NSA Records Billions Of Foreign Phone Calls

The National Security Agency has the capability to capture and retain the phone conversations of an entire nation's people, according to newly disclosed documents supplied by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, as reported Wednesday by The Washington Post.

The MYSTIC surveillance program can record and store 100% of the voice conversations within a targeted nation on a rolling 30-day basis, giving analysts a virtual time machine to investigate foreign intelligence clues.

The system uses a tool in operation since 2011, called RETRO, which can intercept and maintain recordings of billions of phone conversations, according to documents reported by the Post. The documents include an emblem of the MYSTIC program, which depicts a cartoon wizard with a telephone-headed staff.

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