NSA reportedly collects 5 billion cell phone location records a day

[Team Sergeant]

They know exactly how many cell phones they are tracking, 5 billion, and they can tract a single individual, but they don't know how many AMERICANS they are tracking, bullshit. It's almost time.... buy more ammo.


NSA reportedly collects 5 billion cell phone location records a day

Published December 05, 2013
• FoxNews.com

The NSA collects nearly 5 billion records a day on the locations of cell phones overseas to create a huge database that stores information from hundreds of millions of devices, including those belonging to some Americans abroad, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Documents provided to the Post by NSA leaker Edward Snowden detail how this database is able to track people worldwide and map out their relationships with others.

The NSA inadvertently gathers U.S. location records, along with the billions of other records it collects by tapping into worldwide mobile network cables, the Post reported.

The database and projects designed to analyze it have created a mass surveillance tool for the NSA, allowing it to monitor individuals in a way never seen before.

NSA analysts can look at the data and track an individual’s movements throughout the world. They can then map out the person's relationships with others and expose previously unknown correspondence.

The agency collects the large amount of cell phone data in order to find out who is interacting with targets the agency is already tracking, even though most of the records collected are not relevant to national security.

The number of Americans who are tracked as part of the data collection overseas is unclear from the Snowden documents, and a senior intelligence official told the Post it is “awkward for us to try to provide any specific numbers.”

U.S. officials told the Post the programs that collect cell phone data are strictly geared towards tracking foreign intelligence targets, and are not against the law.

The Associated Press contributed to this report



http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013...n-records-day/

[DJ Urbanovsky]

Hence their massive new data center in Utah.

Cell phone tracking is just the tip of the iceberg. Argus: http://www.slashgear.com/darpa-unvei...feet-29267138/

1.8 gigapixel camera made with an array of 368 off the shelf cell phone camera sensors. Streams 600GB of data per second. Resolution of soda can sized objects from 20,000 feet. Auto tracks all moving objects, and user can zoom in on up to 65 individual areas within the camera's city sized field of view. Streams 1024 petabytes of data per day. You know that 1TB hard drive sitting on your desk? Imagine 1,000,000 of those crammed into a room. Each day.

Add that to this: http://www.dwavesys.com/en/dw_homepage.html

And that's just the stuff that's out in public. You know if it's common knowledge, that there is existing tech under wraps (think the SR-71/Oxcart from way back) that is 10 years or more ahead of this.

[Pete]

Cellphone data spying: It's not just the NSA

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...olice/3902809/

"The National Security Agency isn't the only government entity secretly collecting data from people's cellphones. Local police are increasingly scooping it up, too.

Armed with new technologies, including mobile devices that tap into cellphone data in real time, dozens of local and state police agencies are capturing information about thousands of cellphone users at a time, whether they are targets of an investigation or not, according to public records obtained by USA TODAY and Gannett newspapers and TV stations.................."

Seems to me it they want to use the data to prove you were there - what's to stop a thug from leaving the smart phone at home all night and then - "See, it wasn't me. I was home all night. Check your tower dump."

From the story

"..."We're not infringing on their rights," Lott said. "When they use that phone, they understand that information is going to go to a tower. We're not taking that information and using it for any means whatsoever, unless they're the bad guy or unless they're the victim."..."

So who picks who's the bad guy? The IRS?

[Sdiver]

With all these phone records they collect, I wonder if I could get my records for 14October, 2011?

I just want to know if I did indeed tell that ex bitch of mine, that I WASN'T going to make it.

[tonyz]

Judge: NSA phone program likely unconstitutional

By JOSH GERSTEIN | 12/16/13 1:36 PM EST Updated: 12/16/13 3:51 PM EST
Politico

A federal judge ruled Monday that the National Security Agency program which collects information on nearly all telephone calls made to, from or within the United States is likely unconstitutional.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon found that the program appears to violate the Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches and seizures. He also said the Justice Department had failed to demonstrate that collecting the information had helped to head off terrorist attacks.

Leon’s 68-page opinion is the first significant legal setback for the NSA’s surveillance program since it was disclosed in June in news stories based on leaks from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. For seven years, the metadata program has been approved repeatedly by numerous judges on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and found constitutional by at least one judge sitting in a criminal case.

The Justice Department persuaded those courts that the collection of information on the time and length of calls, as well as the numbers called, did not amount to a search under the Fourth Amendment because that information is routinely available to telephone companies for billing purposes and is shared with those firms voluntarily.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/1...#ixzz2nfzwLvyw

[MtnGoat]

This is just crazy what U.S. District Court judge, Justice William Pauley wrote in denying, ACLU submitted, of collection phone data information collected by the NSA.


http://m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/th...ys-nsa-ruling/

This started with Clinton, rolled heavy during Bush and Obama went crazy with it. Seems we had POTUS that swore to uphold and defend the Constitution, seems that their perspectives are right out of Dr. Strangelove. "We shall collect even if it means there is a need to destroy the Constitution to protect it."

