We know who you are calling...

[Caitriona]

Well, here's one way to keep people from talking to the Press, and another way to control a free press.

abc News

Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling
May 15, 2006 10:33 AM

Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:

A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources.

"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.

ABC News does not know how the government determined who we are calling, or whether our phone records were provided to the government as part of the recently-disclosed NSA collection of domestic phone calls.

Other sources have told us that phone calls and contacts by reporters for ABC News, along with the New York Times and the Washington Post, are being examined as part of a widespread CIA leak investigation.

One former official was asked to sign a document stating he was not a confidential source for New York Times reporter James Risen.

Our reports on the CIA's secret prisons in Romania and Poland were known to have upset CIA officials. The CIA asked for an FBI investigation of leaks of classified information following those reports.

People questioned by the FBI about leaks of intelligence information say the CIA was also disturbed by ABC News reports that revealed the use of CIA predator missiles inside Pakistan.

Under Bush Administration guidelines, it is not considered illegal for the government to keep track of numbers dialed by phone customers.

The official who warned ABC News said there was no indication our phones were being tapped so the content of the conversation could be recorded.

A pattern of phone calls from a reporter, however, could provide valuable clues for leak investigators.

 

[Captain Jack]

Ummm...I realize this may be a stupid question, but how is the NSA able to go through phone records of 298,000,000 people? It is easy to record or collect the data, it's reading through all that data that would seem to take a lot of man and computer power?

I've got nothing to hide, personally, since I haven't done anything wrong. However, I do not like "big brother" eaves dropping on my calls. Bush can piss off on this one. Read that one NSA. :razz:

 

[The Question]

It's not the content of the calls that's being monitored, it's incoming/outgoing numbers and call durations.

 

[headvoid]

That's OK then...

And the Echelon system used by the US to spy on UK and European phone calls is not actually used on civilians?

The technology exists, but as it's against the law, the US does not use it... riiiiiigght.

 

[Tyrant]

^
Oh but that's just a kooky conspiracy theory, just like Fox Mulder would postulate, and it's right up there with flying saucers and aliens, because it's just as far-fetched.

And now, like a typical anti-Bush peon, I shall ignore your rebuttal and get back to my petty debating.