Global surveillance
Global mass surveillance can be defined as the mass surveillance of entire populations across national borders.[1]
Its existence was not widely acknowledged by governments and the mainstream media until the global surveillance disclosures by Edward Snowden triggered a debate about the right to privacy in the Digital Age.[2][3] One such debate is the balance which governments must acknowledge between the pursuit of national security and counter-terrorism over a right to privacy. Although, to quote H. Akın Ünver "Even when conducted for national security and counterterrorism purposes, the scale and detail of mass citizen data collected, leads to rightfully pessimistic observations about individual freedoms and privacy".[4]
Its roots can be traced back to the middle of the 20th century when the UKUSA Agreement was jointly enacted by the United Kingdom and the United States, which later expanded to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to create the present Five Eyes alliance.[5] The alliance developed cooperation arrangements with several "third-party" nations. Eventually, this resulted in the establishment of a global surveillance network, code-named "ECHELON" (1971).[6][7]
Purposes[edit]
According to the April 2013 summary of documents leaked by Snowden, other than to combat terrorism, these surveillance programs were employed to assess the foreign policy and economic stability of other countries,[26] and to gather "commercial secrets".[27]
In a statement addressed to the National Congress of Brazil in early August 2013, journalist Glenn Greenwald maintained that the U.S. government had used counter-terrorism as a pretext for clandestine surveillance in order to compete with other countries in the "business, industrial and economic fields".[28][29] In a December 2013 letter to the Brazilian government, Snowden wrote that "These programs were never about terrorism: they're about economic spying, social control, and diplomatic manipulation. They're about power."[30] According to a White House panel member, the NSA didn't stop any terrorist attack.[31] However the NSA chief stated that surveillance programs stopped 54 terrorist plots.[32]
In an interview with Der Spiegel published on 12 August 2013, former NSA Director Michael Hayden admitted that "We (the NSA) steal secrets. We're number one in it". Hayden also added: "We steal stuff to make you safe, not to make you rich".[26]
According to documents seen by the news agency Reuters, these "secrets" were subsequently funneled to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans.[33] Federal agents are then instructed to "recreate" the investigative trail in order to "cover up" where the information originated.[33]
According to the congressional testimony of Keith B. Alexander, Director of the National Security Agency, one of the purposes of its data collection is to store all the phone records inside a place that can be searched and assessed at all times. When asked by Senator Mark Udall if the goal of the NSA is to collect the phone records of all Americans, Alexander replied, "Yes, I believe it is in the nation's best interest to put all the phone records into a lockbox that we could search when the nation needs to do it."[34]
Targets and methods[edit]
Collection of metadata and other content[edit]
In the United States, the NSA is collecting the phone records of more than 300 million Americans.[35] The international surveillance tool XKeyscore allows government analysts to search through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals.[36][37][38] Britain's global surveillance program Tempora intercepts the fibre-optic cables that form the backbone of the Internet.[39] Under the NSA's PRISM surveillance program, data that has already reached its final destination would be directly harvested from the servers of the following U.S. service providers: Microsoft, Yahoo!, Google, Facebook, Paltalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, and Apple Inc.[40]
According to the April 2013 summary of disclosures, the NSA defined its "intelligence priorities" on a scale of "1" (highest interest) to "5" (lowest interest).[26] It classified about 30 countries as "3rd parties", with whom it cooperates but also spies on:
Other prominent targets included members and adherents of the Internet group known as "Anonymous",[26] as well as potential whistleblowers.[71] According to Snowden, the NSA targeted reporters who wrote critically about the government after 9/11.[72]
As part of a joint operation with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the NSA deployed secret eavesdropping posts in eighty U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide.[73] The headquarters of NATO were also used by NSA experts to spy on the European Union.[74]
In 2013, documents provided by Edward Snowden revealed that the following intergovernmental organizations, diplomatic missions, and government ministries have been subjected to surveillance by the "Five Eyes":
– The Government Communications Headquarters of the United Kingdom, which is widely considered to be a leader in traditional spying due to its influence on countries that were once part of the British Empire.[85]
– The National Security Agency of the United States, which has the biggest budget and the most advanced technical abilities among the "five eyes".[85]
According to Snowden's documents, the United Nations Headquarters and the United Nations General Assembly were targeted by NSA employees disguised as diplomats.[73]
