33 gov'ts help NSA to monitor internet data worldwide
● Huge volumes of private emails, phone calls, and internet chats are being intercepted by the National Security Agency with the secret cooperation of more foreign governments than previously known, according to newly disclosed documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden.
● Using the codename RAMPART-A, the NSA would work with these third-party countries to attempt to intercept as much of the world’s online communications as possible, says the Danish privacy news website Dagbladet Information.
● In total, there are reportedly 33 countries working with the US in facilitating this spying, with many of the links pointing towards co-operation with Germany and Denmark. Snowden has said that of the documents released recently, RAMPART-A is considered one of the ‘crown jewels’ in the NSA and was part of the NSA’s Special Source Operations (SSO) division.
● It is also understood that contributing countries to the programme have used the cover of their manipulation of the lines as being part of a Comsat project. The NSA documents state that under RAMPART-A, foreign partners "provide access to cables and host US equipment." This allows the agency to covertly tap into "congestion points around the world" where it says it can intercept the content of phone calls, faxes, e-mails, internet chats, data from virtual private networks, and calls made using Voice over IP software like Skype.
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