Images of faces serve to NSA for intelligence purposes

Logo of the NSA. Photo: AP

The National Security Agency (NSA) intercepts millions of people’s face images circulating on the Internet, which are used in facial recognition software for intelligence purposes, as published on Sunday by The New York Times based on 2011 documents stolen by former agency analyst Edward Snowden.

According to the newspaper, the NSA has taken advantage of the huge flow of photographs circulating in emails, text messages, social networking and video conferencing; which are considered equally relevant than other espionage methods.

The publication also suggests that the majority of images obtained would correspond to foreign citizens through the Internet, satellite and cable lines, and that the NSA has the ability to cross registered images in different databases.

In 2011 the agency intercepted “millions of images a day,” including 55,000 of quality face recognition, which generate a “tremendous untapped potential,” according to a leaked document.