Editing National Security Agency (section)

=== Domestic collection ===
{{Further|Mass surveillance in the United States}}
NSA's mission, as outlined in [[Executive Order 12333]] in 1981, is to collect information that constitutes "foreign intelligence or counterintelligence" while ''not'' "acquiring information concerning the domestic activities of [[United States person]]s". NSA has declared that it relies on the FBI to collect information on foreign intelligence activities within the borders of the United States while confining its activities within the United States to the embassies and missions of foreign nations.<ref>[https://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/speeches_testimonies/2013_08_09_the_nsa_story.pdf nsa.gov: The NSA story] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209113543/https://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/speeches_testimonies/2013_08_09_the_nsa_story.pdf |date=2014-12-09 }}, Retrieved January 19, 2015 – Page 3: 'NSA ... will work with the FBI and other agencies to connect the dots between foreign-based actors and their activities in the U.S.'</ref>

The appearance of a 'Domestic Surveillance Directorate' of the NSA was soon exposed as a hoax in 2013.<ref>[https://nsa.gov1.info/ Domestic Surveillance Directorate website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528223651/https://nsa.gov1.info/ |date=2024-05-28 }}, Nsa.gov1.info, Retrieved January 19, 2015</ref><ref>[https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/08/29/the-definitive-nsa-parody-site-is-actually-informative/ The Definitive NSA Parody Site Is Actually Informative] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240512125453/https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/08/29/the-definitive-nsa-parody-site-is-actually-informative/ |date=2024-05-12 }}, Forbes.com, Retrieved January 19, 2015</ref> NSA's domestic surveillance activities are limited by the requirements imposed by the [[Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution]]. The [[Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court]] for example held in October 2011, citing multiple Supreme Court precedents, that the Fourth Amendment prohibitions against unreasonable searches and seizures apply to the contents of all communications, whatever the means, because "a person's private communications are akin to personal papers."<ref name="FiscPrivacyRuling2011">{{cite web|url=https://www.eff.org/sites/default/files/filenode/fisc_opinion_-_unconstitutional_surveillance_0.pdf|pages=73–74|date=October 3, 2011|author=John D Bates|title=[redacted]|access-date=June 7, 2024|archive-date=August 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824171345/https://www.eff.org/sites/default/files/filenode/fisc_opinion_-_unconstitutional_surveillance_0.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> However, these protections do not apply to non-U.S. persons located outside of U.S. borders, so the NSA's foreign surveillance efforts are subject to far fewer limitations under U.S. law.<ref name="Jordan_David">David Alan Jordan. [https://iilj.org/documents/Jordan-47_BC_L_Rev_000.pdf Decrypting the Fourth Amendment: Warrantless NSA Surveillance and the Enhanced Expectation of Privacy Provided by Encrypted Voice over Internet Protocol] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030095250/http://www.ss8.com/pdfs/Ready_Guide_Download_Version.pdf |date=2007-10-30 }}. Boston College Law Review. May 2006. Last access date January 23, 2007, </ref> The specific requirements for domestic surveillance operations are contained in the [[Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act]] of 1978 (FISA), which does not extend protection to non-U.S. citizens located outside of [[U.S. territory]].<ref name="Jordan_David" />

==== President's Surveillance Program ====
{{See also|NSA warrantless surveillance (2001–2007)}}

[[George W. Bush]], president during the [[September 11 attacks|9/11 terrorist attacks]], approved the [[Patriot Act]] shortly after the attacks to take anti-terrorist security measures. [[Title I of the Patriot Act|Titles 1]], [[Title II of the Patriot Act|2]], and [[Title IX of the Patriot Act|9]] specifically authorized measures that would be taken by the NSA. These titles granted enhanced domestic security against terrorism, surveillance procedures, and improved intelligence, respectively. On March 10, 2004, there was a debate between President Bush and White House Counsel [[Alberto Gonzales]], Attorney General [[John Ashcroft]], and Acting Attorney General [[James Comey]]. The Attorneys General were unsure if the NSA's programs could be considered constitutional. They threatened to resign over the matter, but ultimately the NSA's programs continued.<ref>{{cite book|title=President George W. Bush's Influence Over Bureaucracy and Policy|last=Provost|first=Colin|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2009|isbn=978-0-230-60954-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/presidentgeorgew0000unse/page/94 94–99]|url=https://archive.org/details/presidentgeorgew0000unse/page/94}}</ref> On March 11, 2004, President Bush signed a new authorization for mass surveillance of Internet records, in addition to the surveillance of phone records. This allowed the president to be able to override laws such as the [[Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act]], which protected civilians from mass surveillance. In addition to this, President Bush also signed that the measures of mass surveillance were also retroactively in place.<ref name=NYTimes2015-09-20 /><ref name="NYTWarrantless">[[James Risen]] & [[Eric Lichtblau]] (December 16, 2005), [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/politics/16program.html Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524040621/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/politics/16program.html |date=2015-05-24 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref>

