Premise: The National Security Agency ( NSA ) is a military intelligence organization and a constituent of the United States Department of Defense ( DOD ) . The NSA is responsible for global monitoring , collection , and processing of information and data for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes , a discipline known as signals intelligence ( SIGINT ) . Unlike the Defense Intelligence Agency ( DIA ) and the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) , both of which specialize primarily in foreign human espionage , NSA does not unilaterally conduct human-source intelligence gathering , despite often being portrayed so in popular culture . Since then , it has become one of the largest U.S. intelligence organizations in terms of personnel and budget , operating as part of the Department of Defense and simultaneously reporting to the Director of National Intelligence . Security agency . They are the domestic cousins of foreign intelligence agencies , and typically conduct counterintelligence to thwart other countries ' foreign intelligence efforts .
Hypothesis: The National Security Agency is banned from doing anything related to intelligence or counterintelligence.
Label: CONTRADICTION