NSA

[[File:National Security Agency headquarters, Fort Meade, Maryland.jpg|thumb|165px|right|
A Borg Cube
 NSA HQ, Fort Meade, Maryland]]
{{conspiracy}}
{{cquote|On a mountain halfway between Reno and Rome,
We have a machine in a Plexiglas dome,
Which listens and looks into everyone's home.|||''Dr Seuss's Sleep Book''}} 
The '''National Security Agency''' ('''NSA''') is one of the most secretive parts of the [[United States]]' [[intelligence (government)|intelligence]] community; anything more secretive probably does not officially exist. It was also referred to as "'''No Such Agency'''" for this reason. They mostly deal in signals intelligence (SIGINT<ref group=note>Not to be confused with the [[w:Unix signal|Unix signal]] SIGINT.</ref>) and other technical forms of intelligence gathering. A secondary mission is information security (INFOSEC) — that is, protecting the USA's sensitive communications; or more cynically, keeping other countries from doing to the USA what it does to them.

The majority of the NSA is privatized, with contractors like the firm Booz Allen Hamilton doing quite a bit of the dirty work and being unaccountable to the democratic process.<ref>http://www.thenation.com/article/us-intelligence-is-more-privatized-than-ever-before/</ref> This whole private-public apparatus we call the NSA is headquartered in [[Maryland]].<ref>[http://goo.gl/maps/1lS7 Google Maps satellite image]</ref> Interestingly, the NSA probably works more closely with American allies than any other part of the American intelligence community. It is well-known that the US shares SIGINT information with the [[UK]], [[Canada]], [[Australia]], and [[New Zealand]] as part of the "Five Eyes" spy network (also known as ECHELON).<ref>{{wpa|AUSCANNZUKUS}}</ref> Moreover, the NSA works closely with [[Taiwan]]'s NSB to spy on [[China]],{{fact}} though as a result of the {{wpl|Sino-Soviet split||,}} it also had two bases in western China to monitor the [[Soviet Union]] during the [[Cold War]].<ref>http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2013/06/13/the-national-security-agency-a-global-superpower.html</ref> 

[[Conspiracy theorists]] and other people have long speculated that the NSA has been spying on Americans (and others) over a long period of time. Unfortunately for all of us, they were proven right in 2013 when news about the PRISM project (which collects information from most [[social media]] sources and also wiretaps millions of phones, especially from Verizon) was leaked by ''[[The Guardian]]'', through information provided by [[Edward Snowden]], a [[whistleblower]] and former NSA contractor employee. The [[PATRIOT Act]] has no bounds, it seems.<ref group=note>However, PRISM seems to be a little more inefficient than most conspiracy theorists seem to think, likely the vast majority of data collected is junk data, [[porn]], and [[YouTube]] comments. (How this specifically stops [[terrorism]] is another debate in itself.) So they're half right. Nonetheless, some also believe that they somehow have a full backup of everyone's hard drive, an absurdity on its own — or a sign that people don't know how computer technology works.</ref>

==See also==
*[[CIA]]
*[[Information Awareness Office]]
*[[Edward Snowden]]
*[[Agent 711]]
*[[Big Brother]]

==External links==
*[https://prism-break.org/ Prism Break] is a decent site pointing to resources for protecting your online privacy from the NSA.
*[http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/16/us/nsa-often-broke-rules-on-privacy-audit-shows.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss What were you expecting?]
*[http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/15/nsa-mind-keith-alexander-star-trek The NSA] - where all your ''[[Star Trek]]'' fantasies come to life!

==Notes==
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==References== 
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{{stub|conspiracy theories}}
__NOTOC__
[[Category:United States government]]
[[Category:Government surveillance]]
[[Category:Government incompetence]]

Categories: United States government, Government surveillance, Government incompetence