Episode 304: America's Dark Web - The NSA’s Utah Data Center
Every phone call. Every text message. Every mouse click. Our virtual footprints have to route through somewhere on the way to their destinations. And the prying eyes of the U.S. government is there every step of the way. Copies of your private digital details just may be stored on Uncle Sam’s cloud inside an unassuming building in the desert. This week’s episode is America's Dark Web - The NSA’s Utah Data Center.
SOURCES
A Visit to the NSA's Data Center in Utah, The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/11/a-visit-to-the-nsas-data-center-in-utah/416691/
ACLU Analysis and Recommended Improvements for USA Freedom Act of 2015, ACLU: https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/document/Letter_to_Members_of_Judiciary_USAF_2015.pdf
Beyond the Terabyte: The Computational and Political Power of Data Centers, The Street: https://www.thestreet.com/csuiteadvisors/stories/keith-gunther-csa-beyond-the-terabyte-the-computational-and-political-power-of-data-centers
Blueprints Of NSA's Ridiculously Expensive Data Center In Utah Suggest It Holds Less Info Than Thought, Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/07/24/blueprints-of-nsa-data-center-in-utah-suggest-its-storage-capacity-is-less-impressive-than-thought/
Don’t Worry, the Government Still Has Plenty of Surveillance Power If Section 215 Sunsets, EFF: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/05/dont-worry-government-still-has-plenty-surveillance-power-if-section-215-sunsets
Inside the NSA’s secret Utah data center, Fox News: https://www.foxnews.com/tech/inside-the-nsas-secret-utah-data-center
Hackers may have stolen the Social Security numbers of every American. Here’s how to protect yourself, Los Angeles Times: https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-08-13/hacker-claims-theft-of-every-american-social-security-number
Images and Information About the Utah Data Center, r/USIntelCommunity on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/USIntelCommunity/comments/1bom30f/the_nsa_utah_data_center/
Jewel v. NSA, EFF: https://www.eff.org/cases/jewel
Just Dig While You Work, Time Magazine: https://time.com/archive/6711931/technology-just-dig-while-you-work/
Letter to Judiciary Committee - Section 215 PATRIOT Act, ACLU: https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/document/Letter_to_Members_of_Judiciary_USAF_2015.pdf
NSA dismisses claims Utah Data Center watches average Americans, Fox News: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nsa-dismisses-claims-utah-data-center-watches-average-americans
NSA's Huge Utah Datacenter: How Much Of Your Data Will It Store? Experts Disagree…, Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/netapp/2013/07/26/nsa-utah-datacenter/
Secret Government Report Shows Gaping Holes in Privacy Protections From U.S. Surveillance, ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/secret-government-report-shows-gaping-holes-privacy
Stop Mass Warrantless Surveillance: Reform Section 702, ACLU: https://action.aclu.org/send-message/stop-mass-warrantless-surveillance-reform-section-702
Surprise Visitors Are Unwelcome At The NSA's Unfinished Utah Spy Center (Especially When They Take Photos), Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/03/04/nsa-utah-data-center-visit/
The FBI is Playing Politics with Your Privacy, EFF: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/05/fbi-playing-politics-your-privacy
The NSA Is Building the Country's Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say), Wired: https://www.wired.com/2012/03/ff-nsadatacenter/
The NSA Wouldn't Let Us in This Building (But We Found Out What's Inside), Reason Magazine: https://reason.com/video/2016/01/19/nsa-utah-data-center-spying-snowden-spy/
The staggering ecological impacts of computation and the cloud, MIT's Schwarzman College of Computing: https://computing.mit.edu/news/the-staggering-ecological-impacts-of-computation-and-the-cloud/
Titanpointe - The NSA’s Spy Hub in New York, Hidden in Plain Sight, The Intercept: https://theintercept.com/2016/11/16/the-nsas-spy-hub-in-new-york-hidden-in-plain-sight/
To Fight Surveillance Pricing, We Need Privacy First, EFF: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/08/fight-surveillance-pricing-we-need-privacy-first
Top FBI Official Urges Agents to Use Warrantless Wiretaps on US Soil, Wired: https://www.wired.com/story/fbi-section-702-us-person-queries-email/
Transcript: Obama's Remarks on NSA Controversy, Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-WB-38855
U.S. Senate and Biden Administration Shamefully Renew and Expand FISA Section 702, Ushering in a Two Year Expansion of Unconstitutional Mass Surveillance, EFF: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/04/us-senate-and-biden-administration-shamefully-renew-and-expand-fisa-section-702-0
Utah ISP owner describes the NSA 'black box' that spied on his customers, The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/2013/7/21/4541342/isp-owner-describes-nsa-box-that-spied-on-customers
Why Metadata Matters, EFF: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/06/why-metadata-matters
Why the FISA Amendments Act is Unconstitutional, ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/images/nsaspying/asset_upload_file578_35950.pdf
Why We Sued the DEA: Mass Surveillance Still Illegal, EFF: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/04/why-we-sued-dea-mass-surveillance-still-illegal
XKeyscore: NSA tool collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet', Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/31/nsa-top-secret-program-online-data
Yes, Section 215 Expired. Now What?, EFF: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/04/yes-section-215-expired-now-what
A Brief History of the NSA: From 1917 to 2014, The Saturday Evening Post: https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2014/04/a-brief-history-of-the-nsa/
