NSA Tracks Targets With Google Cookies

Leaked National Security Agency slides reveal that the intelligence agency has been using Google's tracking cookies to identify targets for offensive NSA hacking operations.

So said a Washington Post report, published Tuesday, which is based on documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

According to the documents, both the NSA and its British counterpart, GHCQ, have been using cookies -- which are tracking files placed on users' systems by websites and advertising networks -- to help them track web users that they've previously seen. "The intelligence agencies have found particular use for a part of a Google-specific tracking mechanism known as the 'PREF' cookie," according to the Post report. "These cookies typically don't contain personal information, such as someone's name or e-mail address, but they do contain numeric codes that enable websites to uniquely identify a person's browser."

Read the full article here.

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