what has samuel morris wrought. we generate with our computers phones and other devices an almost continuous trail of electronic data. that information can be stored who knows where anl laysed by who knows whom for who knows what purpose. what does it all mean for the rest of us? our investigation unfolds as a series of stories that would have seemed unconnected a few years ago. a mysterious new spy center rising in the utah desert. an unusual 6th grade class in massachusetts. an unprecedented get out the vote effort in washington. in today's world they all tied together. we begin with a visitor to my home in atlanta. (knock on door) >> hey, frank, john. >> nice to meet you. >> great to meet you, too. come on in. >> in a prior life, frank ahern of new york city made a living as a skift tracer a private investigator who investigate people who skipped town and don't want to be found. he would use the proverbial paper trail which back in the day was literally made of paper, phone bills, credit cards, receipts and so on

so on this day in history in 1844, samuel morris conducted the first live test of the telegraph.you probably know that or you should have from your education, but what she may not have known if he invented the telegraph because his wife had passed away and he hadn't received the news as quickly as he needed to in order to get back to beating her side. so i was his inspiration to develop the telegraph said people could not work more quickly. you are not working. in today's to knowledge economy you cannot work at the speed of the internet. getting together every year physically the way you do an indian to run at different events this taps runs is a powerful sent role. speaking of symbol, i listen to the national anthem i don't know sometimes two, three times a day almost every day of the year. for some reason or another all of the events i attend, the national anthem is played, colors are posted and retired. i'd forgotten that it must be something extra area for you to listen to the national anthem. no one is that the experience of being handed a folded flag. you have that we don't