it has been revealed the government began secretly tracking phone calls under a program created for the drug enforcement agency in 1992 .
the program forced phone companies to hand over all communication on a daily basis between any americans calling any 116 watch list countries .
the data collected included phone numbers and time calls were made , though actual content was not included .
the program was approved by every administration beginning with president george h.w.bush .
it was only shut down in september 2013 , this after attorney general eric holder became nervous in the wake of the edward snowden leaks .
the program also served as a blueprint for the national security agency .