Leaked documents reveal NSA collects 'millions of faces' from web
The National Security Agency (NSA) has been collecting millions of images of people via its global surveillance operations for use in facial recognition programmes, according to reports.
The New York Times has written that the spy agency’s dependence on facial recognition technology has grown significantly over the last few years and it has now started using new software to exploit the large volume of images included in emails, text messages, social media, video conferences and other communications.
These facts have emerged from leaked documents from former agency contractor Edward Snowden.
The leaked documents revealed that the NSA was getting about 55,000 "facial recognition quality" images per day out of "millions" of candidates.
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