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Here’s my bet: This is very much like the less well known 214 bulk Internet metadata program. Changes in how we use tech mean it’s just not getting much of the info they care about anymore. wsj.com/articles/nsa-r…
The 214 bulk program was mothballed around the same time the major webmail providers went to HTTPS by default, meaning bulk collection at the backbone wouldn’t be picking up metadata in an intelligible form.
As more of us move to third-party apps like Signal & WhatsApp for both messaging and voice calls, bulk CDR will now exclude the majority of texts and calls for many users. At which point a CDR social map loses utility even for purposes of ruling out connections.
Speculatively: I suspect they were doing something else weird that resulted in the technical issue where they engaged in substantial overcollection & had to purge the database. Maybe involving location-based selectors? That may have been the last use they cared about.
