The US' National Security Agency (NSA) had recently claimed that it monitors a mere 1.6 percent of the web traffic, however, a senior security researcher has reportedly said that all these claims are 'utterly meaningless' and the agency is but a 'surveillance leviathan'.
According to the BBC, security researcher Caspar Bowden said that the NSA has no protection for non-US residents from its surveillance net adding that it simply disregards the human right to privacy of the rest of the world.
He further said that after subtracting video media and spam, which accounts for most data by volume, 1.6 percent is an admission the NSA has become a surveillance leviathan.
Bowden had warned the European Parliament about the reach of US surveillance before a series of leaks by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden exposed the existence of widespread electronic surveillance.
Bowden's comments come in light of the recent announcements made by US president Barack Obama about reforming the legislation governing the surveillance projects in a bid to restore the confidence of citizens in the government.