14 DAY TRIAL // If you thought that the NSA was the only one gobbling up massive amounts of information about you and everyone you know, think again. While most spy agencies envy NSA's resources and capabilities, the NSA itself envies the capabilities of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), its British equivalent.
A new document from Edward Snowden's stash revealed by The Guardian sheds some light on the secret program through which the GCHQ is able to redirect and process huge amounts of data straight for the big pipes that power the internet.
The GCHQ taps into 200 fiber optic cables in the country, giving it unique access to the world's communication.
Because most internet and telephony cables that cross the Atlantic pass through the UK and because several cables that link up Europe, Africa, the Middle East, even India, pass through its territory, the GCHQ is able to monitor huge amounts of data.
And monitor it does, the document reveals that GCHQ has the capability of processing data from 46 of the 200 cables at a time. Each cable has a capacity of 10 gigabits per second, being able to monitor all that info in near real-time is impressive to say the least, worrying, but impressive.
There's no sign of stopping either, the GCHQ is always tapping into more cables. ISPs and telcos voluntarily join the program, but they can be forced if they don't. They are also prevented by court order from revealing that they provide this type of direct access to the GCHQ.
The GCHQ has gotten so good at it that it has the biggest access and the most data out of the five members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance between the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Thankfully, for the others, GCHQ doesn't mind sharing, in fact the NSA is actively helping it manage all the data.