90 percent of NSA intercepts hit 'ordinary' people, not intended targets

90 percent of NSA intercepts hit 'ordinary' people, not intended targets
(Image credit: Michael Buckner / Getty Images)

The National Security Agency swept up a shocking number of communications from innocent bystanders that dwarfed the intel collected on intended targets, according to a new Washington Post report. Citing documents leaked by Edward Snowden that detailed intercepts between 2009 and 2012, the Post concluded that 90 percent of all accounts swept up belonged to "ordinary" Internet users, many of whom were American citizens; just 10 percent of the cached accounts belonged to people targeted for surveillance.

Moreover, a "strikingly high proportion" contained sensitive information clearly marking the accounts as belonging to Americans.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.