In 1998 a colleague of mine received a DARPA request to develop a tape-based recording device that -- it was obvious from some quick calculations -- would be capable of archiving all voice communications going in and out of the country. We could think of no other application for that kind of technology, and assumed that the real client was the NSA.
At the time, storing such a quantity of data was completely infeasible within the physical space & budgetary constraints of the proposed program was completely infeasible. We told them so, and the project went away. However, given that:
1.) They were trying to do this 15 years ago, and
2.) Both their budget and the technological state of the art has improved substantially since then, and
3.) The government these days seems happy to treat citizens' rights with the same general contempt as non-citizens' rights, given some creative re-definitions of terms and rubber-stamp lawyering...
...I would not be at all surprised to learn that a program like this was in fact well-established by this point.
At the time, storing such a quantity of data was completely infeasible within the physical space & budgetary constraints of the proposed program was completely infeasible. We told them so, and the project went away. However, given that:
1.) They were trying to do this 15 years ago, and
2.) Both their budget and the technological state of the art has improved substantially since then, and
3.) The government these days seems happy to treat citizens' rights with the same general contempt as non-citizens' rights, given some creative re-definitions of terms and rubber-stamp lawyering...
...I would not be at all surprised to learn that a program like this was in fact well-established by this point.