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(S//NF) Once the FISA court approved a specific selection term under the USA Freedom
Act, NSA did not immediately send the specific selection term to providers and request
corresponding CDRs. Instead, NSA first queried for contacts with the specific selection term in
the an internal repository containing metadata previously collected by
NSA. These queries were governed by NSA’s policies and procedures, including the NSA’s
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Attorney General-approved Supplemental Procedures Governing Communications Metadata
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Analysis (“SPCMA”). SPCMA allows identifiers associated with both non-US persons and
US persons to be used to query phone metadata and electronic communications metadata that
NSA already obtained through other lawful collection methods. By doing so, NSA was able to
find first-hop contacts in telephone metadata already in its own holdings, such as intercepted
telephone communications metadata collected pursuant to FISA or Executive Order 12333.
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(U//FOUO) After it queried the internal metadata repository, NSA included the specific
selection terms and direct contacts found through the searches in its holdings when it sought
further records from the providers. The system for sending specific selection terms and direct
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contacts to the providers and for receiving CDRs in return was referred to as
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which we refer to here as “System 1.” System 1 marked the specific
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selection term and direct contacts for internal record-keeping.
(U) The providers received the specific selection terms and direct contacts and searched
for any responsive CDRs showing contacts between these numbers and others. Those records
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were produced to NSA in a standardized format that had about 50 fields per record. The fields
included information such as the call participants’ phone numbers, unique device identifiers of
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participants (if applicable), and the date, time, and duration of the call. Each record also
contained information about the legal authority under which it was obtained, including a code
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indicating the specific FISA court order. Under the USA Freedom Act, CDRs could not
include the contents of any communication, the name, address, or financial information

66 (U) NSA briefing to the Board (Mar. 26, 2019).
67 See Department of Defense, Supplemental Procedures Governing Communications Metadata Analysis,
https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/0909DoD%20Supplemental%20Procedures%0220080314.pdf.
68 (U) See NSA USA Freedom Act Transparency Report at 5–6; see also NSA briefing to the Board (Mar. 26, 2019).

69 (U) See NSA USA Freedom Act Transparency Report at 7; NSA briefing to the Board (Jan. 23, 2019).
70 (U) NSA briefing to the Board (Jan. 23, 2019).
71 (U) NSA briefing to the Board (Mar. 26, 2019).
72 (U) NSA briefing to the Board (Mar. 26, 2019). The full list of fields is attached as Appendix B.
73 (U) See NSA USA Freedom Act Transparency Report at 4; NSA briefing to the Board (Mar. 26, 2019).

74 (U) NSA briefing to the Board (Mar. 26, 2019).

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