One such surveillance program, authorized by the U.S. Signals Intelligence Directive 18 of President George Bush, was the Highlander Project undertaken for the National Security Agency by the U.S. Army [[513th Military Intelligence Brigade]]. NSA relayed telephone (including cell phone) conversations obtained from ground, airborne, and satellite monitoring stations to various U.S. Army Signal Intelligence Officers, including the [[201st Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade|201st Military Intelligence Battalion]]. Conversations of citizens of the U.S. were intercepted, along with those of other nations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB23/index2.html |title=Gwu.edu |publisher=Gwu.edu |access-date=October 9, 2013 |archive-date=June 2, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100602002703/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB23/index2.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Proponents of the surveillance program claim that the President has [[Unitary executive theory|executive authority]] to order such action{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}, arguing that laws such as FISA are overridden by the President's Constitutional powers. In addition, some argued that FISA was implicitly overridden by a subsequent statute, the [[Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists|Authorization for Use of Military Force]], although the Supreme Court's ruling in ''[[Hamdan v. Rumsfeld]]'' deprecates this view.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, Et Al. Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit |url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/05pdf/05-184.pdf |journal=Supreme Court of the United States |access-date=2022-03-12 |archive-date=2020-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207022617/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/05pdf/05-184.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==== The PRISM program ====
[[File: Prism-slide-8.jpg|thumb|PRISM: a [[clandestine operation|clandestine]] [[global surveillance|surveillance]] programs under which the NSA collects large amounts of user data from companies such as [[Facebook]] and [[Microsoft]].]] Under the [[PRISM (surveillance program)|PRISM]] program, which started in 2007,<ref name="WaPo1">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-intelligence-mining-data-from-nine-us-internet-companies-in-broad-secret-program/2013/06/06/3a0c0da8-cebf-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html?hpid=z1 |title=U.S. intelligence mining data from nine U.S. Internet companies in broad secret program |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 7, 2013 |access-date=June 6, 2013 |first1=Barton |last1=Gellman |first2=Laura |last2=Poitras |archive-date=June 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130615061900/http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-intelligence-mining-data-from-nine-us-internet-companies-in-broad-secret-program/2013/06/06/3a0c0da8-cebf-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html?hpid=z1 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Greenwald1>{{cite news|last=Greenwald|first=Glenn|title=NSA taps in to internet giants' systems to mine user data, secret files reveal|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data|access-date=June 6, 2013|date=June 6, 2013|location=London|archive-date=August 18, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060818114650/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data|url-status=live}}</ref> NSA gathers Internet communications from foreign targets from nine major U.S. Internet-based communication service providers: [[Microsoft]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Microsoft handed the NSA access to encrypted messages|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-collaboration-user-data|access-date=September 7, 2013|date=July 12, 2013|archive-date=November 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119014627/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-collaboration-user-data|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Yahoo]], [[Google]], [[Facebook]], [[PalTalk]], [[AOL]], [[Skype]], [[YouTube]] and [[Apple Inc.|Apple]]. Data gathered include email, videos, photos, [[VoIP]] chats such as [[Skype]], and file transfers.

