The Pursuit of Edward Snowden: Washington in a Rage, Striving to Run the World

[karynnj]

68. I understand why they want the database of numbers called

For decades, when almost all calls when through the Bell System, it was not unusual for police to request all phone records made from a suspect's phone. Think of the crime shows where one plot device was finding an important "dot" to connect from that data. Today, things are more complicated than in the days of landlines. Having several months of phone records showing the origin, termination, and duration already in a database is useful.

I realize that this information in the wrong hands can be used to create a "picture" of anyone that would show interests and connections. However, the key thing is that they need a court order to develop that profile. If though other means, they have enough information to identify contacts for someone who perhaps is already charged and in custody for terrorism is useful. This also was precisely what was done in the law enforcement example given. The key is to learn more of what was required to request that profile. (Note - this would not include what someone like a Snowden could pull for his own interest illegally any more than you could blame 1950s AT&T if an operator listened in absolutely against the code of conduct! )

This type of data is not new and it it is not new that it is being analyzed. I KNOW that similar data was the basis of much of the analysis done within the Bell System - for anything from designing market offers to designing where to add capacity in the network in future years. This was not even questionable - no more than say a clothing manufacturer using data on the quantity of styles sold in each store they market to for use in managing their business.