Secret files – codenamed Marina – show NSA keeps metadata for a year

Life patterns are within the hands of the NSA regardless of whether you’re a person of interest or not according to further revelations about the government’s internal surveillance program.

The National Security Agency is storing the online metadata of millions of internet users for up to a year, regardless of whether or not they are persons of interest to the agency, top secret documents reveal.

Metadata provides a record of almost anything a user does online, from browsing history – such as map searches and websites visited – to account details, email activity, and even some account passwords. This can be used to build a detailed picture of an individual’s life.