Can you say Kafka Meet Orwell.... and Orwell this is Kafka.

[Stiletto11]

Ran across this the other day: http://linuxinfosec.wordpress.com/20...ption-dragnet/

[lindy]

Originally Posted by Stiletto11

Ran across this the other day: http://linuxinfosec.wordpress.com/20...ption-dragnet/

How does that stop the collection of phone records (aka metadata)?

[Stiletto11]

Ooops wrong page. Try this one: http://blogsofwar.com/2013/11/11/int...ith-the-grugq/

Caveat Emptor: For informational purposes only

[MtnGoat]

Originally Posted by lindy

How does that stop the collection of phone records (aka metadata)?

I'm going with Stiletto11 is going off this:

encrypted cipher text from plain view. Here is where steganography comes into play. We can take the encrypted message and hide it in a jpeg image, for example.

So how long has steganography been around?http://www.mikebarney.net/stego.html

So can anyone, NSA or other OGAs detect steganography? From what I know there currently is no universal algorithm to detect steganography. No word if they have broken the "code." NSA, DARPA and others have been trying to implement a series of tests against every known specific steganographic system in existence. But when word gets out that NSA, MI6, India's RAW, ETC can develop something, but then steganography developers use that as a test to develop a new form of steganography that bypasses all existing tests. Go google outguess.org for a ten-year-old project that tried to develop something to detect steganography. From what I have read is different people are using linear discriminant analysis, they are able to create a detection function based on the differences within a file.

Now there have been reported the problems with "secret" digital watermarks have versus visible digital watermarks have been found. Yet developers fixed this, or users just didn't use watermarks to bypass this detection.

Why do you think so many AQ web site now have steganography software on their sites. The advantage of steganography over cryptography alone. The funny or really the sad thing is that AQ has learned about this yet our own military still sends people overseas with any kind of cyber knowledge or protection. Is it 100%, one will never fully know.m

[MtnGoat]

Originally Posted by Stiletto11

Ooops wrong page. Try this one: http://blogsofwar.com/2013/11/11/int...ith-the-grugq/

Caveat Emptor: For informational purposes only

Nice read.. Needs a deep dive into some of the topics

[MtnGoat]

Originally Posted by Brush Okie

It is a great read. The funny thing is in the ever escalating techo war of today some very basic and old fashion tricks can really throw the high dollar stuff for a loop. The opposition does this by one time use of pre paid cell phones and other tricks. I know for years some people have said we have ignored the HUMINET side of things and overly relying on technology and I tend to agree. With that over reliance come the very real threat of abuse of that technology and we seem to be seeing that as well.

Yes and for me it is a good "Whitepaper" for many key leaders, S2 key leaders and anyone in the IC should read and start thinking about. I've seen The Grugq Vids or lectures before,must never seen this interview.

Good INTEL is about a balance. U.S. Has always been a seasaw on INTEL Collection. Going all SIGINT, IMNINT, HUMINT or which peeve they like more. Mainly because Intelligence analysis (Foxes are roled into here) don't know how effectively do their jobs. So a All Source Analysis because more One Source Forcused. I can tell the Military hasn't ignored HUMINT, I say we use that more than we should.

One part I liked was this

John Little: Hackers are going to have to evolve in the same direction though aren’t they? Technology isn’t their salvation from an OPSEC perspective, in fact it is really the weakest link in their security model, so they will have to fully embrace good old-fashioned tradecraft and deception to avoid detection. Do you see an appreciation of that in the hacking community? It seems like a lot of big name hackers are still making fairly simple OPSEC mistakes.

The Grugq: Exactly, this is really the understanding that needs to sink in: technology alone will not save you. Hacker culture, almost by definition, is technology obsessed. We fetishize technology and gadgets, and this leads us to the deep-seated belief that if we just use the right tool, our problems will be solved. This mindset is fundamentally wrong. At best, I would call it misguided, but really I believe that most of the time it is actually counter productive.

I like the point of Technology isn’t our salvation from an OPSEC perspective is really good. With these contractor, civilians and military posting things on the internet and SM.

I like some of The Grugq YouTube Vids, but it all matters who he is with.

[Airbornelawyer]

Originally Posted by Brush Okie

All that data gathering yet they just couldn't find the Boston bombers or other AQ folks around the world. Amazing isn't it.

Maybe this has been addressed by others in other threads, but I would posit that all that data gathering is why they couldn't find these terrorists. Resources are not infinite and every resource devoted to these overbroad data dump measures is a resource not devoted to measures genuinely likely to produce actionable intelligence. Like TSA searches of grandmas and nuns, it is political theater designed to make some feel good that something is being done, but make others feel good that nothing potentially discriminatory is being done.

[ddoering]

I bet they know where all the middle aged former military white guys are....

[MtnGoat]

Need more reasons to feel paranoid about the NSA? Read this and if you have an hour watch the video.

http://io9.com/need-more-reasons-to-...tch-1495875117