The UK's Web Surveillance Program, Codenamed "Karma Police", Wants to Track “every visible user on Internet”

[AndThenThereWas1]

Snowden has done it again. Documents revealed by snowden show a UK spy program, codenamed "Karma Police", with a goal to track the browsing habits of "every visible user on the internet". The program taps into intercontinental data cables. Of the roughly 1600 cables in and near the UK they were able to "“survey the majority of the 1,600” and “select the most valuable to switch into [their] processing systems.”"-theintercept This method alone has given them access to as much as 25% of the world's internet traffic since 2009.

 

 

 

The program gathers 50 billion pieces of metadata per day with a goal of 100 billion by the end of the year. It catalogs the user's visits to websites such as porn, social media and news websites, search engines, chat forums, and blogs. To do so it uses the user's ip address and other information such as emails, usernames, passwords, and cookies. "In the documents, GCHQ analysts called cookies "presence events" and "target detection identifiers" and lauded their value in uncovering specific Internet users' identities. They can be used to analyze "pattern of life"—when a person is usually online and where they connect to the Internet from. Some of the sites targeted specifically for covert cookie collection include Facebook, Microsoft Live, Amazon, YouTube, Reddit, WordPress, Yahoo, Google, the YouPorn adult video site, and news sites such as Reuters, CNN, and the BBC."-arstechnica.

 

 

All collected data is sent into the "The Black Hole" where it awaits processing. Between 2007 and 2009 the black hole stored as much as 1.1 trillion pieces of metadata.

 

The worst part is that unlike the NSA which is required to get FISA court approval for using metadata, the GCHQ program has almost no oversite and a loophole in the law means that they have free reign on how they want to use the metadata. 

 

The GCHQ has used this system to gather data and then coordinate directed attacks. One such example was the SIM card manufacturer Gemalto. They used the gathered passwords to compromise the accounts of employees and they stole encryption keys in bulk from the company.

 

 

Sources:

theverge

theintercept

arstechnica

[Muffinmaddness]

holy shit...

[Bob Jim]

So, as the NSA has been taking the limelight, GCHQ has been dominating them...

[Nineshadow]

"Karma police"
How ironic.

[Guest]

GCHQ: 

 

Government's Cunt Head Quarters. 

[dom1310df]

Really, I'm not surprised they are doing this.

[dom1310df]

GCHQ: 

 

Government's Cunt Head Quarters. 

Funny, but actually the people from there I met were really nice. 

[Mattyd7829]

Anyone else see the "report" that GCHQ put out saying that we didn't need to use such complex passwords? lol 

[Guest]

Funny, but actually the people from there I met were really nice. 

 

I'm sure they were. 

 

I've met a guy that worked for them, he seemed nice, doesn't change what they're doing

[dom1310df]

I'm sure they were. 

 

I've met a guy that worked for them, he seemed nice, doesn't change what they're doing

Absolutely not

[Monkey Dust]

Honestly is anyone really surprised any more?

 

All collected data is sent into the "The Black Hole" where it awaits processing. Between 2007 and 2009 the black hole stored as much as 1.1 trillion pieces of metadata.

 

 

The quote above sums up the futility of the whole exercise, they have accumulated so much data they can't use it. Like a hoarder how has filled their house up and now can't find anything and cannot function anywhere near as well as someone more a discerning in item retention policy. 

[Trik'Stari]

[Misanthrope]

"Karma Police"? What the fuck did we ever do to deserve this much fucking Karma though? Surely we haven't watched that much porn have we?

[Mikjul]

So looking at big tittied lesbo's is now something i do as a shared activity?

 

My internet life is ruined.

[Deli]

What excuse they have to track every single internet users in the world? National security? Fight terrorism?

 

I call this BS.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

Yeah, having all that data that they can't process is really going to help them fight terrorism. 

 

Well, at least the title shows they are aware of the fact that some of us manage to stay invisible.

[Gr0egercesg]

1984?

Anyone?

Just me?

[Trik'Stari]

This is extra funny if you combine it with the recent news about the Obama administration pushing for ways to break encryption in the US.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/09/obama-administration-explored-backdoors-for-bypassing-smartphone-crypto/

 

But of course you wont see that little story on Fox or CNN or MSNBC.

