Mobile Call Logs Can Reveal a Lot to the NSA

Research shows how much the NSA could glean from call records, and why efforts to downplay the significance of such metadata are misleading.

Of all the recent revelations about the National Security Agencys sweeping surveillance activities, the collection of metadata from Verizons U.S. call records may be the most concerning (see NSA Surveillance Reflects a Broader Interpretation of the Patriot Act). Despite reassurances that the information collected is limited in its scope, academics who study such data say it could still reveal a great deal about the people being monitored.