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DNI Collection: Keeping the Dictionaries from Filling Up

SUMMARY

The presence of keywords or other “selectors” in communications trigger NSA surveillance, and these terms are stored in databases called “dictionaries.” Agency dictionaries for filtering internet traffic recently approached the limit of 200,000 terms. In order to free up space, unproductive selectors were marked for purging and counterterrorism-related selectors were moved into a separate dictionary. An upgrade will raise the limit to 500,000 selectors.

DOCUMENT’S DATE

Mar 29, 2006

PUBLICLY AVAILABLE

Aug 15, 2018