Changes

Training materials provided by Snowden for XKeyscore program detail how analysts can use it and other systems to mine enormous NSA databases by filling in a simple on-screen form giving only a broad justification for the search. The request is not reviewed by a court or any NSA personnel before it is processed. The program covers "nearly everything a typical user does on the internet", including the content of emails, websites visited and searches, as well as their metadata. Under US law, the NSA is required to obtain an individualized [[FISA]] warrant only if the target of their surveillance is a 'US person', though no such warrant is required for intercepting the communications of Americans with foreign targets. But '''XKeyscore provides''' the technological capability, if not '''the legal authority, to target even US persons''' for extensive electronic surveillance '''without a warrant provided''' that some identifying information, such as '''their email or IP address, is known.''' <ref name="theguardian.com">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/09/nsa-secret-surveillance-lawmakers-live</ref>  

Training materials provided by Snowden for XKeyscore program detail how analysts can use it and other systems to mine enormous NSA databases by filling in a simple on-screen form giving only a broad justification for the search. The request is not reviewed by a court or any NSA personnel before it is processed. The program covers "nearly everything a typical user does on the internet", including the content of emails, websites visited and searches, as well as their metadata. Under US law, the NSA is required to obtain an individualized [[FISA]] warrant only if the target of their surveillance is a 'US person', though no such warrant is required for intercepting the communications of Americans with foreign targets. But '''XKeyscore provides''' the technological capability, if not '''the legal authority, to target even US persons''' for extensive electronic surveillance '''without a warrant provided''' that some identifying information, such as '''their email or IP address, is known.''' <ref name="theguardian.com">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/09/nsa-secret-surveillance-lawmakers-live</ref>  

Snowden revealed intelligence sharing on Britain's GCHQ (its intelligence agency) intercepting phone and [[internet]] communications of foreign [[politician]]s attending two [[G-20]] meetings in [[London]] in 2009.

Snowden revealed [[intelligence sharing]] on Britain's GCHQ (its intelligence agency) intercepting phone and [[internet]] communications of foreign [[politician]]s attending two [[G-20]] meetings in [[London]] in 2009.

Snowden leaks top-secret procedures steps the NSA must take to target and collect data from [[Foreign_Intelligence_Surveillance_Act#702_queries_.28Title_VII.29|"non-US persons" and how it must minimize, or mask, data collected on US citizens]].<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/20/fisa-court-nsa-without-warrant</ref>

Snowden leaks top-secret procedures steps the NSA must take to target and collect data from [[Foreign_Intelligence_Surveillance_Act#702_queries_.28Title_VII.29|"non-US persons" and how it must minimize, or mask, data collected on US citizens]].<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/20/fisa-court-nsa-without-warrant</ref>

Snowden leaks how Britain's GCHQ taps fiber-optic cables to collect and store global email messages, Facebook posts, internet histories, and calls, and then shares the data with the NSA through an "intelligence sharing agreement". Hence theoretically, no violation of an American citizen's [[4th Amendment]] protections against [[illegal]] searches and seizure since the [[US government]] is doing the illegal search.

Snowden leaks how Britain's GCHQ taps fiber-optic cables to collect and store global email messages, Facebook posts, internet histories, and calls, and then shares the data with the NSA through an "[[intelligence sharing]] agreement". Hence theoretically, no violation of an American citizen's [[4th Amendment]] protections against [[illegal]] searches and seizure since the [[US government]] is doing the illegal search.

Snowden leaks reveal Britain's GCHQ and other European spy agencies work together to conduct mass surveillance. The files also make clear that GCHQ played a leading role in advising its European counterparts how to work around laws intended to restrict the surveillance power of intelligence agencies. ''The Guardian'' article reports,<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/01/gchq-europe-spy-agencies-mass-surveillance-snowden</ref>[[File:450px-Edward Snowden 2013-10-9 (1) (cropped).jpg|right|225px|thumb|[[Edward Snowden]] warned of such abuse played out in 2016 and 2017: an [[Executive branch]] with unlimited. unrestrained power to spy on investigative Committees of Congress, political opponents, and even the Supreme Court.]]

Snowden leaks reveal Britain's GCHQ and other European spy agencies work together to conduct mass surveillance. The files also make clear that GCHQ played a leading role in advising its European counterparts how to work around laws intended to restrict the surveillance power of intelligence agencies. ''The Guardian'' article reports,<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/01/gchq-europe-spy-agencies-mass-surveillance-snowden</ref>[[File:450px-Edward Snowden 2013-10-9 (1) (cropped).jpg|right|225px|thumb|[[Edward Snowden]] warned of such abuse played out in 2016 and 2017: an [[Executive branch]] with unlimited. unrestrained power to spy on investigative Committees of Congress, political opponents, and even the Supreme Court.]]

Snowden revealed GCHQ asked NSA for "unsupervised access" to NSA's databases.

Snowden revealed GCHQ asked NSA for "unsupervised access" to NSA's databases.

British Secretive Court ruled NSA-UK sharing of bulk metadata before December 2014 was illegal, however, after the Snowden leaks, now that the practice is publicly known, US-UK intelligence metadata sharing is legal.<ref>https://leaksource.wordpress.com/2015/02/22/ipt-rules-nsa-gchq-intel-sharing-illegal-prior-to-december-2014-legal-now-since-its-not-secret-anymore-huh/comment-page-1/</ref> Legal intelligence sharing with foreign agencies is a convenient way for law enforcement in both countries to circumvent constitutional restrictions and obtain information without [[probable cause]] or a search warrant. Under a reciprocal agreement, the US can ask the UK to spy on a US citizen or vice-versa (as in the case of [[Diana, Princess of Wales|Lady Diana Spencer]]) as a national security prerogative. The UK doesn't need a warrant in the US, nor the US in the UK, and a person's [[civil rights]] may be "legally" violated under this loophole. The practice was originated by President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in 1938 by [[Executive Order]] allowing British intelligence to [[wiretap]] American citizens that Britain feared were monitoring ships leaving harbor in New York and New Jersey, making them vulnerable to [[U-boat]]s.<ref>Counterintelligence Reader, World War II, Chapter 3, p. 249</ref>

British Secretive Court ruled NSA-UK sharing of bulk metadata before December 2014 was illegal, however, after the Snowden leaks, now that the practice is publicly known, US-UK intelligence metadata sharing is legal.<ref>https://leaksource.wordpress.com/2015/02/22/ipt-rules-nsa-gchq-intel-sharing-illegal-prior-to-december-2014-legal-now-since-its-not-secret-anymore-huh/comment-page-1/</ref> Legal [[intelligence sharing]] with foreign agencies is a convenient way for law enforcement in both countries to circumvent constitutional restrictions and obtain information without [[probable cause]] or a search warrant. Under a reciprocal agreement, the US can ask the UK to spy on a US citizen or vice-versa (as in the case of [[Diana, Princess of Wales|Lady Diana Spencer]]) as a national security prerogative. The UK doesn't need a warrant in the US, nor the US in the UK, and a person's [[civil rights]] may be "legally" violated under this loophole. The practice was originated by President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in 1938 by [[Executive Order]] allowing British intelligence to [[wiretap]] American citizens that Britain feared were monitoring ships leaving harbor in New York and New Jersey, making them vulnerable to [[U-boat]]s.<ref>Counterintelligence Reader, World War II, Chapter 3, p. 249</ref>

==References==

==References==