????2013年，愛德華?斯諾登徹底改變了大家所熟知的美國的監(jiān)控范圍，這一年因此而被歷史銘記。這位美國國家安全局（National Security Agency）承包商的前雇員將機密文件泄露給了《衛(wèi)報》（The Guardian）和《華盛頓郵報》（The Washington Post ）后就逃之夭夭，先是潛逃到香港，隨后又到俄羅斯落腳。

????而現(xiàn)在，地球人都知道美國政府無處不在的窺探行為了。媒體關(guān)于此次泄密事件的第一篇報道發(fā)表六個月后，一位聯(lián)邦法官就裁定，美國政府大量收集美國民眾電話記錄的行為可能違反了美國憲法。數(shù)天后，一個總統(tǒng)顧問小組就建議重新限定國安局的監(jiān)控權(quán)力，包括終止電話記錄監(jiān)控項目。

????目前，美國政府仍然無法確知斯諾登到底還會披露多少驚天秘密。我們先來回顧一下今年所了解到的情況，也就是那些絕密機構(gòu)到底是通過什么方式在收集美國及世界各地的電話記錄和上網(wǎng)情況。

大量收集“業(yè)務(wù)記錄”

????關(guān)于國安局的監(jiān)控，第一個掀起軒然大波的爆料是威瑞森公司（Verizon）“持續(xù)”收集美國用戶的電話記錄——這主要歸功于“外國情報監(jiān)視法庭”（Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court）所頒布的法令。這個法令主要依據(jù)《愛國者法案》（Patriot Act）中對“業(yè)務(wù)記錄”的規(guī)定，但并不涉及到電話內(nèi)容，而是這些電話的“元數(shù)據(jù)”，比如電話號碼。據(jù)《衛(wèi)報》報道，還有“地理位置數(shù)據(jù)、通話時長、唯一識別碼、以及所有通話的時長”。

棱鏡計劃

????《衛(wèi)報》和《華盛頓郵報》報道讓國安局的“棱鏡計劃”大白于天下：據(jù)國安局的一張幻燈片透露，這個機構(gòu)“直接從”美國的九大互聯(lián)網(wǎng)公司“的服務(wù)器上收集數(shù)據(jù)”，微軟公司（Microsoft）、雅虎公司（Yahoo）、谷歌公司（Google）、Facebook公司以及蘋果公司（Apple）都赫然在列。

????所有這些公司要么否認知道這個項目的存在，要么說它們并沒有讓政府獲得這些信息。最近，一幫科技巨頭還聯(lián)名向華盛頓當局提交了一封公開信，呼吁開展監(jiān)控改革。

詹姆斯?克拉伯公開認錯

????今年3月，國家情報總監(jiān)詹姆斯?克拉伯向參議院情報委員會（Senate Intelligence Committee）表示，國安局并沒有收集成千上萬的美國人的信息——至少“不是有意的”。

????但到了6月21日，就在關(guān)于斯諾登泄密事件的首批報道出籠后，克拉伯又在一封致情報委員會主席黛安?范斯坦的信中為上述說法公開認錯。他說：“我的反應(yīng)顯然是錯誤的——為此我必須道歉?！?/p>

XKeyscore計劃幾乎讓“一切”水落石出

????據(jù)《衛(wèi)報》稱，國安局的培訓材料將這個項目稱為其收集網(wǎng)上情報的“覆蓋面最廣”的手段，它讓分析師可以通過填寫屏幕上的表格來搜索各類網(wǎng)上活動。

????這份報道稱：“一份演示報告稱這個項目涵蓋了‘用戶在網(wǎng)上的幾乎所有活動’，包括電子郵件的內(nèi)容，訪問的網(wǎng)站，各類搜索以及其元數(shù)據(jù)?！?/p>

Lavabit關(guān)閉電郵服務(wù)

????8月，愛德華?斯諾登的加密電郵服務(wù)供應(yīng)商Lavabit在一場秘密官司中關(guān)停了服務(wù)。Lavabit的所有人拉達?萊文森在一封致用戶的信中寫道：“在未經(jīng)國會批準或已有可靠的司法判例前，我強烈建議大家不要將私人數(shù)據(jù)委托給與美國政府有實際鏈接的公司管理?！?/p>

????兩個月后，公開庭審記錄顯示，美國政府想要萊文森提供Lavabit所有客戶的電子郵件的加密密匙。他告訴《紐約時報》（The New York Times）：“在這件事上，他們就想打開整個郵箱，拿到那個特定聯(lián)系人的資料。”

