NSA Bahamas Surveillance: A-Link Intercept
In the Bahamas, highly significant documents leaked by Edward Snowden and reported by The Intercept in 2014, say that the NSA intercepts GSM data that is transmitted over what is known as the “A link”–or “A interface”–a core component of many mobile networks. The A link transfers data between two crucial parts of GSM networks – the base station subsystem, where phones in the field communicate with cell towers, and the network subsystem, which routes calls and text messages to the appropriate destination. Punching into this portion of a county’s mobile network would give the NSA access to a virtually non-stop stream of communications.
These reports detail a specialized NSA surveillance program that specifically targeted The Bahamas.

















