#theyworking

After months of uproar following revelations that US intelligence agencies are compiling massive amounts of citizens’ telephone data, the New York Times reports that the DEA has had similar access to Americans' phone call data since 2007. Only instead of targeting terrorists, the DEA is pursuing domestic drug investigations. And instead of the NSA’s five-year ceiling on data retention, the DEA has data on phone calls dating back as much as 26 years.

"NEVER REFER TO HEMISPHERE IN ANY OFFICIAL DOCUMENT."

The program is called the Hemisphere Project and it’s reportedly a partnership between federal and local law enforcement agencies and AT&T. According to the Times, the government pays for AT&T to place its employees inside the country’s drug investigation units so that agents can have quick access to telephone data. The administration's requests are satisfied with a simple administrative subpoena issued by the DEA instead of a warrant from a judge, raising concerns about legal oversight. The slides note that investigators "are instructed to never refer to Hemisphere in any official document."