It never ends. All that data the NSA is collecting on Americans? They’re using it to create intricate graphs mapping out our connections, according to new documents revealed by NSA leaker Edward Snowden. The super secret agency can use the massive amounts of metadata they collect to create a picture of an individual and his social networks, with a shocking level of specificity including, the Times notes, friends, locations, religious or political affiliations, and private details like extramarital affairs. Though the NSA was previously only allowed to spy on foreigners, a 2010 policy change now allows them to conduct “large-scale graph analysis on very large sets of communications metadata without having to check foreignness,” according to the document.
