Domestic Surveillance Directorate

Welcome to the Domestic Surveillance Directorate



The National Security Agency is responsible for carrying out three of the country's most important intelligence activities - Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), Information Assurance (IA), and Domestic Surveillance (DS). SIGINT involves intercepting, decrypting, and analyzing foreign adversaries' communications. IA involves the protection of America's U.S. government information systems. DS involves the collection and warehousing of all domestically-generated information streams.



The mission of the Domestic Surveillance Directorate is simple: Collect, process, and store U.S. citizen data for the good of the Nation. We cope with the overload of information in our environment and turn that overload to our strategic advantage. We provide the ability for ubiquitous, secure collaboration both within our agency and through its interactions with various partners. We penetrate into the "hard" targets that threaten our nation wherever, whenever, or whomever they may be.



We built a new data center to process the growing volume of information more quickly. Working closely with our partners, we are finding new ways to detect, report, and respond to all domestic threats. As the information age transforms the nation, we will also transform to keep our nation secure. We are the Domestic Surveillance Directorate. We work through you. For you. For our Nation.

The Facts About Our Surveillance Activities

In recent months, numerous Top Secret documents have been leaked to the media relating to surveillance activities carried out by the Intelligence Community. In an effort to increase transparency, a new website called "IC OFF THE RECORD" has been created to provide immediate, ongoing and direct access to these unauthorized leaks.





Visit the IC OFF THE RECORD website