Is the NSA's Massive Utah Data Center Online Now?

The NSA is staying tight-lipped about the extent to which its massive data center in Bluffdale, Utah, has come online, after previously saying it would be operational by fall 2013.

In May, a NSA spokeperson confirmed with TheBlaze that a ribbon cutting was held "to symbolize to the authorities the completion of one part of the project," but it was not a public event.

Utah's NSA Data Center is shown Wednesday, June 12, 2013, in Bluffdale, Utah. The nation's new billion-dollar epicenter for fighting global cyberthreats sits just south of Salt Lake City, tucked away on a National Guard base at the foot of snow-capped mountains. The long, squat buildings span 1.5 million square feet, and are filled with super-powered computers designed to store massive amounts of information gathered secretly from phone calls and emails. (AP/Rick Bowmer)

As for the current status of the data center, which is speculated will have the ability to house an unprecedented number zettabytes or yottabytes of data, a NSA spokesperson confirmed with TheBlaze that "fall" is still when the center will or has become operational.

"We turn each machine on as it is installed, and the facility is ready for that installation to begin," NSA spokesperson Vanee Vines told TheBlaze in an email Monday.

A new National Security Agency (NSA) data center is seen June 10, 2013 in Bluffdale, Utah. The center, a large data farm that is set to open in the fall of 2013, will be the largest of several interconnected NSA data centers spread throughout the country. (Getty Images/George Frey)

The opening of the data center, which has an estimated price tag of $1.5 billion, comes amid criticism of the NSA's classified surveillance programs, which whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked to newspapers in June.

A week before the initial information about the NSA's extensive spying programs were leaked, Deputy Director John Inglis told the Salt Lake City Tribune people "should not be worried" about the data center.

"...A, we’re Americans," he told the newspaper. "We understand what the principles are that govern the nation; B, we take an oath to the Constitution, and we take that very seriously."

This June 7, 2013 file photo, shows a military no trespassing sign shown in front of Utah's NSA Data Center in Bluffdale, Utah.   (AP/Rick Bowmer, File)

Of the recent revelations, The New York Times revealed over the weekend that the NSA graphs the social connections of Americans.

Glenn Greenwald for the U.K.'s the Guardian, the journalist who first revealed Snowden's leaked info, said he is now working on an investigation into a purported U.S. assassination program.

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