A new report reveals that the NSA is building a comprehensive facial recognition database of images posted on the Internet.

According to the New York Times, classified documents leaked by notorious NSA contractor Edward Snowden reveal that the NSA has been using the Internet to stockpile millions of photographs posted online every day.

The agency intercepts "millions of images per day" -- including about 55,000 "facial recognition quality images" -- which translate into "tremendous untapped potential," according to 2011 documents obtained from Snowden.

The documents show that the NSA routinely runs searches through social media, email, video conferences, and other digital communication agents to gather photos for the agency's massive database collection.

"It's not just the traditional communications we're after: It's taking a full-arsenal approach that digitally exploits the clues a target leaves behind in their regular activities on the net to compile biographic and biometric information" that can help "implement precision targeting," noted a 2010 document.

In addition, the documents indicate that the NSA has contemplated adding iris scans to its phone and email surveillance programs.

In response to Snowden's latest accusations, Vanee Vines defended the NSA and argued that the practice is a vital mechanism to track suspected terrorists and combat terrorism in the digital age.

"We would not be doing our job if we didn't seek ways to continuously improve the precision of signals intelligence activities -- aiming to counteract the efforts of valid foreign intelligence targets to disguise themselves or conceal plans to harm the United States and its allies," Vines told the NYT.

Although Vines claims that the NSA has not tapped into state driver's license databases, she declined to comment on whether the agency is harvesting photos of Americans collected on Facebook.

Officials have not confirmed whether or not the agency already employs such technology, reports Yahoo! News.