UPDATED 18:50 EDT / JULY 31 2013

Viewing The World Through A PRISM – Part II

In the first part of this series, we offered a recap of what we knew of the NSA surveillance program, PRISM. The intent of this second in the series was to explore how and if large-scale intelligence gathering schemes could or should be dismantled. Rounding out the article will be an exploration of some of the ways one might try to maintain even a modicum of privacy in their waking lives.

There are those who have argued the Pandora’s Box-esque nature of PRISM might trouble some, but the program and, more notably the technology behind it, is going nowhere. Micah Greene, writing his blog at vikingvpn.com, commented, “It doesn’t matter if we take political action. We cannot legislate the technology away. It exists. It works.” This assertion was certainly reinforced in light of today’s bombshell published in the Guardian.

In Glenn Greenwald’s initial video interview, Edward Snowden leveled many claims against the National Security Agency. In perhaps his most outlandish statement, Snowden said, “I, sitting at my desk, could wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant, to a federal judge or even the president, if I had a personal email.” Though Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, denied this claim flatly, today’s revelation takes it from outlandish to outrageous.

How Low Does It Go?

The PRISM sub-program known as XKeyscore gives individual analysts the ability to mine enormous NSA databases for specific e-mails, online chats and browsing histories for millions of individuals. Furthermore, any analyst would have this ability, needing no previous authorization to initiate a search.

XKeyscore training materials explain how an analyst, with no court or even supervisory review, is granted access to the databases after having only completed an on-screen form which asks for justification in the very broadest sense. Other aspects of the program allow analysts to target a particular website and then mine the individual IP addresses of every person who has visited that site.

How Much Data Does A Man Need?

The sheer amount of data accessible to NSA analysts, based on a 2007 report, numbers at approximately 1.7 billion e-mails, phone calls and other types of communication collected each day. As a result of this massive continuous data collection, content is only able to remain on the system for under a week. The metadata, however, is stored for about a month.

The NSA has created a multi-tiered data storage system to address the limited capabilities of an overburdened data collection operation. This allows for the saving of content in other databases for as long as five years. The new NSA facility in Utah will, no doubt, increase the agency’s overall data storage capability.

The Way Forward

In light of the disappearance of the notion of any semblance of online anonymity, what is a general user to do? In Micah Green’s aforementioned blog post states the only option is dedicated end-to-end encryption of their internet transmissions. Green also recommends logging out of all online accounts like social media and Google. The added inconvenience of turning off a GPS-enabled phone when not in use is suggested.

Another service, offered by Abine, is called ‘Mask Me’. The app, available through the Chrome and Firefox browsers, is a free add on that allows you to mask your e-mail address from being collected by private companies for their marketing practices. When you consider the complicity by outfits like Google, Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft and others in the transmission of collected data to the NSA, this seems a minimal act you can take to protect your online privacy.

Abine also offers a freemium option of Mask Me that provides a dummy phone number and credit card number, giving you control of who contacts you. This option, available for $5 per month, provides a greater layer of personal anonymity to your online life.

The Future For American Cloud Providers

One thing appears certain. The private companies that offered their troves of data to the NSA are most likely going to see the public’s general displeasure reflected on their bottom lines. In an article for SiliconANGLE written by Mike Wheatley, he cited how the existence of PRISM has had a negative impact on US-based cloud service providers. Since Snowden’s PRISM revelation, these companies have lost hundreds of overseas customers.

These figures are drawn from a Cloud Security Alliance survey of their 48,000 member organizations. Of their total membership, some 500 members claimed their distrust of US companies led to them seeking other cloud providers. As Wheatley stated, “Most interesting was the feedback from the CSA’s non-US members, of which ten percent indicated that they had cancelled projects that would have used US-based cloud providers.”

The importance of data security and personal anonymity is going to see an inevitable market-based backlash where companies will provide better and greater options to the user. The onus will be on the consumer to decide when and if they can trust these new providers.

This series was conceived in order to highlight what we knew of PRISM, given it had been one month since it had splashed across the front pages of newspapers worldwide. When you consider the scope of the program is still slowly being revealed, one must wonder what future fallout will require a recap.

Image Credit: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YCiI9ikZ7OM/UbFc7OpAZGI/AAAAAAAAH5g/CrBpyOZei7E/s1600/PrismFotolia.jpg
Image Credit 2: Marco Bellucci via photopin cc

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