Purpose: PRISM is an NSA programme that exploits data collected by the FBI’s Data Intercept Technology Unit (DITU) from nine major US corporations including Facebook, Google and Apple. There is no single PRISM database. Rather, when the data arrives at the NSA, it is sorted and distributed to the following…
Purpose: XKEYSCORE is an NSA search and analysis system for data collected by other surveillance programmes. The system is described by Snowden as a search engine that provides a “one-stop shop” for access to content, metadata and real-time tracking and monitoring of user activities (COU01). Access to XKEYSCORE is shared…
Purpose: ANT is a division of the NSA that provides software and hardware surveillance products to members of the ‘Five Eyes’ alliance, including the NSA and GCHQ. The ANT catalogue is a 50-page classified document from 2008 listing available technology, with summaries of hardware and software surveillance in eleven areas,…
Purpose: MARINA is an NSA repository for metadata. It stores information about millions of Internet users for up to a year (GUA01). The repository contains contact information, browsing history and other metadata. It also has the ability to export data in a variety of formats, including charts that assist in…
Purpose: SQUEAKY DOLPHIN is a GCHQ pilot programme demonstrating the ability to monitor social media in real time (NBC01). The programme monitors the following information extracted from GCHQ’s bulk collection programmes: Facebook ‘likes’ YouTube video views Blogger visits Specific Twitter accounts The programme uses off-the-shelf analytics and visualisation software (Splunk,…
