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NSA link analysis, anonymous phone numbers, and roving wiretaps
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 15:37:46 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: Richard Wiggins <richard.wiggins () gmail com> Date: May 15, 2006 3:19:10 PM EDT To: dave () farber net Cc: ip () v2 listbox com Subject: NSA link analysis, anonymous phone numbers, and roving wiretaps Dave, Here's one way that the NSA could use telephone link analysis: revealing who is using a particular anonymous telephone number. Think about it: if you use a pay phone, a pre-paid cell phone, or a pre-paid calling card, law enforcement can't easily identify you. But if you're part of a network -- say, of Qaeda operatives -- you will eventually call someone whose number is known or suspected to be part of that network. Call 2 or 3 known numbers in the circle, and they could have a pretty good idea who you are. Examining point of origin and duration of calls refines things further. Link analysis could pinpoint which anonymous phone numbers belong to which telephone calling clusters. Remember, after 9/11, the government sought and received the ability to issue "roving wiretaps" whereby they don't need a new warrant to start listening to a given phone number that would otherwise be anonymous. This is not to defend the NSA program; just to point out that in some cases it might be effective for the claimed goal of the program. The scary thing is: now that we know they're doing total link analysis of all Americans' phone calls, why not apply this to other networks? Terrorists other than Qaeda? So-called eco-terrorists? Organized crime? Drug dealers? White collar crime? Reporters who specialize in leaks? A very steep, very slippery slope... /rich On 5/15/06, David Farber <dave () farber net> wrote:
>> NSA Sweep "Waste of Time," Analyst Says >>
> > Doesn't this discussion seem to assume that we must choose between > alternative programs? Is it not possible (one would hope it's > likely) that NSA (or whomever) is pursuing multiple avenues of > approach, some of which will turn out to be ratholes, but some of > which may produce useful results?
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- NSA link analysis, anonymous phone numbers, and roving wiretaps David Farber (May 15)