This term paper explores global mass surveillance, focusing on the practices of the NSA and Germany's alleged involvement in spying on other nations. Snowden's revelations reveal details about surveillance software like XKeyscore and PRISM, highlighting the extensive data collection and monitoring of individuals worldwide.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2. Edward Joseph Snowden biography
2.1 The Path to the Intelligence Community
2.2 How mass surveillance became established
3. The NSA surveillance Software
3.1 XKeyscore & PRISM
4. Edward Snowden’s revelations
4.1 How Snowden came in touch with the press
5. Germany's contribution to mass surveillance
5.1 BND &BÍV
5.2 Interview with Daniel Fraternelle
6. Conclusion
7 Literature list
i Introduction
I came across my topic through various incentives. On the one hand, I am interested in Intelligence Services, on the other hand in special personalities of our time who selflessly improve the lives of other people under life-threatening conditions. Because of these interests, it was clear to me from the beginning to choose the mass surveillance of the USA and the case of Edward Snowden as my topic. Therefore, I am writing this paper to give you a little insight into the revelations and the life of Edward Snowden before his career in the intelligence services and how it led to his rethinking of his work ethic. The methods and how Germany is or has been under the influence of the NSA/CIA only becomes fully apparent after the revelations. Is the time of uncontrolled mass surveillance over? And how much is Germany involved in spying on other countries or supporting them in doing so?
First of all I’m going to introduce you into the life of Edward Snowden and show his path that led him to the intelligence-community. Secondly I will point out the important instances that led to the mass surveillance, and how the established them selves on a global scale. Thirdly I will talk about the surveillance software used by NSA I CIA and the German Intelligence Agencies providing you with the Contract between the NSA and BND. My focus will be on the program XKeyscore, also on the bulk data collected by the program PRISM. Finally I will talk about the share that Germany has contributed to the mass surveillance and the platform it has provided to the USA to spy on Germans and others.
It was June 5, 2013, the day that revealed it’s self to become one of the most influential step to getting back our privacy. Edward Snowden an American intelligence contractor who disclosed the existence of wide ranging information gathering programs managed by the National Security Agency.1 His findings and revelations of raw data to several news agencies including The Guardian and The Washington Post, was the breakthrough to uncover the machinations of several Governments. In my following research about the topic: “Mass surveillance and the limits of our privacy” I will be introducing you into the life of Edward Snowden, his path that led him to the intelligence community and in what different way’s we were spied on by the US and German intelligence agencies.
2. Edward Joseph Snowden biography
Edward Joseph Snowden, born on June 21, 1982, Elizabeth City, North Carolina, US. When Snowden was young his family moved to central Maryland, not far from NSA headquarters at Fort Meade. He dropped out of high school and went to community college sporadically between 1999 and 2005 but never graduate from college.2 Through his motivation to serve his country and fight in the Iraq War to help free oppressed people3 he enlisted in the special forces as a reservist but was discharged only four months later “The Guardian reported, citing Snowden, that his military career was cut short after "he broke both his legs in a training accident."”4 His mother is the chief deputy clerk for administration and information technology at the federal court in Baltimore and his father worked as a Coast Guard officer and currently lives in Pennsylvania5. Edward's sister is said to be a lawyer, according to her neighbours.6
""He was a quiet guy, kept to himself. He always dressed nice, was clean cut. He just reminded me of a brainiac," said neighbour Joyce Kinsey."7 Edward didn’t dropped out of high school as he needed to earn money because his parents were separating, he enrolled in to Anne Arundel community college and studied computers and obtained a general equivalency degree. He took classes from 1999 to 2001 and again in 2004 and 2005.8
2.1 The Path to the Intelligence Community
From there on he started working as a security guard for University of Maryland's Center for Advanced Study of Language, and a little later he joined the CIA as an information technologist9 With his first mission in Geneva via the CIA where, under diplomatic protection, he was supposed to find bankers with a connection to Saudi Arabian money that is funding the Taliban or al-Qaeda, during this phase of his career, he became aware of the extent of the surveillance he was supporting, as well as his first contact with the program XKeyscore.10 “In 2009, after being suspected of trying to break into classified files, he left to work for private contractors, among them Dell and Booz Allen Hamilton, a tech consulting firm.“11 During this time he worked in Japan before being transferred to the “Kunia Regional SIGINT Operations Center (KRSOC) also known as the Kunia Tunnel. From now on he was part of the intelligence community and worked his way up within the NSA and Booz Allen. I will go into this in more detail later.“ln May 2013 Snowden requested a medical leave of absence and flew to Hong Kong, where during the following month he conducted a series of interviews with journalist from the newspaper The Guardian.”12 Snowden chose credible journalist such as Glenn Greenwald (The Guardian), Barton Gellman (The Washington Post) and Laura Poitras (film-maker for documentation purposes) who recorded the interview in Mira- Hotel in Hong Kong13
2.2 How mass surveillance became established
Probably the most significant moment that led to mass surveillance was 9/11. The moment that led Edward Snowden to the join the Army and later the intelligence community. “Panic made us politically vulnerable,” Snowden told the Guardian as he ruminated on the upcoming 20th anniversary of 9/11. “That vulnerability was exploited by our own government to entitle itself to radically expanded powers that had for decades been out of reach.”14 9/11 created the opportunity to adjust the policy framework that led to the surveillance of US citizens by the Patriot Act which undermined existing laws allowing U.S. citizens to be under surveillance for no reason. In the spirit of “This Act may be cited as the “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001”. “15 In the interest of protecting American citizens from terrorists, the Patriot Act undermined the rights of U.S. citizens, by giving the intelligence Agencies such as CIA, NSA or FBI the Authority: “Sec. 201. Authority to interceptwire, oral, and electronic communications relating to terrorism.”16 This shows the extent of the surveillance that set in motion. The Quote was one of many other new Laws that include the Patriot Act giving NSA unrestricted power over domestic surveillance and the accompanying exploitation it leads to. The plan how to prevent a next 9/11 came from a “disgraced former naval officer”17 named John Poindexter a former naval officer and national security advisor under the Regan administration. His plan was titled “Total information awareness” short “TIA”. Its duty was to collect the digital data of all US citizens whether innocent or not “and using it to search for patterns of terrorist activity.”18 Weeks after this proposal:” The agency was busy devising Stellar Wind, its warrantless surveillance system. It sought to identify terrorist links by analysing the metadata drawn from the emails, telephone calls and internet activity of huge numbers of Americans.”19 With the Agency already working on a surveillance software that was capable of providing unconditional information for any targeted person was only the beginning ofwhatwas to follow.
