NSA monitors 200 million SMS messages per day.
According to the British newspaper The Guardian, the US agency's objective is to collect personal data about travel plans, contacts, and credit card transactions; this revelation is based on documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
WASHINGTON, Jan 17 (Reuters) The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) monitors nearly 200 million text messages worldwide every day, collecting personal data on travel plans, contacts, and credit card transactions, the British newspaper The Guardian revealed on Thursday.
The NSA's program, called "Dishfire," collects "virtually everything it can," said The Guardian, citing a joint investigation by the newspaper and British TV broadcaster Channel 4 News, based on material leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
The newspaper said the documents also show that communications from US phone numbers are removed or "minimized" in the NSA database, while numbers from other countries, including Great Britain, are retained.
Based on a 2011 NSA presentation subtitled "SMS Text Messages: A Gold Mine to Explore," The Guardian said the program collected 194 million text messages per day in April of that year.
"The NSA has made extensive use of this vast database of text messages to extract information about travel plans, contact lists, financial transactions and more -- including from individuals who are not suspected of illegal activity," said the Guardian.
US President Barack Obama is expected to announce reforms to the NSA's surveillance programs on Friday, the global scope of which was revealed by Snowden.
Leaks from a former contractor for the agency revealed that U.S. espionage also targeted some foreign leaders, including President Dilma Rousseff. The president canceled a state visit to Washington last year due to revelations that her own personal communications had been monitored by the NSA.
(By Peter Cooney)