The Washington Post reports that the NSA is able to intercept GSM traffic that’s encrypted with the A5/1 algorithm. In addition, the agency’s mobile traffic analysis is used to infer relationships, by harnessing metadata collected from cell towers and data delivered to mobile advertising networks. The agency also intercepts traffic generated by mobile applications that relay location information to advertising networks, as part of a project called HAPPYFOOT. The process outlines the exact fears that privacy watchdogs and government critics had when the NSA’s metadata collection programs were exposed earlier this summer.”]