a court.
By far the worst aspect of this unwieldy power is that you dont even have to be the subject of an inquiry yourself. The data of millions can be handed over, without notice, because you had even the most tangential connection to a person under surveillance.
The internet connects different continents via undersea fiber optic cables that carry staggering amounts of data. In some places, the NSA has deals with local intelligence agencies to tap into these cables; in others, it does so on its own. The NSA even uses submarines to attach snooping bugs to wires deep beneath in the ocean.
In Brazil, Germany, and other countries, the NSA has broken into the internal networks of major telecommunications providers, intercepting the data they gather and weakening the security of their systems. It collects every email and phone call it can.
Through agreements and hacking, the NSA can access credit card networks, payment gateways, and wire-transfer facilities around the world. This monetary surveillance allows the NSA to follow every cent of your money and know where it comes from and what you spend it on.
Another revelation in the Snowden documents was that the NSA asks senior officials in the White House, State Department, and Pentagon to share personal information they have on foreign leaders.
The leaked memo revealed that over 200 confidential phone numbers were handed over to the NSA, which proceeded to tap their conversations. The NSA didnt spare countries friendly to the U.S. either, with German leader Angela Merkel also one of the ones targeted.
Cookies, or small packets of data that relay location history and used to serve you with targeted ads, have also been collected by the NSA. The spy agency has honed in on them to identify users around the world as prime hacking targets.
While NSA surveillance extends across the globe, there is still a lot you can do to safeguard your internet privacy. Check out this list of top privacy tips and always be conscious of what youre sharing, with whom youre sharing, and how you share it.
Johnny 5 is the founding editor of the blog and writes about pressing technology issues. From important cat privacy stories to governments and corporations that overstep their boundaries, Johnny covers it all.
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10 Ways the NSA Is Spying on You Right Now | ExpressVPN Blog
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