NSA Global Spy Stations Revealed: 'Sniff It All, Collect It All, Know It All, Process It All, Exploit It All'

A new batch of Snowden documents offer an unprecedented look into the close relationship of the surveillance agencies of the so-called “Five Eyes” nations and how a close look at a secretive base in New Zealand reveals new details about a global network of listening stations are operating to fulfill the NSA mantra on communications data which says, “Sniff it all, collect it all, know it all, process it all and exploit it all.”

Reported on Saturday by The Intercept in the U.S. and the Sunday Star-Times in New Zealand, the documents offer a detailed look at the “alien-like” station located in Waihopai Valley and reveals who and what kind of information the station targets, its inner workings, and how its operations link to an international network of spy facilities run by the other so-called “Five Eyes”—comprised of the intelligence agencies of the U.S., U.K., Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.

With names like “Jackknife,” “MoonPenny,” “Scapel,” and “LadyLove” – the Five Eyes maintain enough listening bases around the world to capture the bulk of the entire planet’s digital and telephonic communications.

Regarding this global network of surveillance stations, the Sunday Star-Times reports:

According to the reporting, each of these bases is relatively identical and all of the information collected at the various sites in sent back to the NSA via a series of databases controlled and monitored by the agency.

Earlier this week, The Intercept and the New Zealand Herald revealed how the Waihopai base was being used to spy on communications across the Pacific Islands and share intercepted data in bulk with the NSA and the other Five Eyes. In turn, the other stations across the world are each responsible for collecting data over their assigned geographic area.

Saturday’s reporting expands on what has previously been disclosed about the New Zealand operations at Waihopai. According to the Star-Times, “Everything inside the top secret station except the staff is foreign.”