2010s global surveillance disclosures

For earlier global surveillance disclosures, see Global surveillance disclosures (1970–2013).
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During the 2010s, international media reports revealed new operational details about the Anglophone cryptographic agencies' global surveillance[1] of both foreign and domestic nationals. The reports mostly relate to top secret documents leaked by ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The documents consist of intelligence files relating to the U.S. and other Five Eyes countries.[2] In June 2013, the first of Snowden's documents were published, with further selected documents released to various news outlets through the year.

These media reports disclosed several secret treaties signed by members of the UKUSA community in their efforts to implement global surveillance. For example, Der Spiegel revealed how the German Federal Intelligence Service (German: Bundesnachrichtendienst; BND) transfers "massive amounts of intercepted data to the NSA",[3] while Swedish Television revealed the National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA) provided the NSA with data from its cable collection, under a secret agreement signed in 1954 for bilateral cooperation on surveillance.[4] Other security and intelligence agencies involved in the practice of global surveillance include those in Australia (ASD), Britain (GCHQ), Canada (CSE), Denmark (PET), France (DGSE), Germany (BND), Italy (AISE), the Netherlands (AIVD), Norway (NIS), Spain (CNI), Switzerland (NDB), Singapore (SID) as well as Israel (ISNU), which receives raw, unfiltered data of U.S. citizens from the NSA.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

On June 14, 2013, United States prosecutors charged Edward Snowden with espionage and theft of government property. In late July 2013, he was granted a one-year temporary asylum by the Russian government,[13] contributing to a deterioration of Russia–United States relations.[14][15] Toward the end of October 2013, the British Prime Minister David Cameron warned The Guardian not to publish any more leaks, or it will receive a DA-Notice.[16] In November 2013, a criminal investigation of the disclosure was undertaken by Britain's Metropolitan Police Service.[17] In December 2013, The Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger said: "We have published I think 26 documents so far out of the 58,000 we've seen."[18]

The extent to which the media reports responsibly informed the public is disputed. In January 2014, Obama said that "the sensational way in which these disclosures have come out has often shed more heat than light"[19] and critics such as Sean Wilentz have noted that many of the Snowden documents do not concern domestic surveillance.[20] The US & British Defense establishment weigh the strategic harm in the period following the disclosures more heavily than their civic public benefit. In its first assessment of these disclosures, the Pentagon concluded that Snowden committed the biggest "theft" of U.S. secrets in the history of the United States.[21] Sir David Omand, a former director of GCHQ, described Snowden's disclosure as the "most catastrophic loss to British intelligence ever".[22]

  1. ^ Barton Gellman (December 24, 2013). "Edward Snowden, after months of NSA revelations, says his mission's accomplished". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 25, 2013. Taken together, the revelations have brought to light a global surveillance system...
  2. ^ "Who holds security clearances?". The Washington Post. June 10, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  3. ^ Hubert Gude; Laura Poitras; Marcel Rosenbach (August 5, 2013). "German intelligence Sends Massive Amounts of Data to the NSA". Der Spiegel. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  4. ^ Gunnar Rensfeldt (December 8, 2013). "NSA 'asking for' specific exchanges from FRA – Secret treaty since 1954". SVT Nyheter. Sveriges Television. Retrieved April 15, 2024. This document, dated 18 April of this year, clearly shows that the relation is very close indeed, seemingly growing even closer. 'NSA's relationship with the FRA, an extremely competent, technically innovative, and trusted Third Party partner, continues to grow. The FRA provided NSA with access to its cable collection in 2011'
  5. ^ Glenn Greenwald; Laura Poitras; Ewen MacAskill (September 11, 2013). "NSA shares raw intelligence including Americans' data with Israel". The Guardian. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  6. ^ Tim Leslie; Mark Corcoran (November 8, 2013). "Explained: Australia's involvement with the NSA, the U.S. spy agency at heart of global scandal". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  7. ^ Julian Borger (November 2013). "GCHQ and European spy agencies worked together on mass surveillance". The Guardian. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  8. ^ Greg Weston; Glenn Greenwald; Ryan Gallagher. "Snowden document shows Canada set up spy posts for NSA". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  9. ^ "Denmark is one of the NSA's '9-Eyes'". The Copenhagen Post. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  10. ^ Jacques Follorou (November 29, 2013). "La France, précieux partenaire de l'espionnage de la NSA". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  11. ^ Christian Fuchs, John Goetz und Frederik Obermaier (September 13, 2013). "Verfassungsschutz beliefert NSA". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  12. ^ Kjetil Malkenes Hovland. "Norway Monitored Phone Traffic and Shared Data With NSA". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  13. ^ Herszenhorn, David M. (July 16, 2013). "Leaker Files for Asylum to Remain in Russia". The New York Times. Retrieved December 16, 2013.
  14. ^ "Snowden Asylum Hits U.S.-Russia Relations". The Wall Street Journal. August 1, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2013.
  15. ^ ".S. 'Extremely Disappointed' At Russia's Asylum For Snowden". NPR. August 1, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2013.
  16. ^ Francis Elliott (October 28, 2013). "Cameron hints at action to stop security leaks". The Times. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  17. ^ Satter, Raphael (November 13, 2013). "UK Pursuing Criminal Investigation Into Guardian Leaks". Associated Press. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
  18. ^ "Only 1% of Snowden files published – Guardian editor". BBC News. December 3, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  19. ^ Transcript Of President Obama's Speech On NSA Reforms NPR January 17, 2014
  20. ^ Sean Wilentz (January 19, 2014), Would You Feel Differently About Snowden, Greenwald, and Assange If You Knew What They Really Thought? The New Republic
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference mostpentagon was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ "Snowden leaks 'worst ever loss to British intelligence'". BBC News. October 11, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2014.