 

1984?

Anyone?

Just me?

 

I did post a quote from 1984 up above.

[ChineseChef]

Honestly is anyone really surprised any more?

 

 

The quote above sums up the futility of the whole exercise, they have accumulated so much data they can't use it. Like a hoarder how has filled their house up and now can't find anything and cannot function anywhere near as well as someone more a discerning in item retention policy. 

 

 

Yeah, having all that data that they can't process is really going to help them fight terrorism. 

 

Well, at least the title shows they are aware of the fact that some of us manage to stay invisible.

 

 

The goal isn't to use it ALL today, the goal is just to store it ALL for now.  You can't go back and collect data from the past, but you can store everything from today.  So if they store everything from now until we/they actually have the computing power to use the data, they will then have all that historical data.  Even if computers can't handle it for another 10-20 years.  They will have everything they need to control politicians, global leaders, corporate heads, regular Joe for some reason.  They will be able to pull up everything people of tomorrow did yesterday, figuratively speaking. 

 

Politician running for office 10-20 years from now?  Let's look at all of his online activity since the mid 2000's.  Oh look, something we can use to control said politician.  Everyone will have something they did or said online from when they were young and dumb, or from when they simply felt differently. 

 

Imagine if there was another "red scare" (insert your own country's epic freakout here), suddenly we can look back at the last 10+ years and see who was in support of the new "enemy".  Imagine another 9/11, how quickly would they start looking back through all the old data that didn't mean anything before, and suddenly they have a few keywords to search for.  Suddenly muslims and those supporting muslims are suspects, more so than they already were.

[Trik'Stari]

The goal isn't to use it ALL today, the goal is just to store it ALL for now.  You can't go back and collect data from the past, but you can store everything from today.  So if they store everything from now until we/they actually have the computing power to use the data, they will then have all that historical data.  Even if computers can't handle it for another 10-20 years.  They will have everything they need to control politicians, global leaders, corporate heads, regular Joe for some reason.  They will be able to pull up everything people of tomorrow did yesterday, figuratively speaking. 

 

Politician running for office 10-20 years from now?  Let's look at all of his online activity since the mid 2000's.  Oh look, something we can use to control said politician.  Everyone will have something they did or said online from when they were young and dumb, or from when they simply felt differently. 

 

Imagine if there was another "red scare" (insert your own country's epic freakout here), suddenly we can look back at the last 10+ years and see who was in support of the new "enemy".  Imagine another 9/11, how quickly would they start looking back through all the old data that didn't mean anything before, and suddenly they have a few keywords to search for.  Suddenly muslims and those supporting muslims are suspects, more so than they already were.

^this, this right freaking here. This is why the government data collection needs to be stopped.

[Arty]

I'm always a little disheartened to see people immediately accept stories like this as fact. How difficult would it be to make up everything in that article? Nobody seems to consider the possibility that it's all a load of bullshit. Of course it may well be completely true, but it seems nowadays if some article comes out that fits in with the general consensus people don't think about it critically at all. What happened to not trusting everything you read on the internet?  

Our Governments Lies to all day everyday

 

 

 

NSA

9/11

Operation Northwood

Drugging citizens with LSD

ETC

 

The UK does shit too

 

 

All our GOV is lieing to US,

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

 

 

 

 

Thx to Snowden  we know some truth

[soaringchicken]

well shit....I feel like there is so much of this sort of thing happening that I'm desensitized to it at this point.

[Toddwjp]

I feel like it would be in everyone's best interest if that hacker known as 4chan started a bot net of infected computers that visit websites at random, if we cannot stop them collecting data then we must give then so much shit theu literally just have a pile of shit to sit in

[mikeeginger]

So, as the NSA has been taking the limelight, GCHQ has been dominating them...

 

GCHQ shares it's data with the USA as well as Canada , New Zealand  and Australia

[Epse]

No matter if it is completely true or only partially, how the F*** can this even be legal? This means they were tracking people outside of their jurisdiction?

I live in Belgium, so the FBI can't do shit against me unless I go onto Merican soil,  so why on earth would they have the right to register what pretty much EVERYONE is doing?