A branch of the NSA has been collecting global financial data, including credit card transactions and data from SWIFT, which runs an international bank messaging system, according to a report Sunday from Der Spiegel.
The German publication provided details about a U.S. National Security Agency branch called "Follow the Money" that inputs financial data into a system called "Tracfin" that it said came from documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
Tracfin contained 180 million records in 2011, of which some 84 percent of the data was comprised of credit card transactions, Der Spiegel reported. In an email statement Monday, the NSA said the U.S. government acquires economic and financial information related to terrorist financing and terror networks.
"This information is collected through regulatory, law enforcement, diplomatic, and intelligence channels, as well as through undertakings with cooperating foreign allies and partners," the statement said.
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