Map of global NSA data collection as of 2007[update], with countries subject to the most data collection shown in red
Programs
Pre-1978
ECHELON
MINARET
SHAMROCK
PROMIS
Since 1978
Upstream collection
BLARNEY
FAIRVIEW
Main Core
ThinThread
Genoa
Since 1990
RAMPART-A
Since 1998
Tailored Access Operations
Since 2001
OAKSTAR
STORMBREW
Trailblazer
Turbulence
Genoa II
Total Information Awareness
President's Surveillance Program
Terrorist Surveillance Program
Since 2007
PRISM
Dropmire
Stateroom
Bullrun
MYSTIC
Databases, tools etc.
PINWALE
MARINA
Main Core
MAINWAY
TRAFFICTHIEF
DISHFIRE
XKeyscore
ICREACH
BOUNDLESSINFORMANT
GCHQ collaboration
MUSCULAR
Tempora
Legislation
Safe Streets Act
Privacy Act of 1974
FISA
ECPA
Patriot Act
Homeland Security Act
Protect America Act of 2007
FISA Amendments Act of 2008
Institutions
FISC
Senate Intelligence Committee
National Security Council
Lawsuits
ACLU v. NSA
Hepting v. AT&T
Jewel v. NSA
Clapper v. Amnesty
Klayman v. Obama
ACLU v. Clapper
Wikimedia v. NSA
US v. Moalin
Whistleblowers
William Binney
Thomas Drake
Mark Klein
Thomas Tamm
Russ Tice
Edward Snowden
Publication
2005 warrantless surveillance scandal
Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present)
Related
Cablegate
Surveillance of reporters
Mail tracking
UN diplomatic spying
Insider Threat Program
Mass surveillance in the United States
Mass surveillance in the United Kingdom
Concepts
SIGINT
Metadata
Collaboration
United States
CSS
CYBERCOM
DOJ
FBI
CIA
DHS
IAO
Five Eyes
CSEC
GCHQ
ASD
GCSB
Other
DGSE
BND
v
t
e
Reference to Pinwale in an XKeyscore slide
Reference to Pinwale in a PRISM slide
Pinwale is the code name for a National Security Agency (NSA) collection and retrieval system for so-called "Digital Network Intelligence", including internet e-mail.[1][2] It is searchable by monitored NSA analysts.
The existence of the system was first revealed by an NSA analyst who was trained in its use during 2005.[2] However, according to Homeland Security Today, Pinwale contains information much more than email. It also contains other forms of Internet data, and other forms of digital communications as well. Its software has built-in protections against collecting from any of the Five Eyes members. Unlike its successor XKeyscore, targets for Pinwale have to be approved beforehand by the FISC.[1]
According to information obtained by The Guardian from Edward Snowden, Pinwale is part of a "multi-tiered system" to address the issue of NSA "collecting so much internet data that it can be stored only for short periods of time." The system allows analysts to store "interesting" content in databases such as Pinwale, which is capable of storing material for up to five years.[3]
Pinwale consists of at least two known partitions referred to as "Sweet" and "Sour".[4]
According to the documents leaked by Snowden, Pinwale normally processed about 60 GB data per day without trouble. However, Pinwale was overwhelmed when Yahoo started mass mailbox transfers between its data centers, which were captured by the NSA's MUSCULAR program that taps the private clouds of Google and Yahoo. Monitored email accounts being hacked by spammers also present a challenge to Pinwale, because they can cause the database of suspect email addresses to grow exponentially with information of no intelligence value.[5]
^ abAnthony L. Kimery (2013-08-05). "NSA's X-KEYSCORE Does Far More than Just Siphon the 'Net, But is it Working?". HStoday. Homeland Security Today. Archived from the original on 2013-08-10. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
^ abJames Risen, Eric Lichtblau (2013-06-16). "E-Mail Surveillance Renews Concerns in Congress". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2014-03-31. Retrieved 2014-03-23., page 1 at archive.
^Glenn Greenwald (2013-07-31). "XKeyscore: NSA tool collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2014-03-20. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
^James Ball, Spencer Ackerman (2013-08-09). "NSA loophole allows warrantless search for US citizens' emails and phone calls". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2014-03-24. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
^Sean Gallagher (2013-10-31). "How the NSA's MUSCULAR tapped Google's and Yahoo's private networks". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 2014-03-03. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
Pinwale is the code name for a National Security Agency (NSA) collection and retrieval system for so-called "Digital Network Intelligence", including...
wale, at 11 wales/inch, available in many colours Pincord (also called pinwale or needlecord), the finest cord, with a count at the upper end of the spectrum...
collection sites select and forward less than 5% of the internet traffic to the PINWALE database for internet content. Because XKeyscore holds raw and unselected...
migrate a large amount of mailboxes between its data centers, the NSA's PINWALE database (their primary analytical database for the Internet) was quickly...
at distances of hundreds of meters. The NSA runs a database known as "Pinwale", which stores and indexes large numbers of emails of both American citizens...
Global Information
