New revelations from Edward Snowden by way of The Guardian suggest that the NSA has been digging up a “goldmine” of nearly 200 million text messages a day in order to track financial transactions, contacts and border crossings.
According to the report, the NSA “minimized” data collected from US phone numbers, but it is believed to have kept communications from the UK and other countries.
Of particular note, documents from the program, which is codenamed Dishfire, suggested that the NSA was conducting “untargeted and unwarranted” sweeps for the information.
“Dishfire collects pretty much everything it can, so you can see SMS from a selector which is not targeted,” a GCHQ memo reportedly read.
An NSA spokesperson denied the allegations to The Guardian, claiming that programs only focused on “valid foreign intelligence targets.”
➤ NSA collects millions of text messages daily in ‘untargeted’ global sweep [The Guardian]
Related: The NSA is reportedly able to access offline computers thanks to radio wave technology
Thumbnail credit: Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty Images
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