Just how far has NSA spying gone? The latest NSA systems can record every voice phone call made over an entire nation.
That
task has already been completed, and more tests are on the way. A top
manager for the spy agency compares the system to a time machine. Once
any phone call is made, a voice recording is available to the agency. No
warrant or court permission is required to listen in on private
conversations between law-abiding people.
According to
newly-released documents, in one country, the spy agency recorded every
call made over a month. These voice recordings were then held for up to
30 days by the NSA. The identity of the nation is not yet known to the
public.
Using a system called MYSTIC, the NSA has been recording
segments of voice calls since 2009, when Barack Obama came to the Oval
Office.
A new program, known as Retrospective retrieval, or
RETRO, is able to search for keywords among the vast amounts of data.
Phone calls can then be replayed, for NSA officials to hear.
A
summary of the new system says RETRO can "retrieve audio of interest
that was not tasked at the time of the original call." This is the first
time in history that the entire mass of phone conversations of an
entire nation has been recorded.
Caitlin Hayden, spokesperson
for the National Security Council, said threats to America are "often
hidden within the large and complex system of modern global
communications, and the United States must consequently collect signals
intelligence in bulk in certain circumstances in order to identify these
threats." (1)
Millions of Americans may be affected by the new
program, if they made calls to the unknown country. On January 17th,
Barack Obama pledged to the American people that "the United States is
not spying on ordinary people who don't threaten our national security."
Information
about the new system was first published in the Washington Post. That
newspaper agreed not to release the identity of the affected country.
The company also told the government they will reveal the six additional
countries where the program is planned to go into operation soon.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/n...