FASCIA (database)

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FASCIA is a database created and used by the U.S. National Security Agency that contains trillions of device-location records that are collected from a variety of sources. [1] Its existence was revealed during the 2013 global surveillance disclosure by Edward Snowden. [2]

Contents

Scope of surveillance

The FASCIA database stores various types of information, including Location Area Codes (LACs), Cell Tower IDs (CeLLIDs), Visitor Location Registers (VLRs), International Mobile Station Equipment Identity (IMEIs) and MSISDNs (Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services Digital Network-Numbers). [1] [2]

Over a period of about seven months, more than 27 terabytes of location data were collected and stored in the database. [3]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Narayan Lakshman (2013-12-05). "NSA tracking millions of cellphones globally". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2014-04-24. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
  2. 1 2 The Washington Post (2013-12-04). "FASCIA: The NSA's huge trove of location records" (2 slides). The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2014-11-01. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
  3. The Washington Post (2013-12-04). "GHOSTMACHINE: The NSA's cloud analytics platform" (4 slides). The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2017-11-20. Retrieved 2014-03-23.