NSA collects 200 Million text messages a day

The US National Security Agency is collecting millions of "untargeted" text message from across the globe on a daily basis, according to a report from The Guardian. Code-named "Dishfire," the NSA program collects "pretty much everything it can," the Guardian said, citing a joint investigation with the UK's Channel 4 News based on material from fugitive former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. An agency presentation from 2011 - subtitled "SMS Text Messages: A Goldmine to Exploit" - revealed the program collected an average of 194 million text messages a day in April of that year. In addition to storing the messages themselves, a further program known as "Prefer" conducted automated analysis on the untargeted communications. 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.

"The NSA has made extensive use of its vast text message database to extract information on people's travel plans, contact books, financial transactions and more - including of individuals under no suspicion of illegal activity," the Guardian's James Ball wrote from New York.

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