A multimillion-dollar cellphone surveillance program that sifted through the metadata from millions of individual phone numbers yielded just two unique leads over a five-year period.
According to a newly declassified study, the National Security Agency spent $100 million on a highly invasive cellphone surveillance system. With that investment, the agency yielded only one significant FBI investigation from 2015 to 2019.
The NSA’s cellphone surveillance was first revealed to the public after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked information about the program to the media. After Snowden’s leaks in 2013, the federal government advocated for the program as a necessary tool to prevent future terrorist attacks, but many questioned whether that was true.
The study, which was produced by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board and briefed to Congress on Tuesday, showed that only one of two unique leads yielded a prolonged investigation. The other unique lead was vetted and deemed unworthy of additional inspection.
“Based on one report, FBI vetted an individual, but, after vetting, determined that no further action was warranted,” the report noted. “The second report provided unique information about a telephone number, previously known to U.S. authorities, which led to the opening of a foreign intelligence investigation.”
Additional information about the one prolonged investigation was not made available to the public. In total, 15 investigations were aided by the program, but 13 investigations were already being conducted when information from the surveillance program was uncovered.
Investigations into the Pulse nightclub shooting and a machete attack in Ohio were aided by the program, but it is not clear that either of those incidents relied on unique information from the NSA that the FBI didn’t already posses.
The NSA halted its use of the surveillance system in 2019 after reports that the program was not functioning properly. One error led to millions of calls and text to be purged from the system after the agency realized it did not have the authority to view the messages the program had obtained.
The agency received its power to collect cellphone metadata with the USA Freedom Act of 2015. The act must be renewed by Congress by March 15, something the Trump administration supports.
In a briefing to Congress, Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Chairman Adam Klein lauded the administration’s decision to shut down the program after years of problems.
“It shows a lot of judgment to acknowledge that something that consumed a lot of resources and time did not yield the value anticipated,” Klein said. “We want agencies to be able to reflect on their collection capabilities and wind them down where appropriate. That’s the best way to ensure civil liberties and privacy are balanced with operational needs.”
Klein also said the system is gradually becoming outdated. He noted that a lot of correspondence takes place on encrypted chatting apps rather than via phone calls or texts.
