The term “SEXINT,” coined by Jennifer Granick of Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society, describes monitoring or indexing an intelligence target’s pornography preferences and other sexual information for possible exploitation or blackmail. The practice was specifically linked to the U.S. National Security Agency and the broader Five Eyes intelligence environment, although the source does not establish how frequently it was used or document a complete operational program.
An NSA document leaked in October 2012 identified six people—all Muslims—as potential targets. The document labeled them “radicalizers,” but did not accuse any of them of participating in terrorist plots; instead, it said the NSA believed they influenced others through controversial views expressed on YouTube, Facebook, and other social-media services. The disclosure raised civil-liberties concerns about sexual surveillance, religious profiling, and the use of private information against people whose alleged conduct was political or ideological speech. The supplied source records no prosecution, financial penalty, or specific reform resulting from the document, and does not prove that blackmail was carried out against the six individuals.
