Leaked documents from Edward Snowden has revealed a number of surveillance programs conducted by the United Kingdom's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), including a program to spy on every individual's internet browsing habits.
According to the documents that were obtained by publication The Intercept, the purpose of the surveillance operation called Karma Police, was to "build a web-browsing profile for every visible user on the Internet."
This included every user across the globe, with data collected including user visits to social media and news sites, searches and even porn.
Some of the websites that were 'listened in on' were Yahoo, Google, Reuters, Hotmail, YouTube, Facebook, Reddit, WordPress, Amazon, as well as sites operated by CNN, BBC, and the UK's Channel 4. And yes, even PornHub.
The leaked documents can be viewed on The Interceptor's website.
Surveillance detailed
Detailing the program, the publication says the program included building profiles based on a person's web browsing history, as well as analyzing instant messenger communications, emails, Skype calls, text messages, cell phone locations, and social media interactions and keeping tabs on suspicious Google Search and Maps use.
Some documents also reveal that the program also collected data on broadcast and internet radio and who was accessing it, especially 'Islamic Radio Stations'. Analyses of the data was conducted "to assess the Islamic radicalization risk".
According to The Intercept, the program has been running for more than 5 years, and the data collection has increased every year, stating that by 2012, 50 billion metadata records were being collected every day, with plans to double the capacity.
It's been suggested from the documents that due to the sheer amount of data being collected, the data is only stored for up to six months, and any suspicious persons are reported to MI5.
