NSA Admits to Spying on American Netflix and Amazon Prime Viewing Habits
The National Security Agency finally admitted publicly that it has been buying sensitive information from private data brokers on Americans' video viewing habits, specifically their entertainment choices. This admission follows the FBI's similar admission of purchasing information from data brokers on Americans' obsession with and increased spending on sneakers. Internal reports from the FBI's Inspector General showed that the footwear data did not lead to any new prosecutions or convictions of terrorists. The NSA's view into videos Americans choose to watch is unlikely to provide actionable intelligence about ISIS terrorist plans, Russian Army targets in Ukraine, Kim Jong Un's missile launch schedule, the location of ransomware group leaders, or the names and addresses of Hamas fighters. Critics of the NSA point to the response from the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security, Ronald Moultrie, who said that the data collected serves the needs of the agency's mission to find the most popular and entertaining shows. It is believed that this information will be used for recruitment advertising. All the armed services are well below their recruitment targets, and both Netflix and Amazon Prime will start showing ads soon. Knowing whether “Beef”, “Dee & Friends in Oz”, “The Queen's Gambit”, or “Bridgerton” have the right audience for recruitment is key to planning at the Department of Defense. Edward Snowden also leaked presentation files for the Joint Chiefs of Staff showing projected recruitment from the new Barbie movie now available on Amazon, code-named “Project Ken-ergy”.