Foreign Ownership Makes Verizon and T-Mobile (a Bit) Resistant to NSA

Most of the data is accessible through other means, though

Verizon and T-Mobile USA have been a tad bit of a headache for the National Security Agency when it wants to collect data, according to a new report.

Because both Verizon and T-Mobile USA have owners that are based outside of the U.S., the U.S. government is not allowed to collect data directly from the carriers, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people who claim to have knowledge of the collection.

But before you get too excited, be aware that this doesn't really mean much. According to the sources, while the NSA is not able to directly collect the data from those networks, because calls and information eventually travels over networks or equipment solely owned by U.S. companies, that's when it can be grabbed. In other words, more than 99 percent of call data can be collected in the U.S., despite that one drawback.