Remember how the administration said it was only monitoring international calls? Well, never mind. It turns out that the NSA is building a database of every phone call made in the United States:
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans–most of whom aren’t suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews. “It’s the largest database ever assembled in the world,” said one person, who, like the others who agreed to talk about the NSA’s activities, declined to be identified by name or affiliation. The agency’s goal is “to create a database of every call ever made” within the nation’s borders, this person added.
Having the NSA know who I called is less creepy than having them all recorded. But it’s still creepy. And probably illegal.
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.