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Newly released documents show Washington operates unaccountably. Months of litigation were required to get them. They reveal a dramatic increase of "pen register" and "trap and trace" surveillance.
They're used to gather information from telephone, email, and other Internet communications. They're "powerfully invasive" tools. They covertly record incoming and outgoing numbers dialed. They're built into phone company call-routing hardware.
They're also used to collect email and instant messages, social network communications, and web sites visited. From 2009 - 2011, content obtained increased 60%.
Individuals whose phones were surveilled more than tripled. "In fact, more people were subjected to pen register and trap and trace surveillance in the past two years than in the entire previous decade."
Use of these tools increased exponentially. "The number of authorizations the Justice Department received to use (them) increased 361% from 2009 - 2011."
It reflects the latest example of skyrocketing domestic spying. In early 2012, The New York Times said cell phone carriers received 1.3 million demands for subscriber information in 2011 alone.
ACLU learned from public records that police departments nationally use cell phone location tracking.
Spying is the national pastime. Legal standards required are lower than for wiretaps and other content-collecting technology.
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