In Late 1990s, NSA Tested Privacy-Friendly Spy Program
The National Security Agency developed a pilot program in the late 1990s that would have enabled it to gather and analyze massive amounts of communications data without running afoul of privacy laws. But after the Sept. 11 attacks, it shelved the project--not because it failed to work--but because of bureaucratic infighting and a sudden expansion in the agency's surveillance powers that was granted by the White House, according to several intelligence officials.
NSA tested privacy-friendly system, Chicago Tribune, May 18, 2006.
