Talk about awkward — the National Security Agency apparently cannot search its own emails.
In response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed last week, ProPublica reports, an NSA official confessed she was unable to fulfill the request due to the agency’s use of an email system that was “a little antiquated and archaic.”
“There’s no central method to search an email at this time with the way our records are set up, unfortunately,” NSA Freedom of Information Act officer Cindy Blacker told the news outlet.
“A few days after filing the request, Blacker called, asking me to narrow my request since the FOIA office can search emails only “person by person,” rather than in bulk,” writes ProPublica’s Justin Elliot.
The agency, which employs over 30,000 people, is reportedly able to track cell phones even when the device is turned off, in addition to collecting and searching through unparalleled amounts of electronic information about people around the globe.