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Main Core

Alleged American government database

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
1 min read
Source updated August 17, 2026
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Main Core is an American government database containing information on those believed to be threats to national security.

01History

The existence of the database was first asserted in May 2008 by Christopher Ketcham and again in July 2008 by Tim Shorrock.

02Description

The Main Core data comes from the NSA, FBI, CIA, and other agencies, and is collected and stored without warrants or court orders. The database's name derives from the fact that it contains copies of the essence of each item (i.e. it contains the main core of each item) of intelligence information on Americans having been produced by the FBI and other agencies of the U.S. intelligence community.

As of 2008, there are eight million Americans listed in the database as possible threats, often for trivial reasons, whom the government may choose to track, question, or detain in a time of crisis.

Watch videos about Main CoreExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Main Core”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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