NSA surveillance program reaches ‘into the past’ to retrieve, replay phone calls

[kpete]

Source: Washington Post

The National Security Agency has built a surveillance system capable of recording “100 percent” of a foreign country’s telephone calls, enabling the agency to rewind and review conversations as long as a month after they take place, according to people with direct knowledge of the effort and documents supplied by former contractor Edward Snowden.

A senior manager for the program compares it to a time machine — one that can replay the voices from any call without requiring that a person be identified in advance for surveillance.

The voice interception program, called MYSTIC, began in 2009. Its RETRO tool, short for “retrospective retrieval,” and related projects reached full capacity against the first target nation in 2011. Planning documents two years later anticipated similar operations elsewhere.

In the initial deployment, collection systems are recording “every single” conversation nationwide, storing billions of them in a 30-day rolling buffer that clears the oldest calls as new ones arrive, according to a classified summary.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-surveillance-program-reaches-into-the-past-to-retrieve-replay-phone-calls/2014/03/18/226d2646-ade9-11e3-a49e-76adc9210f19_story.html?hpid=z1

[grahamhgreen]

1. I bet the buffer is longer than 30 days if your a person in power, or of interest.

[reddread]

2. why would a CIA contractor lie about this?

Well, yeah. One way, or another, that data is not being tossed.
Putting aside the questionable source, the technology and the drive for total information awareness does not come with a 30 day limitation. No matter how efficiently they can store audio data, they can also transcribe and store that.
People snivel about RT? The garbage being served up here will soon enough be exposed.
Those source NAZI's either lap this up with a spoon in contrast, or wink and nod to their clever charade.
Use your heads. They are tapping everything, and nothing is being tossed.
And we pay for it.
If only lies had a redeemable cash value for the taxpayer.

[blackspade]

3. How shocking!

Not.

It's just metadata right?

[24601]

16. Foreign intelligence pursuant to EO 12333 (which has been amended several times) is conducted to

answer the President's Intelligence needs, primarily about the capability of other nations and the intentions of their leaders. EO12333 isn't specific to intercept and covers a wide range of intelligence including bans on assassination (undefined) - Para 2.11 and most human experimentation - Para 2.10.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_12333

The metadata program, you like refer to about isn't authorized by 12333 but by primarily by US Code, specifically section 215 of the Patriot Act. (See the administration's white paper from the ACLU web site)

https://www.aclu.org/files/natsec/nsa/20130816/Section%20215%20-%20Obama%20Administration%20White%20Paper.pdf

[ucrdem]

4. Uh oh . . .

"according to people with direct knowledge of the effort and documents supplied by former contractor Edward Snowden."

Looks like Mr. Greenwald has been, er, let go again. How sad.

[Mojorabbit]

5. What in the world are you talking about?

You don"t find this alarming? It seems the WP has two sources at least.

[ucrdem]

6. Source: "Some of the documents provided by Snowden."

Provided to whom, how, when? That used to be Greenwald's gig. Sounds like he's been written out of the narrative, which is as phony as a bad B-movie to start with but that's another story. Anyway it looks golden boy #2 has taken a tarnish.

[randome]

7. Since when do ordinary Americans care about international spy games?

You did notice this is about foreign surveillance, right?
[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[ucrdem]

8. Since ... S - N - O - W - D - E - N

All of a sudden, I'm hungry! For impeachment!

[randome]

9. That sums it up, doesn't it?

[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[Mojorabbit]

10. No, no it does not.

It would be nice if you actually had something to say that contributed to the conversation. Nice derailing of the thread by you all though. It is like clockwork.

[randome]

18. Did you actually read the first sentence of the article? Or my first post?

Care to weigh in on why foreign surveillance is all of a sudden so important to some?
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
Leonard Cohen, Anthem (1992)[/center][/font][hr]

[Mojorabbit]

19. Yes I did. Please don't be coy. nt

[Excelsyor]

12. You could have told us what you think about Barton Gellman's article..

But the rule of Greenwald-obsession is: Chant "Greenwald sucks!" even if the piece in question is not his.

So Laura Poitras said something? Greenwald sucks!
ACLU is mad at the NSA? Greenwald sucks!

[ucrdem]

13. Okay. I think it's passing strange that WaPo sees fit to characterize

rather routine foreign surveillance as some kind of Snowden bombshell. By passing strange, I mean it stinks of partisan politics and RW machinations.

[Excelsyor]

14. Wow. You had to be prodded before opining on a non-Greenwald article

Interesting.

[ucrdem]

15. Seemed obvious.

Glad I was able to clear that up if it wasn't.

[OnyxCollie]

17. With a large amount of calls recorded,

a message could be constructed to say whatever one wanted.

Hell, if I could do it with a razor and splicing tape...

[Sunlei]

20. about 3 years ago when someone was using my moms phone, even the phone company was able

to bring up the 2 month old recorded call. The phone companies must give the Feds access.