The utility of such a massive metadata collection in preventing terrorist attacks is disputed . Many studies reveal the dragnet like system to be ineffective . One such report , released by the New America Foundation concluded that after an analysis of 225 terrorism cases , the NSA " had no discernible impact on preventing acts of terrorism . " Defenders of the program said that while metadata alone ca n't provide all the information necessary to prevent an attack , it assures the ability to " connect the dots " between suspect foreign numbers and domestic numbers with a speed only the NSA 's software is capable of . One benefit of this is quickly being able to determine the difference between suspicious activity and real threats . As an example , NSA director General Keith B. Alexander mentioned at the annual Cybersecurity Summit in 2013 , that metadata analysis of domestic phone call records after the Boston Marathon bombing helped determine that rumors of a follow-up attack in New York were baseless
Boston Marathon bombing
Boston Marathon bombing
National Security Agency