The National Security Agency (NSA) is the US governmental agency responsible for collecting, processing, analyzing, and distributing signal-based intelligence information to support military and national security operations, as well as providing information security for US governmental agencies and its allies. Alongside the Central Security Service (CSS), which serves as a liaison between the NSA and military intelligence-gathering agencies, the NSA/CSS serves as 1 of 17 intelligence agencies in the American government, reporting equally to the Department of Defense and the Director of National Intelligence. Its central mission is to use information gathered through surveillance and codebreaking to support the interests of the United States and its allies.
The NSA has become the center of a larger debate over the proper extent of state surveillance powers in balancing both national security and civil liberties. As the world has become increasingly globalized, and as cultural expression...
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Further Readings
Bamford, J. (2014, August). Edward Snowden: The untold story. WIRED. http://www.wired.com/2014/08/edward-snowden/
Greenwald, G. (2014). No place to hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. surveillance state. New York: Metropolitan Books.
Macaskill, E., & Dance, G. (2013, November 1). NSA files: Decoded: What the revelations mean for you. The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/nov/01/snowden-nsa-files-surveillance-revelations-decoded
National Security Administration. (2013). 60 years of defending our nation. www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/60th/book/NSA_60th_Anniversary.pdf
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Tewksbury, D. (2017). National Security Agency (NSA). In: Schintler, L., McNeely, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Big Data. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32001-4_143-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32001-4_143-1
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