The newest leak from NSA internal documents is a presentation that gleefully explains how those targeted ads you see in Gmail and Google searches are actually being used as tripwires for “offensive hacking operations.”  In other words, the NSA is piggybacking on technologies that companies use to target your advertising, and watching ads you click on to see if you need to be hacked.  We talked about this a few days ago, but I bet many of you are still using Google, still thinking those ads are no big deal.  Guess what?  They’re a huge deal.

Of course, they claim that it’s all for your safety.

The NSA’s use of cookies isn’t a technique for sifting through vast amounts of information to find suspicious behavior; rather, it lets NSA home in on someone already under suspicion – akin to when soldiers shine laser pointers on a target to identify it for laser-guided bombs.

Lovely visual, right?

Get off your Gmail.  Stop using Google.  Use DuckDuckGo instead.  Stop using Chrome and IE.  Use Firefox with the NOscript addon.  For the love of all that is holy, people, stop making it so easy for them.

http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/national/nsa-signal-surveillance-success-stories/647/