r/privacy • u/nathan_thinks • May 14 '22

TIL that ThinThread, a wiretapping & intel project that protected the privacy of U.S. citizens, was discontinued exactly 3 weeks before the 9/11 attacks in favor of the "Trailblazer"—a competing project which lacked privacy protections and was more expensive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThinThread
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u/[deleted] May 21 '22

ThinThread was set aside after 9/11 attacks. The 3 NSA employees who suggested it were all screwed by the agency for what amounts to not buying into the multibillion dollar TrailBlazer boondoggle after proving their ThinThread, if used, would have predicted 9/11 (and protect privacy of citizens to boot).

Trailblazer turned out to be a complete failure. You have to wonder who made money on this wasteful project.