![According to Snowden's documents, the United Nations Headquarters and the United Nations General Assembly were targeted by NSA employees disguised as diplomats.[73]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/UN_General_Assembly_hall.jpg/120px-UN_General_Assembly_hall.jpg)
Citing Snowden's documents, The Guardian reported that British officials had set up fake Internet cafes at the 2009 G-20 London summit to spy on the delegates' use of computers, and to install key-logging software on the delegates' phones. This allowed British representatives to gain a "negotiating advantage" at the summit.[168]
![Citing Snowden's documents, The Guardian reported that British officials had set up fake Internet cafes at the 2009 G-20 London summit to spy on the delegates' use of computers, and to install key-logging software on the delegates' phones. This allowed British representatives to gain a "negotiating advantage" at the summit.[168]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/London_Summit_2009-1.jpg/120px-London_Summit_2009-1.jpg)
According to Snowden's interview with the South China Morning Post, the U.S. government has been hacking numerous non-military targets in China for years. Other high-priority targets include academic institutions such as the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing.[169]
![According to Snowden's interview with the South China Morning Post, the U.S. government has been hacking numerous non-military targets in China for years. Other high-priority targets include academic institutions such as the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing.[169]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Tsinghua_University_-_Square_building.JPG/120px-Tsinghua_University_-_Square_building.JPG)
The Council of the European Union, with its headquarters at the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels, was targeted by NSA employees working near the headquarters of NATO. An NSA document dated September 2010 explicitly names the Europeans as a "location target".[170]
![The Council of the European Union, with its headquarters at the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels, was targeted by NSA employees working near the headquarters of NATO. An NSA document dated September 2010 explicitly names the Europeans as a "location target".[170]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/Justus_Lipsius%2C_Eastern_side.jpg/120px-Justus_Lipsius%2C_Eastern_side.jpg)
![The reservations system of Russia's Aeroflot airline was hacked by the NSA.[171]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Aeroflot_A321-200_VP-BWN_SVO_Jun_2011.png/120px-Aeroflot_A321-200_VP-BWN_SVO_Jun_2011.png)
Petrobras, currently the world's leader in offshore deepwater drilling, is a "prominent" target of the U.S. government.[172]
![Petrobras, currently the world's leader in offshore deepwater drilling, is a "prominent" target of the U.S. government.[172]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Oil_platform_P-51_%28Brazil%29.jpg/120px-Oil_platform_P-51_%28Brazil%29.jpg)
From 2002 to 2013, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel was targeted by the U.S. Special Collection Service.[173]
![From 2002 to 2013, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel was targeted by the U.S. Special Collection Service.[173]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Angela_Merkel_%282008%29.jpg/120px-Angela_Merkel_%282008%29.jpg)
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (pictured) and Defense Minister Ehud Barak were included in a list of surveillance targets used by the GCHQ and the NSA.[174]
![Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (pictured) and Defense Minister Ehud Barak were included in a list of surveillance targets used by the GCHQ and the NSA.[174]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Ehud_Olmert_2006.jpg/116px-Ehud_Olmert_2006.jpg)
Joaquín Almunia, who served as the European Commissioner for Competition and the Vice-President of the European Commission, was targeted by Britain's GCHQ agency.[77]
![Joaquín Almunia, who served as the European Commissioner for Competition and the Vice-President of the European Commission, was targeted by Britain's GCHQ agency.[77]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/Joaquin_Almunia_Mercosul.jpg/82px-Joaquin_Almunia_Mercosul.jpg)
Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife were placed under surveillance by the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD).[175] During the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, the ASD cooperated with the NSA to conduct mass surveillance on the Indonesian hosts.[176]
![Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife were placed under surveillance by the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD).[175] During the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, the ASD cooperated with the NSA to conduct mass surveillance on the Indonesian hosts.[176]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Susilo_Bambang_Yudhoyono%2C_official_presidential_portrait_%282004%29.jpg/98px-Susilo_Bambang_Yudhoyono%2C_official_presidential_portrait_%282004%29.jpg)
The video gaming network Xbox Live was placed under surveillance to unravel possible terrorist plots.[177]
![The video gaming network Xbox Live was placed under surveillance to unravel possible terrorist plots.[177]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Xbox-Duke-Controller.jpg/120px-Xbox-Duke-Controller.jpg)