NSA

The National Security Agency was established in secret by a 1952 Truman memorandum and remained officially unacknowledged for decades. It is the largest signals intelligence organization in the world, responsible for global interception of communications. Documented programs include Project SHAMROCK’s bulk telegram collection, the ECHELON interception network, warrantless wiretapping revealed in 2005, and the mass surveillance architecture exposed by Edward Snowden in 2013, including PRISM, XKeyscore, and bulk phone metadata collection later ruled unlawful. The agency operates under FISA and Executive Order 12333, with oversight mechanisms that its own inspector general reports show were repeatedly violated. Files tagged NSA document the growth of dragnet surveillance from analog cables to the modern cloud.