To view this data graphically, you must have Google Earth downloaded and installed. Further instructions can be found here.
The following traceroutes have been selected to demonstrate some of the more interesting aspects of internet traffic routing (as highlighted by IXmaps). These features include:
The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) warrantless surveillance practices occurring under the Bush Administration were brought to light by retired AT&T technician Mark Klein. Klein worked at the AT&T internet switching centre at 611 Folsom Street, San Francisco, where a splitter cabinet was installed to divert a copy of all gateway traffic to NSA computers for inspection. The NSA is strongly suspected of having installed 15-20 similar spy rooms at other locations across the country (e.g. Los Angeles, New York).
View a map of a traceroute from a home in Toronto to the San Francisco Art Institute that passes through AT&T's internet switching facility at 611 Folsom (TR#1859). Note that this traceroute also goes through Chicago, another suspected site of NSA eavesdropping.
For more on NSA surveillance, click here.
As a result of a variety of technical, economic and policy choices made principally by private corporations, Canadian internet traffic is often routed through the US, even when both origin and destination are within Canada. These "boomerang routes" prompt concerns regarding Canadian network sovereignty, since Canadians' packets passing through routers in the US are subject to US interests, such as surveillance under provisions of the USA Patriot Act or the NSA's warrantless surveillance program described elsewhere.
One example of a boomerang route is traceroute 4168, which originates in Toronto, and is destined for the Hockey Hall of Fame website, also in Toronto, but goes to Chicago and back.
For more on Canadian network sovereignty, click here.
Internet traffic changes hands from one network to another at internet exchange points (IXPs) or carrier hotels, usually located in large office buildings. Typically, these buildings are owned by major public and private equity real-estate holding companies, several of which have controversial connections. One prominent carrier hotel owner is the Carlyle Group, among the world's largest private equity firms, with close ties to former senior politicians and the defense industry. For example, traceroute1250, originating in Nanaimo, BC and destined for UC San Diego passes through 1 Wilshire Blvd, a carrier hotel in LA that was owned by The Carlyle Group before being sold in 2007 to Hines REIT.
For more on IXPs with interesting ownership, click here.
Click here to view other selected traceroutes of interest.