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The NSA is said to be analyzing phone records for terrorist information. That would be technologically difficult--but possible.

By J. Nicholas Hoover, InformationWeek, May 22, 2006

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Here's what we do know: The NSA is a sophisticated user of database technology--Larry Ellison has long said the NSA is one of Oracle's earliest customers. We also know that government agencies are intensely interested in data mining. A 2004 survey by the Government Accountability Office found that federal agencies were engaged in or planning 199 data mining projects, including 122 involving personal data. A database of phone records wouldn't be hard to create; the data exists.

We also know that terrorists make phone calls. After the 2001 attacks, the government determined that the 19 terrorists had made 206 international calls from the United States, according to press reports. A logical step for data analysts would be to search through phone records to see if there are other networks of people whose calls followed similar patterns.

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