To: President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Stop Spying on Us: End XKEYSCORE
End the invasive surveillance program XKEYSCORE, which the NSA uses to collect, store and share the private information of millions of people around the world without proper oversight and, in many cases, without a warrant. The recently signed USA Freedom Act by Congress in no way hinders this unconstitutional program. It is time to address this issue and stop the abusive and completely unchecked surveillance machine in the United States.
Why is this important?
Every time you connect to the internet, your communications, your information, and your way of life are being monitored and scrutinized by the government. XKEYSCORE allows the NSA to accomplish this as the program sweeps up internet traffic from areas of communication such as email, pictures, documents, social media, webcam photos, chats, skype sessions, and even logged keystrokes.(1)
The program resembles Google as it categorizes and tags the collected and stored information and makes the information searchable for NSA analysts.(2) For example, an analyst can type your username from Facebook into XKEYSCORE and they would be delivered all of your information, including your private messages, posts, and chats over a specified time period.(3) The program has been used to spy on leaders such as United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, a clear non-threat to the United States.(4)
XKEYSCORE destroys the fundamental principles of civil liberties that we are undeniably born with, works toward a system of governance where stifling dissent is the norm, and it only ramps up the American surveillance state, further turning it into a grotesque monster built on intimidation and fear. It is our duty as citizens of the United States to express our inherent rights and call for the end of this tyrannical program.
Thank you for making your voice heard on this issue.
-David Chapman
Sources:
1. Marquis-Boire, Morgan, Glenn Greenwald, and Micah Lee. “XKEYSCORE: NSA’s Google for the World’s Private Communications.” The Intercept. First Look Media. Web. 1 July 2015. https://theintercept.com/2015/07/01/nsas-google-worlds-private-communications/
2. Lee, Micah, Glenn Greenwald, and Morgan Marquis-Boire. “Behind the Curtain: A Look at the Inner Workings of NSA’s XKEYSCORE.” The Intercept. First Look Media. Web. 2 July 2015. https://theintercept.com/2015/07/02/look-under-hood-xkeyscore/
3. Greenwald, Glenn. "No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State." New York: Picador, 2014. Print. 158.
4. Marquis-Boire, Morgan, Glenn Greenwald, and Micah Lee. “XKEYSCORE: NSA’s Google for the World’s Private Communications.” The Intercept. First Look Media. Web. 1 July 2015. https://theintercept.com/2015/07/01/nsas-google-worlds-private-communications/