Map of the Stars

Treasure Map is a vast National Security Agency campaign to map the global internet.

The program doesn’t just seek to chart data flows in large traffic channels, such as telecommunications cables. Rather, it seeks to identify and locate every single device that is connected to the internet somewhere in the world -- every smartphone, tablet, and computer -- ”anywhere, all the time,” according to NSA documents. Its internal logo depicts a skull superimposed onto a compass, the eyeholes glowing demonic red. The breathtaking mission is described in a document from the archive of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Treasure Map’s goal is to create an “interactive map of the global internet” in “almost real time.” Employees of the so-called “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance -- England, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand -- can install and use the program on their own computers. It evokes a kind of Google Earth for global data traffic, a bird’s eye view of the planet’s digital arteries.