Former NSA director General Keith Alexander claimed that in September 2009 the NSA prevented [[Najibullah Zazi]] and his friends from carrying out a terrorist attack.<ref name="Angwin">{{cite book |last=Angwin |first=Julia |author-link=Julia Angwin |title=Dragnet Nation: A Quest for Privacy, Security, and Freedom in a World of Relentless Surveillance |url=https://archive.org/details/dragnetnationque0000angw|url-access=registration |year=2014 |publisher=Times Books / Henry Holt and Company |isbn=978-0-8050-9807-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dragnetnationque0000angw/page/47 47]}}</ref> However, no evidence has been presented demonstrating that the NSA has ever been instrumental in preventing a terrorist attack.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.propublica.org/article/claim-on-attacks-thwarted-by-nsa-spreads-despite-lack-of-evidence| title = Elliott, Justin and Meyer, Theodoric ''ProPublica''. Retrieved October 7, 2016.| date = 23 October 2013| access-date = 7 June 2024| archive-date = 7 June 2024| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240607064024/https://www.propublica.org/article/claim-on-attacks-thwarted-by-nsa-spreads-despite-lack-of-evidence| url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/nyc-bomb-plot-details-settle-little-nsa-debate|title=Goldman, Adam and Apuzzo, Matt Associated Press. Retrieved October 7, 2016.|access-date=October 7, 2016|archive-date=July 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703231925/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/nyc-bomb-plot-details-settle-little-nsa-debate|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/nsa-program-stopped-no-terror-attacks-says-white-house-panel-flna2D11783588|title=NSA program stopped no terror attacks, says White House panel member|website=NBC News|date=20 December 2013|access-date=7 June 2024|archive-date=21 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221133023/http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/19/21975158-nsa-program-stopped-no-terror-attacks-says-white-house-panel-member?lite|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20131220/11312025653/judge-intelligence-task-force-both-seem-stunned-nsa-couldnt-provide-single-example-data-collection-stopping-terrorism.shtml|title=Judge And Intelligence Task Force Both Seem Stunned By Lack Of Evidence That Bulk Phone Collection Program Stops Terrorists|last=Masnick|first=Mike|date=December 23, 2013|work=Techdirt.|access-date=2017-10-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010010635/https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20131220/11312025653/judge-intelligence-task-force-both-seem-stunned-nsa-couldnt-provide-single-example-data-collection-stopping-terrorism.shtml|archive-date=October 10, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== The FASCIA database ====
'''FASCIA''' is a [[database]] created and used by the U.S. National Security Agency that contains trillions of device-location records that are collected from a variety of sources.<ref name="Hindu">{{cite news |author=Narayan Lakshman |date=2013-12-05 |title=NSA tracking millions of cellphones globally |url=http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/nsa-tracking-millions-of-cellphones-globally/article5424401.ece |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424062040/http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/nsa-tracking-millions-of-cellphones-globally/article5424401.ece |archive-date=2014-04-24 |access-date=2014-03-23 |work=The Hindu }}</ref> Its existence was revealed during the 2013 [[global surveillance disclosure]] by [[Edward Snowden]].<ref name="apps.washingtonpost-nsa-fascia">{{cite news |author=The Washington Post |date=2013-12-04 |title=FASCIA: The NSA's huge trove of location records |url=https://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/world/fascia-the-nsas-huge-trove-of-location-records/637/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101195543/http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/world/fascia-the-nsas-huge-trove-of-location-records/637/ |archive-date=2014-11-01 |access-date=2014-03-23 |newspaper=The Washington Post |format=2&nbsp;slides}}</ref>

The FASCIA database stores various types of information, including [[Location area identity|Location Area Codes]] (LACs), [[Cell ID|Cell Tower IDs]] (CeLLIDs), [[Visitor Location Register]]s (VLRs), [[International Mobile Station Equipment Identity]] (IMEIs) and [[MSISDN]]s (Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services Digital Network-Numbers).<ref name="Hindu" /><ref name="apps.washingtonpost-nsa-fascia"/> Over about seven months, more than 27 [[terabyte]]s of location data were collected and stored in the database.<ref name="apps.washingtonpost-fascia-ghostmashine">{{cite news |author=The Washington Post |date=2013-12-04 |title=GHOSTMACHINE: The NSA's cloud analytics platform |url=https://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/world/ghostmachine-the-nsas-cloud-analytics-platform/644/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171120013152/https://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/world/ghostmachine-the-nsas-cloud-analytics-platform/644/ |archive-date=2017-11-20 |access-date=2014-03-23 |newspaper=The Washington Post |format=4&nbsp;slides}}</ref>