3. The NSA surveillance Software
The programs used by NSA I CIA and FBI such as XKeyscore and the bulk data provided by “Tempora” from the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), PRISM from NSA and “MUSCULAR (DS-200B)” a software operated jointly by the GCHQ and NSA20 “Tempora uses intercepts on the fibre-optic cables that serve as the backbone of the Internet to gain access to large amounts of Internet users' personal data, without any individual suspicion or targeting. The intercepts are placed in the United Kingdom and overseas, with the knowledge of companies owning either the cables or landing stations.”21
3.1 XKeyscore & PRISM
PRISM was launched in 2007 following the passage of the Protect America Act under the Bush Administration. The program is overseen by a U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court). What made a difference in terms of surveillance was that using PRISM there was no obligation of a warrant by FISA Court, PRISM was approved by the FISA court and therefore not all surveillance was controlled by it.
[...]
1 Articletheguardian.com
2 Article britannica.com
3 Article theguardian.com
4 Article theguardian.com
5 Article web.archive.org
6 Article web.archive.org
7 Article web.archive.org
8 Article web.archive.org
9 Article web.archive.org
10 Movie “Snowden” (Min 33:07 - 35:25)
11 Articlewww.biography.com
12 Article www.britannica.com
13 lnterviewwww.youtube.com
14 Article www.theguardian.com
15 Document Patriot Act
16 Document Patriot Act
17 Article www.theguardian.com
18 Article www.theguardian.com
19 Article www.theguardian.com
20 Article www.washingtonpost.com
Häufig gestellte Fragen
Worum geht es in diesem Dokument?
Dieses Dokument ist eine umfassende Sprachvorschau zu einem Thema, das sich mit Massenüberwachung und der Rolle von Edward Snowden befasst. Es enthält eine Inhaltsübersicht, Ziele, wichtige Themen, Kapitelzusammenfassungen und Schlüsselwörter.
Was ist der Inhalt des Inhaltsverzeichnisses?
Das Inhaltsverzeichnis umfasst folgende Punkte: Einführung, Biographie von Edward Joseph Snowden (einschließlich seines Weges zur Intelligence Community und der Etablierung der Massenüberwachung), die Überwachungssoftware der NSA (wie XKeyscore und PRISM), die Enthüllungen von Edward Snowden, Deutschlands Beitrag zur Massenüberwachung (BND & BÍV), ein Interview mit Daniel Fraternelle, eine Schlussfolgerung und eine Literaturliste.
Was war Edward Snowdens Motivation für seine Enthüllungen?
Edward Snowden war an Nachrichtendiensten und Persönlichkeiten interessiert, die selbstlos das Leben anderer Menschen verbessern. Er wollte Einblicke in die Enthüllungen und das Leben von Edward Snowden geben, bevor er in den Nachrichtendiensten tätig war, und wie dies zu seinem Überdenken seiner Arbeitsmoral führte.
Welchen Weg ging Edward Snowden, um in die Intelligence Community zu gelangen?
Snowden arbeitete zunächst als Sicherheitsmann am Center for Advanced Study of Language der Universität von Maryland und trat später der CIA als Informationstechniker bei. Seine erste Mission führte ihn nach Genf, wo er feststellte, wie umfassend die Überwachung war, die er unterstützte. Später arbeitete er für private Auftragnehmer wie Dell und Booz Allen Hamilton, bevor er zum Kunia Regional SIGINT Operations Center (KRSOC) versetzt wurde.
Welche Ereignisse führten zur Etablierung der Massenüberwachung?
Der 11. September war ein signifikanter Moment, der zur Massenüberwachung führte. Der Patriot Act untergrub bestehende Gesetze und erlaubte die Überwachung von US-Bürgern ohne triftigen Grund.
Welche Überwachungssoftware wurde von der NSA verwendet?
Die NSA/CIA und das FBI verwendeten Programme wie XKeyscore, PRISM und Tempora (von GCHQ) sowie MUSCULAR (DS-200B), eine gemeinsam von GCHQ und NSA betriebene Software.
Was ist PRISM?
PRISM wurde 2007 nach Verabschiedung des Protect America Act unter der Bush-Administration gestartet. Es handelte sich um ein Überwachungsprogramm, das von einem U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court) beaufsichtigt wurde, aber nicht alle Überwachungsaktivitäten waren von diesem Gericht kontrolliert.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Neil Nagre (Autor:in), 2022, Mass surveillance and the limits of our privacy, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/1363737
