> That's far too many. Quick clarification of what's being discussed here-- What AnimalMuppet has estimated is that someone or some group in the Dept. of Defe

> That's far too many. Quick clarification of what's being discussed here-- What AnimalMuppet has estimated is that someone or some group in the Dept. of Defense has made a request to analyze call metadata, the sum total of which may come to 0.3% of all calls. In other words, that 0.3% reflects the data that has been parsed into a form intelligible for someone or some group working at (or perhaps even sub-contracted by) the DoD. The amount of call metadata that is available to the NSA for such requests (available either through one of their monstrously large data centers like the one in Utah, or available through one of their many programs that automate access to private companies' metadata) is almost certainly quite close to 100%. You can read about how common usage terms are redefined in misleading ways by the NSA et al here: https://www.eff.org/nsa-spying/wordgames#collect https://www.eff.org/nsa-spying/wordgames#collect