Google Cookies Linked to Government Hacking Initiative in New Snowden Leak
Google uses the PREF cookie to determine a user’s advertising preferences, but the cookie’s ability to identify specific browsers lets the NSA pinpoint which machines to target with its hacking software.
In an ironic—or not so ironic—twist to this week’s news of Google’s founding role in the newly created “Reform Government Surveillance” coalition, another revelation by whistleblower Edward Snowden aligns the tech giant more closely with NSA surveillance operations.
As uncovered by The Washington Post, the leak involves the use of Google ad cookies in an NSA “Remote Exploitation” protocol that relies on cookie-based tracking measures to zero in on surveillance targets.
The question now is whether Google intentionally agreed to assist the government hacking initiative or was required by the FISA court to allow the NSA to piggyback on a Google-specific ad cookie known as PREF.
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