

Documents show how the NSA infers relationships based on mobile location data - bcn
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/12/10/new-documents-show-how-the-nsa-infers-relationships-based-on-mobile-location-data/

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ismail
I actually posted about this a while back here on HN, having figured this out
when attending a course on SS7 signalling several years back. At the time i
thought it was a 'theoretical possibility'

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6682320](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6682320)

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droopyEyelids
What I'm enjoying about these documents is that they reveal the 'correct'
amount of paranoia.

If you're pretty technical, it's easy to simulate what the NSA does with your
imagination. Just imagine what databases they have, and imaging what you could
do in a limited way if you made it your side project. Badabing.

~~~
VladRussian2
and if it happens that NSA doesn't do it or haven't even yet collected an
imagined database, it should be treated as a performance issue and negligence
on behalf of the NSA.

~~~
mindslight
Exactly like how all of this should have been imagined pre-Snowden. But of
course it was much easier to brush off room 641A as performing simple tcpdump
sessions on TV villains.

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znowi
So, basically, Google's location history is NSA's HAPPYFOOT data aggregator.

[https://maps.google.com/locationhistory/](https://maps.google.com/locationhistory/)

~~~
Ironlink
That seems suboptimal. By pulling directly from the telcos, they could get
data on all users rather than a subset.

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polynomial
Given the glossary at the end, I'm surprised it didn't include Skyhook.

~~~
midas007
How many commercial wardriving services are there? Skyhook was an early one,
but lost Apple.

Also: If 2.4 and 5.8 GHz satellite-based SIGINT were technically possible, at
extreme difficulty and cost, it maybe within the realm of possibility of
classified budgets.

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salient
What's disturbing is that even though they _know_ which data is from US
citizens, they still won't discard it, and can even use it. I mean, maybe I
can understand if they "incidentally" collect the data of some people -
although doing that for tens of thousand of people a year is really pushing it
since all sorts of people could be in that "incidental" collection, and US
persons could actually be targeted this way, and then masked as being
"incidental collection".

But even after they know they are Americans, they still keep it? That's just
unacceptable. This other story puts things in an even scarier perspective,
because of what they can do with that data if it gets trickled down to other
agencies (parallel construction, etc:

[https://www.aclu.org/meet-jack-or-what-government-could-
do-a...](https://www.aclu.org/meet-jack-or-what-government-could-do-all-
location-data)

~~~
smtddr
The fact that we are somehow considering Americans' privacy more important
that non-Americans' privacy is what I find disturbing. Also, the illusion that
they were ever discarding American citizens' data never took hold of me. The
NSA collects ALL THE DATA.

~~~
rgbrenner
Sorry.. but Americans privacy is more important than non-Americans when we are
talking about the US government. They aren't collecting the data for
entertainment. They can very easily round up anyone they please on US soil.

At least you have your own government to protect you (assuming you aren't
important enough to start a war over).

~~~
sentenza
You are never leaving the american sector[1].

[1]
[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bi...](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-F079005-0022,_Berlin,_Grenz%C3%BCbergang_Checkpoint_Charlie.jpg)

