Using Metadata to Find Paul Revere

[Peter Lemkin]

Very clever example of how it is done.....now by parallel banks of super-computers. The NSA has its own power station [both for security and because for several years they were using more electricity than the local electric company could supply]. The metadata acts as the 'index' and the full data [they collect it all...though to date they have fudged to lied on if they do!] is there once they determine 'targets' from the metadata. Humans play only a small role in all this now...at the very front and back end of the system. Humans still choose the items they might be looking for in the 'index' [metadata] and after the processing there are transcripts of conversations, emails, location, contacts, etc. that an analyst will get after the computer system has made a few runs on its 'relevance' based on various computer algorithms. The Paul Revere article showed a simplified and enlightening example. But, now add to it [today] the computer system would pull up his mobile phone calls [to/from/time/location], emails, banking and ALL other records, movements of his horse from 'plates' [who was his blacksmith what did the horseshoeing], surveillance cameras with face recognition capabilities, and on and on and on.
Big Brother isn't coming...he's here! :wavey: Think you've done no 'wrong', broken no laws, so need not worry?! Ha!