國安局審計詳細披露了違規(guī)行為

????據(jù)《華盛頓郵報》稱，一項從2012年5月開始的針對國安局的審計顯示，“此前12個月里，針對受到法律保護的通訊信息共發(fā)生了2,276起未經(jīng)授權(quán)的收集、存儲、提取及傳播事件”。對此，國安局合規(guī)總監(jiān)約翰?德龍的回應(yīng)是，這些違規(guī)行為并不是“有意為之”，而且這些事件的概率是“百萬分之幾或十億分之幾”。

????同樣針對這份報告，美國外國情報監(jiān)控法庭（Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court）的首席法官向《郵報》表示，法庭的監(jiān)管能力也是有限的。美國地區(qū)法官雷吉?華爾頓在一份聲明中稱：“外國情報監(jiān)控法庭沒有能力調(diào)查不合規(guī)問題。在這方面，一旦涉及強制要求（政府）遵守規(guī)定，這個法庭與其他法庭的地位并無二致?！?/p>

????2013 will be remembered as the year Edward Snowden changed everything we know about the scope of U.S. surveillance practices. The former National Security Agency contractor leaked classified documents to The Guardian and the Washington Post before fleeing the country first for Hong Kong and then Russia.

????By now the revelations about the government's snooping are well known. Six months after the first media reports were published, a federal judge ruled that the government's bulk collection of Americans' phone records likely violates the Constitution. Days later, a presidential advisory panel recommended new limits on NSA surveillance powers, including an end to the phone records program.

????The government still doesn't know how many more secrets may yet surface from Snowden's leak. Here, a look back on what we learned this year about how the super-secret agency has been gathering intel about phone and internet activity in the U.S. and around the world.

Collecting "business records" in bulk

????The first blockbuster disclosure about NSA surveillance revolved around the "ongoing" collection of Verizon (VZ) customer records in the U.S. -- thanks to a secret court order granted by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Such court orders -- which rely on the "business records" provision in the Patriot Act -- cover not the content of calls, but their "metadata," such as the phone numbers involved, "location data, call duration, unique identifiers, and the time and duration of all calls," The Guardian reported.

PRISM

????Reports by The Guardian and the Washington Post blew the lid off an NSA program called PRISM: "collection directly from the servers" of nine U.S. Internet companies, including Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo (YHOO), Google (GOOG), Facebook (FB), and Apple (AAPL), according to an agency presentation slide.

????All of those companies either denied knowledge of the program, or that they provided the government with such access. More recently, a group of tech giants issued an open letter to Washington, urging surveillance reform.

James Clapper recants

????As recently as March, director of national intelligence James Clapper told the Senate Intelligence Committee that the NSA did not collect data on millions of Americans -- at least, "not wittingly."

????But on June 21, following the initial stories on the Snowden leaks, Clapper recanted that statement in a letter to intelligence committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). "My response was clearly erroneous -- for which I apologize," he said.

XKeyscore unlocks almost "everything"

????NSA training materials described this program as the agency's "widest-reaching" means for gathering intelligence online, allowing analysts to search for a variety of internet activity by filling out an on-screen form, according to The Guardian.

????"One presentation claims the program covers 'nearly everything a typical user does on the Internet,' including the content of emails, websites visited, and searches, as well as their metadata," the paper reported.

Lavabit shuts down email service

????In August, Edward Snowden's encrypted email service provider, Lavabit, shut down its business amid a secret court battle. "Without congressional action or a strong judicial precedent," Lavabit owner Ladar Levison wrote in a message to users, "I would strongly recommend against anyone trusting their private data to a company with physical ties to the United States."

????Two months later, unsealed court records showed that the government wanted Levison to provide encryption keys for the emails of all Lavabit customers. "In my case, they wanted to break open the entire box just to get to one connection," he told the New York Times.

NSA audit details violations

????An NSA audit from May 2012 showed "2,776 incidents in the preceding 12 months of unauthorized collection, storage, access to or distribution of legally protected communications,"according to the Washington Post. Responding to the report, NSA compliance director John DeLong said the violations weren't "willful," and that they numbered in the "parts-per-million or parts-per-billion range."

????Commenting on the same report, the chief judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court told the Post that the court's oversight capabilities were limited. "The FISC does not have the capacity to investigate issues of noncompliance, and in that respect the FISC is in the same position as any other court when it comes to enforcing [government] compliance with its orders," U.S. district judge Reggie Walton said in a statement.