NSA Collects 20% or Less of US Call Data

The National Security Agency's phone-data program collects information from about 20 percent or less of all US calls -- much less than previously described by lawmakers.

The program had been described as collecting records on virtually every phone call placed in the US, but in fact, it doesn't cover records for most cellphones, the fastest growing sector in telephony and an area where the NSA has struggled to keep pace, according to several people familiar with the program. The dwindling coverage suggests the NSA's program is less pervasive than widely believed and also less useful. "Landlines are going away, and new providers are entering the field," said one person familiar with the program. "It's hard to keep up." NSA has been working to expand the coverage to cover more cellphone calls, but it has been stymied by how to remove location data -- which is isn't allowed to collect -- from cellphone records collected in bulk, said a US official. Moreover, the agency's legal orders to US phone companies don't cover most cellphone records, a gap the NSA has been trying to address for years. The effort has been repeatedly slowed by other, more pressing demands, such as responding to criticisms from the US court that oversees its operations, people familiar with the matter say.