NSA Shares Raw Intel From Americans With Israel

The NSA insists it takes every precaution to protect the privacy of ordinary Americans caught up in its massive intelligence-gathering operation. But the latest Guardian scoop based on Edward Snowden documents reveals a flaw in that pledge: "The National Security Agency routinely shares raw intelligence data with Israel without first sifting it to remove information about US citizens." And under a 2009 intelligence-sharing deal between the two nations, Israel can do whatever it wants with the information without legal ramifications.

The Guardian story, written by Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and Ewen MacAskill, points out there are some limits on Israel: If it comes across any data to or from US government officials, it must "destroy upon recognition" any such communication. But those who don't happen to work for the government get no such protection. Dig in to the full story here, or see the actual 2009 "memorandum of understanding" provided by Snowden. (More NSA stories.)