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NSA built “Google-like” interface to scan 850+ billion metadata records

  • 26 August 2014
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Data like unique phone identifiers, e-mail addresses, and chat handles now being shared.

by Cyrus Farivar - Aug 25 2014
 


 
According to newly published documents, the National Security Agency has built a “Google-like” search interface for its vast database of metadata, and the agency shares it with dozens of other American intelligence agencies. The new documents are part of the Snowden leaks and were first published on Monday by The Intercept.
The new search tool, called ICREACH, is described in an internal NSA presentation as a “large scale expansion of communications metadata shared with [intelligence community] partners.” That same presentation shows that ICREACH has been operational since the pilot launched in May 2007. Not only is data being shared to more agencies, but there are more types of such data being shared—ICREACH searches over 850 billion records.
 
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by Pierluigi Paganini on August 26th, 2014
 
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The FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration are referred as the “key participants” in the ICREACH program, but the documents confirm that the platform has been accessible to more than 1,000 analysts at 23 US Government agencies involved in Intelligence activities.According to The Intercept the large-scale of ICREACH represents a serious threat to citizens’ privacy, it seems that also individuals not accused of illegal activities were monitored by the system.
“Legal experts told The Intercept they were shocked to learn about the scale of the ICREACH system and are concerned that law enforcement authorities might use it for domestic investigations that are not related to terrorism.” reports The Intercept.
“To me, this is extremely troublesome,” “The myth that metadata is just a bunch of numbers and is not as revealing as actual communications content was exploded long ago—this is a trove of incredibly sensitive information.” said Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the New York University School of Law’s Brennan Center for Justice.

 
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