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Report: NSA Spied on 124 Billion Phone Calls in One Month

American

American

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Report: NSA Spied on 124 Billion Phone Calls in One Month | Washington Free Beacon

The National Security Agency recorded information about more than 124 billion phone calls during a 30-day period earlier this year, including around 3 billion calls from U.S. sources, according to a tally from top-secret documents released by multiple news outlets.

Documents revealing details about the NSA’s Boundless Informant program show that information regarding billions of phone calls and computer communications was collected by the agency from across the world.

Boundless Informant “allows users to select a country on a map and view the meta data volume and select details about the collections against that country,” according to the Guardian, which first reported on the top secret program earlier this year.
Multiple leaked screenshots of the Boundless Informant program show that information on around 124.8 billion phone calls were collected in just 30-days this year, according to documents released by the Guardian and other news sites.

The documents provide a window into the sheer volume of data being collected by the NSA as late as March of this year, according to the Guardian.

Critics of the NSA’s multiple data collection programs, which include PRISM, argue that innocent Americans run the risk of having their personal communications monitored. Its defenders maintain that the program has been a key tool in the fight against terrorism.
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I understand the need to conduct intelligence operations, but I have mixed feelings about the large net approach to gathering up everything in front of you, then sifting through looking for problems. It raises a lot of questions.

Boundless Informant: the NSA's secret tool to track global surveillance data | World news | theguardian.com

Boundless Informant...........boundless? This alone should be a concern. Nothing should be boundless.
 
I read somewhere that their new data center has had at least 10 "equipment destroying meltdowns" was the way I think it was phrased. Look on the bright side, the place might burn to the ground all on its own accord.
 
Too much data is about as useful as having no data. A gov employee is as likely to walk up on a bomb as to find info of someone building one.
 
American said:
Report: NSA Spied on 124 Billion Phone Calls in One Month | Washington Free Beacon


I understand the need to conduct intelligence operations, but I have mixed feelings about the large net approach to gathering up everything in front of you, then sifting through looking for problems. It raises a lot of questions.

Boundless Informant: the NSA's secret tool to track global surveillance data | World news | theguardian.com

Boundless Informant...........boundless? This alone should be a concern. Nothing should be boundless.
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You are absolutely right. It raises many questions. The main two seem to be:
-Do we have enough safeguards to protect us from misuse?
-Have we explained enough to the world why it is necessary?

From what I see, we have not. Though I do tend to feel that we should be able to control the use of the data to make it safe, I am not convinced we are there. And certainly the reaction from abroad indicates that they think we are dangerous. Obama has done nothing to alleviate that and he had better. These guys are really angry.
 
joG said:
You are absolutely right. It raises many questions. The main two seem to be:
-Do we have enough safeguards to protect us from misuse?
-Have we explained enough to the world why it is necessary?

From what I see, we have not. Though I do tend to feel that we should be able to control the use of the data to make it safe, I am not convinced we are there. And certainly the reaction from abroad indicates that they think we are dangerous. Obama has done nothing to alleviate that and he had better. These guys are really angry.
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It's storing the metadata from those calls. Is that actually "spying"?
 
joG said:
You are absolutely right. It raises many questions. The main two seem to be:
-Do we have enough safeguards to protect us from misuse?
-Have we explained enough to the world why it is necessary?

From what I see, we have not. Though I do tend to feel that we should be able to control the use of the data to make it safe, I am not convinced we are there. And certainly the reaction from abroad indicates that they think we are dangerous. Obama has done nothing to alleviate that and he had better. These guys are really angry.
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Frankly I don't generally care much who we spy on outside our border. My real concern there would be cost/benefit? No doubt the NSA has $billion budgets, so what are we getting for that? I'm not certain we're getting our money's worth. Large scale shotgun type of info gathering inside our borders bothers me. That includes attempts by the NSA to monitor within our borders from outside our borders. You know their using custom software that costs $millions to maintain, and acres of supercomputing that costs $millions to maintain; so what are we getting?
 
Soooo.......

Snowden is no longer public enemy number one, lol?
 
OldWorldOrder said:
It's storing the metadata from those calls. Is that actually "spying"?
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I discussed that in another forum the other day and I do not really think it should be called "spying". That dilutes the meaning of the word "spying" and moves storing of data into a negative definition and prejudges an instrument that makes society better, if correctly handled. Sort of like a gun in a policeman's hands.
 
