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The National Security Agency has developed a system of surveillance that allows it to collect all of a country’s telephone calls. The capability envelops this nation’s entire telephone network and collects the content of conversations, many which are from Americans who “telephone, visit and work in the target country,” according to The Washington Post.
The report comes from Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani and revelations on this top secret surveillance program come from documents provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
The “voice interception program” called MYSTIC started in 2009. A RETRO tool enables “retrospective retrieval” and functions like a “time machine.”
A “call buffer opens a door ‘into the past,’” according to the Post, and enables users to “retrieve audio of interest that was not tasked at the time of the original call.” The entirety of calls are typically not listened to by analysts, however, “millions of voice clippings, or ‘cuts,’ are sent “for processing and long-term storage.” And, for up to 30 days, analysts are able to “replay voices from any call without requiring that a person be identified in advance for surveillance.” …. http://dissenter.firedoglake.com