[millerc]

> interception of a “large number” of calls placed from Washington when a programming error confused U.S. area code 202 for 20, the international dialing code for Egypt, according to a “quality assurance” review

Oh please give me a break. This is the worse they could come up with, a typographical error that produced large swaths of unusable data for analysts? Seems like a normal part of any computer systems: a typo will cause unintended consequences.

Sensationalist reporting and blatant exploitation of minor plot twist shouldn't make it to any serious news outlet, let alone HN. Let's keep it serious guys.

[JshWright]

The issue wasn't the fact that an innocent mistake happened; the issue is that a major breech of privacy for some large number of US citizens wasn't reported to the groups tasked with judicial and congressional oversight of the NSA.

The reason it occurred is meaningless. The _fact_ that it occurred should have been reported.

[eliasmacpherson]

Think you are making an assumption saying that it's unusable. I'd say it was highly usable. 202 is the North American telephone area code for Washington, D.C. Do you think you could get usable data with a 'large number' of calls placed from DC? I can't think of anywhere better really.