American said:
Report: NSA Spied on 124 Billion Phone Calls in One Month | Washington Free Beacon


I understand the need to conduct intelligence operations, but I have mixed feelings about the large net approach to gathering up everything in front of you, then sifting through looking for problems. It raises a lot of questions.

Boundless Informant: the NSA's secret tool to track global surveillance data | World news | theguardian.com

Boundless Informant...........boundless? This alone should be a concern. Nothing should be boundless.
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Nothing will happen. Big Brother is here and we're too scared to stand up to him. 1984 finally arrives.
 
Ikari said:
Nothing will happen. Big Brother is here and we're too scared to stand up to him. 1984 finally arrives.
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We don't have politicians that will.
 
KevinKohler said:
Soooo.......

Snowden is no longer public enemy number one, lol?
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I'm not sure we really know yet, because govt isn't going to reveal either what he took with him (if he did) or that they know it. Their safest course is to make him a bad guy either way, because as a minimum he broke made programs known.
 
American said:
Frankly I don't generally care much who we spy on outside our border. My real concern there would be cost/benefit? No doubt the NSA has $billion budgets, so what are we getting for that? I'm not certain we're getting our money's worth. Large scale shotgun type of info gathering inside our borders bothers me. That includes attempts by the NSA to monitor within our borders from outside our borders. You know their using custom software that costs $millions to maintain, and acres of supercomputing that costs $millions to maintain; so what are we getting?
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I am not worried about the spying outside the US as such. But the repercussions are rather heavy and could turn ugly with all sorts of costs involved. It would have been much better to make the point why it is so important to mine the data.

As far as the cost/benefit is concerned, I have not seen any studies. From what I understand a number of plots were uncovered and the people arrested. I looked at two cases a little more closely and found that it probably had saved lives. But how many is hard to say. Also, in the cases I checked, the lives were German lives and not American.
 
American said:
We don't have politicians that will.
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Who do you think built up this structure and protocol in the first place? The Republocrats are down with this. It's our fault for not controlling the government better and our fault that it continues. But we've become so fearful of probabilities that we let government do whatever it wants even if it costs us our freedom.
 
Ikari said:
Who do you think built up this structure and protocol in the first place? The Republocrats are down with this. It's our fault for not controlling the government better and our fault that it continues. But we've become so fearful of probabilities that we let government do whatever it wants even if it costs us our freedom.
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Because they're storing the metadata instead of leaving it to the companies, which purge them after awhile? Really? lol
 
OldWorldOrder said:
Because they're storing the metadata instead of leaving it to the companies, which purge them after awhile? Really? lol
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It's massive databasing and searching. This form of data mining on this scale is a threat to the 4th amendment and our freedom. The government should be banned less they have reasonable s suspicion or warrant. That's what it means to have a restricted, reactive government not an unlimited proactive one. Duh.
 
Ikari said:
Who do you think built up this structure and protocol in the first place? The Republocrats are down with this. It's our fault for not controlling the government better and our fault that it continues. But we've become so fearful of probabilities that we let government do whatever it wants even if it costs us our freedom.
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Well you have half the population that wants the government to give them stuff and tell them what to do. The other half is only includes a small group willing to fight against the tide.
 
Ikari said:
It's massive databasing and searching.
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Errr...no it's not.

This form of data mining on this scale is a threat to the 4th amendment and our freedom. The government should be banned less they have reasonable s suspicion or warrant. That's what it means to have a restricted, reactive government not an unlimited proactive one. Duh.
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lol okay
 
What makes this scary is the recent scandals involving the IRS and Department of Justice. You wonder whom the likes of Holder and Obama actually believe the enemies to be, and what the term "national security" means to them.
 
Well, maybe they should have done the Obamacare website then. :mrgreen:

Kill two birds - the website would be working and the NSA would have it's info. Win, win.
 
Ikari said:
If you don't think this is massive databasing, I suggest you look up the word database. Lol
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lol I used to be a 35P in the Army. Thanks though!
 
Ikari said:
That doesn't really prove you understand the definition of databasing.
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It proves that I know what the NSA does and doesn't do about a million times better than you do, though.

Which is why I laugh.
 
OldWorldOrder said:
It proves that I know what the NSA does and doesn't do about a million times better than you do, though.

Which is why I laugh.
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Actually....it doesn't
 
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