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Tech

I Just Spied on the NSA with Google Street View

Take this, NSA.
Image: Google Maps screenshots

So the NSA likes to spy on us, hm? How do you think they'd like it if we gave them a taste of their own medicine? How would they like it if we did a little spying on them? Now, while I'm certainly far too lazy to do any actual espionage, I happen to be totally aware of Google Street View.

Below is a shot of the NSA headquarters in Maryland. The agency's HQ is right off the Patuxet Freeway, and the Google Street View car must have cruised right on by, cameras rolling. Kind of a humorous concept, Google surveilling the NSA. Anyhow, it looks like this:

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You'll notice a pair of ominous picnic tables, a forebodingly paneled industrial outpost, and a big, sprawling office complex. And a parking lot. Oh, the parking lot. Yes, even spies must drive to work (if there isn't reliable and readily available public transportation, I guess).

And they must walk from said parking lot into the massive spy complex before they can peer into our digital lives. So that is where we will spy on the spies. Let's zoom in, CSI-style.

What are those men doing congretating there? One appears to be lost in grainy thought. Another may be urinating. And what's in that red jeep? Probably a spare tire full of national secrets. Or a printout of every gchat session you ever had with your ex-girlfriend.

Let's get closer.

There you have it. How does it feel, spies? To know you're being watched—caught, mid-conversation in the midst of a supposedly private moment? Here are a couple more things that appear to be spy-people.

And here's where they work.

There are spy domes.

Warning: restricted access.

Restricted access denied. Now, NSA, you know exactly how 315 million Americans feel. Violated. I can only assume that after reading this, you will immediately dismantle your industrial surveillance complex and issue a heartfelt apology to all of us. Go ahead and leave it in the comments below.