Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden obtained and shared with The Washington Post a large volume of e-mails, messages, photos and documents intercepted by the NSA from online accounts and network links in the United States. In this cache of communications, the NSA’s foreign targets were far outnumbered by ordinary Web users whose content was intercepted “incidentally,” as a collateral effect of the surveillance.
Masked identities
Different types of data collected that can identify citizens, permanent residents or companies within the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Britain have been masked, or “minimized,” by the NSA.For example, a report may read, “I chatted with “MIN POSSIBLE U.S. PERSON” on the social Web site “MIN U.S. WEB SITE” about buying something from “MIN U.S. COMPANY.” The raw data is stored intact in NSA databases, but distribution of unminimized intercepts is limited by law.
Communication breakdown
by Washington Post
http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/world/communication-breakdown/1153/
Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden obtained and shared with The Washington Post a large volume of e-mails, messages, photos and documents intercepted by the NSA from online accounts and network links in the United States. In this cache of communications, the NSA’s foreign targets were far outnumbered by ordinary Web users whose content was intercepted “incidentally,” as a collateral effect of the surveillance.
Masked identities
Different types of data collected that can identify citizens, permanent residents or companies within the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Britain have been masked, or “minimized,” by the NSA.For example, a report may read, “I chatted with “MIN POSSIBLE U.S. PERSON” on the social Web site “MIN U.S. WEB SITE” about buying something from “MIN U.S. COMPANY.” The raw data is stored intact in NSA databases, but distribution of unminimized intercepts is limited by law.
In NSA-intercepted data, those not targeted far outnumber the foreigners who are
Files provided by Snowden show extent to which ordinary Web users are caught in the net
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-nsa-intercepted-data-those-not-targeted-far-outnumber-the-foreigners-who-are/2014/07/05/8139adf8-045a-11e4-8572-4b1b969b6322_story.html