Surveillance and signals-intelligence cases — what the disclosures actually revealed. 17 case files in the archive.
The documented record of Cold War-era CIA relationships with American journalists and editors. Church Committee findings, Carl Bernstein's 1977 Rolling Stone report.
The CIA program targeting the US anti-war and civil rights movements. Files on 7,200 Americans, 300,000+ names indexed. Disclosed by Hersh's December 1974 NYT story.
The NSA contractor's June 2013 disclosures via Greenwald, Poitras, and Gellman. PRISM, STELLAR WIND, MUSCULAR, XKeyscore, Section 215 metadata.
The August 2 USS Maddox engagement (real); the August 4 'second attack' (didn't happen). NSA historian Robert Hanyok's 2005 study finding SIGINT was deliberately misrepresented.
The Israeli Air Force and Navy attack on the US Navy SIGINT ship USS Liberty during the Six-Day War. 34 American dead, 174 wounded.
The NSA's secret bulk-interception of essentially all international telegrams entering or leaving the United States, with the cooperation of Western Union, ITT, and RCA.
The US Army Signal Intelligence Service's decryption of Soviet diplomatic cables. Gene Grabeel's 1943 start; Meredith Gardner's 1946 breakthrough.
The CIA's 21-year mail-opening program at JFK Airport and the San Francisco Hubbard Mail Facility. ~215,000 international letters opened.
The NSA watchlist program tracking ~1,650 American citizens, including Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali, Tom Wicker, Senators Frank Church and Howard Baker.
The Navy SIGINT ship under Commander Bucher captured by North Korea in disputed waters. One sailor killed, 82 crew taken prisoner, 11-month captivity. The ship remains in Pyongyang as a war trophy.
The NSA warrantless surveillance program authorized after 9/11. Bulk metadata and content collection, the March 2004 hospital-room confrontation at DOJ, the 2005 New York Times disclosure, and the transition into FISA Section 215 and 702.
The NSA program that collects internet communications from Microsoft, Google, Apple, Facebook, and other US providers under Section 702. The June 2013 Snowden disclosure, the 'direct access' dispute, and the incidental collection of Americans.
The joint NSA-GCHQ program that tapped the private fiber links between Google and Yahoo data centers abroad, collecting data in bulk where it ran unencrypted. The 'SSL added and removed here' slide and the encryption arms race it triggered.
The NSA tool that counted and mapped its global metadata collection on a color-coded heat map, including billions of US records. Its existence complicated official statements that the NSA could not count its domestic collection.
The Five Eyes signals-intelligence collection and sharing system under the UKUSA Agreement. Satellite interception, Duncan Campbell and Nicky Hager's reporting, the 2001 European Parliament investigation, and the commercial-espionage allegations.
The DARPA program led by John Poindexter to detect terrorists by mining personal data. The all-seeing-eye logo, the public backlash, the 2003 congressional defunding, and the migration of its components into the intelligence community.
The FBI's internet surveillance packet-sniffer, installed at ISPs to capture a target's email. The over-collection concern, the EPIC FOIA litigation, the 2000 independent review, the DCS1000 renaming, and the 2005 shift to commercial tools.