National Security Agency

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National Security Agency

Basic information
Founded	1952
Legal Structure	Government agency
Industry	Intelligence and counterintelligence
Also known as
Official website	https://www.nsa.gov/

The National Security Agency (NSA) is a member of the United States Intelligence Community (IC) established in 1952. The NSA collaborates with universities, businesses, and other entities to enhance the United States' national security against both foreign and domestic threats.^{[citation needed]} Their methods have come under national scrutiny many times, most notably in 2013 when Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the NSA's mass warrantless surveillance of the American populace post-9/11.

Incidents

Purchasing illegally-obtained data

In January 2024, "NSA officials told [US Senator Ron Wyden] that not only is the intelligence agency purchasing data on Americans located in the US but that it also bought Americans' Internet metadata." Wyden also "suggested that the intelligence community might be helping data brokers violate an FTC order requiring that Americans [...] give informed consent before their data can be sold to third parties."

The FTC order in question is part of a settlement with X-Mode Social, Inc. and its successor, Outlogic, LLC. The order established a precedent prohibiting data brokers from collecting and selling sensitive consumer data without the consumer's explicit consent. Notably, this order "seems to carve out exceptions for any [location] data collected outside the US and used for either 'security purposes' or 'national security purposes conducted by federal agencies or other federal entities.'"

This incident may indicate pressure from the NSA on data brokers and collectors to continue violating privacy, adopting opt-in by default practices, and engaging in user tracking.

See also

• FTC settlement with X-Mode and Outlogic