OAKSTAR

OAKSTAR is a secret internet surveillance program of the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States. It was disclosed in 2013 as part of the leaks by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

OAKSTAR is an umbrella program involving surveillance of telecommunications, it falls under the category of "Upstream collection", meaning that data is pulled directly from fiber-optic cables and top-level communications infrastructure.^[1][2] Upstream collection programs allow access to very high volumes of data, and most of the pre-selection is done by the providers themselves, before the data is passed on to the NSA.

The FY 2013 budget for OAKSTAR is $9.41 million.^[3] OAKSTAR consists of the following SIGADs:

Designation	Covername	Legal Authority^See Note	Key Targets	Type of Information collected	Remarks
US-3206 (PDDG:6T)	MONKEYROCKET	Executive Order 12333	Counterterrorism in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia	DNI metadata and content	"Foreign access point," was expected to go online in spring 2012
US-3217 (PDDG:MU)	SHIFTINGSHADOW		Afghanistan communications: MTN Afghanistan, Roshan GSM Network, AWCC	DNR metadata and voice; "Timing Advances" and geolocation	"Foreign access point"
US-3230 (PDDG:0B)	ORANGECRUSH		"To be determined"	Voice, fax, DNI, DNR, and metadata	"Foreign access point through PRIMECANE, and 3rd party partner", not online as of the time of source presentation.
US-3247 (PDDG:PJ)	YACHTSHOP		Worldwide DNI Metadata	Worldwide DNI Metadata	"Access through BLUEANCHOR partner," contributor to MARINA
US-3251	ORANGEBLOSSOM
US-3273 (PDDG:SK)	SILVERZEPHYR	Transit Authority and FAA	South, Central and Latin America	DNR Metadata, voice and fax; DNI content and metadata	"Network access point through STEELKNIGHT partner"
US-3277	BLUEZEPHYR
US-3354	COBALTFALCON

Note: SIGADs not otherwise designated are presumed to operate under the legal authority of Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act (FAA)

Glossary

• DNI: Digital Network Intelligence^[4]
• DNR: Dial Number Recognition ^[4]
• MARINA: An NSA Database of Internet metadata^[5][6]
• Timing advances: no explanation has been provided in the source material.
• Transit Authority: A legal authority that states communications that transit the United States are collectible, provided that both endpoints are foreign.

Media Relating to OAKSTAR and Upstream Collection

• 

  Upstream: Map of International Cables

• 

  Upstream: Transit Authority

• 

  Upstream: Map of Transit Authority

• 

  Upstream: Unique Aspects

• 

  Upstream: Corporate Portfolio

• 

  OAKSTAR: MONKEYROCKET SIGAD

• 

  OAKSTSAR: SHIFTINGSHADOW SIGAD

• 

  OAKSTAR: ORANGECRUSH SIGAD

• 

  OAKSTAR: YACHTSHOP SIGAD

• 

  OAKSTAR:SILVERZEPHYR SIGAD

References

1. Fantástico (2013-09-08). "NSA Documents Show United States Spied Brazilian Oil Giant". Fantástico. O Globo. Archived from the original on 2014-03-23. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
2. The Washington Post (2013-06-06). "NSA slides explain the PRISM data-collection program". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2014-03-23. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
3. Craig Timberg, Barton Gellman (2013-08-30). "NSA paying U.S. companies for access to communications networks". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2014-03-23. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
4. Kevin Drum (2013-06-08). "Map of the Day: Who the NSA Listens To". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on 2014-03-23. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
5. Ellen Nakashima (2013-07-31). "Newly declassified documents on phone records program released". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2014-03-23. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
6. Barton Gellman (2013-06-16). "U.S. surveillance architecture includes collection of revealing Internet, phone metadata". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2014-03-23. Retrieved 2014-03-23.