ICREACH and FBI’s PRTT Program

I’ll have a more substantive post about what we learn about NSA’s broader dragnet from the Intercept’s ICREACH story.

But for the moment I want to reiterate a point I made the other day. ICREACH is important not just because it makes NSA data available to CIA and FBI. But also because it makes CIA and FBI data available for the metadata analysis the NSA conducts.

The documents describe that to include things like clandestine intelligence and flight information.

But there’s one other program that ought to be of particular concern with regards to NSA’s programs. As I laid out here, FBI had a Pen Register/Trap and Trace “program” that shared information with the NSA at least until February 2012, several months after NSA had ended its PRTT Internet dragnet program.

The secrecy behind the FBI’s PRTT orders on behalf of NSA

PRTT1

Finally, there’s a series of entries on the classification guide for FISA programs leaked by Edward Snowden.

These entries show that FBI obtained counterterrorism information using PRTTs for NSA — which was considered Secret.

But that the FBI PR/TT program – which seems different than these individual orders — was considered TS/SI/NOFORN.

PRTT2

If you compare these entries with the rest of the classification guide, you see that this information — the fact that NSA gets PRTT information from FBI (in addition to information from Pen Registers, which seems to be treated differently at the Secret level)  – is treated with the same degree of secrecy as the actual targeting information or raw collected data on all other programs.

This is considered one of the most sensitive secrets in the whole FISA package.

PRTT3

Even minimized PRTT data is considered TS/SCI.

PRTT4

Now, it is true that this establishes an exact parallel with the BR FISA program (which the classification guide makes clear NSA obtained directly). So it may be attributable to the fact that the existence of the programs themselves was considered a highly sensitive secret.

So maybe that’s it. Maybe this just reflects paranoia about the way NSA was secretly relying on the PATRIOT Act to conduct massive dragnet programs.

Except there’s the date.

This classification guide was updated on February 7, 2012 — over a month after NSA shut down the PRTT program. Also, over a month after — according to Theresa Shea — the NSA destroyed all the data it had obtained under PRTT. (Note, her language seems to make clear that this was the NSA’s program, not the FBI’s.)

That is, over a month after the NSA ended its PRTT program and destroyed the data from it (at least according to sworn declarations before a court), the NSA’s classification guide referred to an FBI PRTT program that it considered one of its most sensitive secrets. And seemed to consider active.

I have no idea what this program entailed — and no one else has even picked up on this detail. It’s possible NSA’s Internet dragnet just moved under the FBI’s control. It’s possible (this is my current operative wildarseguess) that FBI’s PRTT program collects location data; the Bureau uses PRTT orders to get individualized location data, after all.

Whatever it is, though, the existence of ICREACH would make that data available to NSA in a form it could use to include it in contact chaining of metadata (which may be why it figures so prominently in NSA’s classification guide). And note: FBI’s minimization procedures are far more lenient than NSA’s, so whatever this data is, NSA may be able to do more with it given that FBI collected it.

And as with a number of other things, even the Pat Leahy version of USA Freedom would weaken protections for PRTT data.

image_print
3 replies
  1. wallace says:

    quote”But that the FBI PR/TT program – which seems different than these individual orders — was considered TS/SI/NOFORN.”unquote

    quote”I have no idea what this program entailed — and no one else has even picked up on this detail.”unquote

    Ok, let me see if I have this right.
    “….the fact that NSA gets PRTT information from FBI (in addition to information from Pen Registers, which seems to be treated differently at the Secret level) – is treated with the same degree of secrecy as the actual targeting information or raw collected data on all other programs.”unquote

    ..because they were doing it illegally, no?

    quote”This is considered one of the most sensitive secrets in the whole FISA package.”unquote

    hmmmm… whudda thunk.

    quote”And as with a number of other things, even the Pat Leahy version of USA Freedom would weaken protections for PRTT data.”unquote

    http://httpics.com/Civil/seems_legit.jpg

    not.

  2. TarheelDem says:

    The years 2011-2012 domestically started with the protests in Wisconsin, which were during the period of the Tahrir Square demonstrations in Egypt. In the fall, Occupy Wall Street began in New York City. By February 2012, it was certain that there would be a huge demonstration in Chicago for the G-8 and NATO Summits. Indeed, the the G-8 Summit was moved as a result of the fear of protest.

    And throughout Occupy Wall Street, one of the excuses for arrest was the possibility of embedded terrorists hiding within the camps.

    The timing of the FBI’s efforts looks suspiciously like someone believed their own hype and sought to find links no matter how tenuous through big-data analysis.

    That and surveilling diplomatic missions involved in making travel arrangements for their delegations would allow for a NOFORN classification for an FBI dragnet to see which US citizens might be in contact with which diplomatic missions or with democracy movements overseas.

  3. wallace says:

    quote”That and surveilling diplomatic missions involved in making travel arrangements for their delegations would allow for a NOFORN classification for an FBI dragnet to see which US citizens might be in contact with which diplomatic missions or with democracy movements overseas.”unquote

    Thereby giving them cover to spy on the entire population of the US…as top seekrit SOP.

Comments are closed.