On its mission to collect data and spy on… everyone… the NSA monitors around 1.6 percent of the world’s Internet traffic per day. This information came from documents the Obama administration released to showcase the range of the NSA’s data gathering and observing program.

Of all the 1.6 percent Internet traffic monitored by the NSA, 0,025 percent is actually reviewed by NSA personnel.

Here’s a little snippet from the document:

According to figures published by a major tech provider, the Internet carries 1,826 Petabytes of information per day. In its foreign intelligence mission, NSA touches about 1.6% of that. However, of the 1.6% of the data, only 0.025% is actually selected for review. The net effect is that NSA analysts look at 0.00004% of the world’s traffic in conducting their mission— that’s less than one part in a million. Put another way, if a standard basketball court represented the global communications environment, NSA’s total collection would be represented by an area smaller than a dime on that basketball court.

The document also claims the NSA does not spy on normal people, but after everything that has happened, how can citizens believe anything the Government has to say at this point. It’s a tough sell, and will take years before American citizens and the world find such actions by the NSA as normal.

Furthermore, we understand that these collections of data have allowed the authorities to stop a bomb plot in 2009 that targeted a New York subway system. So yes, this collection data and monitoring thing truly does some good, however; it wouldn’t have been this bad if the NSA wasn’t spying on American and foreign citizens as if they are a part of a terrorist cell.

[via NSA]