For those wondering about NSA capacity to store metadata:

[Fire Walk With Me]

First proposed store of zettabyte capacity

On April 12, 2013, Fox News published a story indicating that the new NSA Data Center south of Salt Lake City, UT, will be able to contain up to 5 zettabytes of data, "according to some reports".[8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zettabyte

[snot]

1. Just imagine what we could accomplish

if the tax dollars devoted to controlling us were instead used for our benefit?

[Coyotl]

2. Controlling us? How so?

[Fire Walk With Me]

3. All of this "TERROR!" bullshit is control (or at least misdirection) through fear

as well as putting a chill upon dissent and protesting (because after all, you're either with us or your with the terrorists). Give away your Constitutionally-guaranteed rights, it's for your own good.

(If anyone has actually bought the neocon TERROR! line, it shows that it's working. They've forgotten Rudy Ghouliani endlessly pushing the 9/11!!!! button to get his way. SAME THING. Because RUSSIA!!! just doesn't work anymore.)

[woo me with science]

6. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

[Fire Walk With Me]

4. ZettaKick

[Fire Walk With Me]

5. little KICK

[FarCenter]

7. The phone call metadata can't be a significant fraction of that

Probably about 2*10^9 phone calls / day

Probably about 100 bytes / phone call for originating/terminating numbers, date, time, duration, company, switching system, cell site, etc.

So 3.65*10^3*2*10^9*10^2 = 7.3*10^14 bytes per year. or 730 Terabytes / year.