When American analysts hunting terrorists sought new ways to comb through the troves of phone records, e-mails and other data piling up as digital communications exploded over the past decade, they turned to Silicon Valley computer experts who had developed complex equations to thwart Russian mobsters intent on credit card fraud.The partnership between the intelligence community and Palantir Technologies, a Palo Alto, Calif., company founded by a group of inventors from PayPal, is just one of many that the National Security Agency and other agencies have forged as they have rushed to unlock the secrets of “Big Data.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/us/revelations-give-look-at-spy-agencys-wider-reach.htmlAlso see:U.S., company officials: Internet surveillance does not indiscriminately mine data
The director of national intelligence on Saturday stepped up his public defense of a top-secret government data surveillance program as technology companies began privately explaining the mechanics of its use.The program, code-named PRISM, has enabled national security officials to collect e-mail, videos, documents and other material from at least nine U.S. companies over six years, including Google, Microsoft and Apple, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-company-officials-internet-surveillance-does-not-indiscriminately-mine-data/2013/06/08/5b3bb234-d07d-11e2-9f1a-1a7cdee20287_story.htmlMinisters to reveal British link to US data spying scandal
Ministers will respond in parliament on Monday to claims that UK intelligence agencies have gained access to a vast reservoir of private data relating to people living in Britain – including emails and phone logs – collected by spies at the US National Security Agency.Amid growing calls for the government to reveal what it knows about the data interception scandal revealed by the Guardian last week, senior Whitehall sources said it was “highly likely” that a statement would be delivered to MPs in the Commons either by the foreign secretary, William Hague, whose department is responsible for GCHQ, or the home secretary, Theresa May.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jun/08/ministers-british-link-us-spying-scandal
How the U.S. Uses Technology to Mine More Data More Quickly
When American analysts hunting terrorists sought new ways to comb through the troves of phone records, e-mails and other data piling up as digital communications exploded over the past decade, they turned to Silicon Valley computer experts who had developed complex equations to thwart Russian mobsters intent on credit card fraud.