From Radio to Porn, British Spies Track Web Users’ Online Identities

Found on The Intercept on Friday, 25 September 2015
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Here was a simple aim at the heart of the top-secret program: Record the website browsing habits of “every visible user on the Internet.”

The mass surveillance operation — code-named KARMA POLICE — was launched by British spies about seven years ago without any public debate or scrutiny.

One system builds profiles showing people’s web browsing histories. Another analyzes instant messenger communications, emails, Skype calls, text messages, cell phone locations, and social media interactions. Separate programs were built to keep tabs on “suspicious” Google searches and usage of Google Maps.

Other websites listed as “sources” of cookies in the 2009 document (see below) are Hotmail, YouTube, Facebook, Reddit, WordPress, Amazon, and sites operated by the broadcasters CNN, BBC, and the U.K.’s Channel 4.

All this spying and data collection has totally gone out of control and needs to stop. Big Brother now threatens the democracy it was once meant to protect.