NSA found tracking the current location of 5 billion mobile phones worldwide in a day

I am a former CIA officialEdward SnowdenDue to Mr. Leak,US National Security Agency(NSA)Spy acts that were runningAlthough it is clarified,Washington PostAccording to NSA, the location information of about 5 billion mobile phones are gathered on the day and they are tracking their positions.

NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show - The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-tracking-cellphone-locations-worldwide-snowden-documents-show/2013/12/04/5492873a-5cf2-11e3-bc56-c6ca94801fac_story.html

How the NSA is tracking people right now - The Washington Post
http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/national/how-the-nsa-is-tracking-people-right-now/634/

Tools designed to monitor a specific person based on the collected location information managed by the NSA are not to collect the location information of Americans in terms of design. However, this tool also has the ability to find targets 'companion while tracking the target, and it is also possible to acquire location information of Americans' mobile phones "accidentally" at the time of "looking for fellows" It seems to be. This is "predictable, but not deliberately done," he said.


The anonymous senior manager who got permission to speak from the NSA acknowledged that NSA is connecting to the mobile network all around the world and acquires enormous position information and since the world's mobile phone network It said that it contains information on more than 10 million Americans annually to go abroad with cell phones. Regarding programs to gather and analyze location information, the government is taking a stance that it is legitimate to gather information on overseas goals (dangerous persons).


When connecting to a network with a mobile terminal, "which terminal it is" is sent to the network. Since the information to be transmitted includes the approximate location information of the mobile terminal based on the distance from the radio tower, by collecting this information, the NSA can determine which country in which town the mobile terminal is located You can get information such as whether there is.


For example, in the United States, the coverage area of ​​the mobile network is about 80%, which makes it possible to grasp the approximate location wherever you are.


Also, with the Wi-Fi function installed in many mobile terminalsHotspotIf you follow the evidence of connecting to the location, you can obtain more detailed location information. However, this is a possible method because there is a huge database where the location information of hotspots around the world is stored. For more detailed location information based on GPS information. If there is GPS information, it will be possible to specify the subject within 100 meters.


NSA also targets information gathering, "People who are not working wrong yet but are likely to cause something".


In addition, the NSA also uses sophisticated analytical techniques to identify unknown persons, "Co-Travelers", which may be "target colleagues and maybe just travelers". In the image below, the red circle is the target and the green circle is the Co-Travelers.


In order to identify "Co-Travelers", it is necessary to identify the mobile terminal in the vicinity of the portable terminal possessed by the person who is the target of information gatheringTime stampYou will also collect location information with. For example if the red dot of the image below is the target ...


If the target moves over multiple areas, fewer people will move around the target for a long time.




So the owner of the mobile terminal that was near the target for a long time is considered "Co-Travelers".