To borrow a nugget Brad Delong has written repeatedly, we’ll stop referring to this administration as “Orwellian” when they stop using 1984 as an operations manual.
USATODAY.com – NSA has massive database of Americans’ phone calls:
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
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.
But that means they’re sampling small sets, right? This isn’t a dragnet, is it?
USATODAY.com – Questions and answers about the NSA phone record collection program:
Q: Does the NSA’s domestic program mean that my calling records have been secretly collected?
A: In all likelihood, yes. The NSA collected the records of billions of domestic calls. Those include calls from home phones and wireless phones.
On a completely unrelated note, I got my passport photos made today and expect to have my renewal off in tomorrow’s mail.