老澳门开奖结果

NEW YORK 鈥� The National Security Agency improperly collected Americans鈥� call records in October 2018, just four months after the agency publicly asserted it had fixed 鈥渞oot problems鈥� that caused earlier failures to comply with the law, according to new government documents the 老澳门开奖结果 released today. The documents also shed new light on the previous compliance violation that led to the NSA鈥檚 in May 2018 to begin purging over 600 million phone records, including that the agency relied on improperly collected information to seek approval for spying on one or more individuals.

The documents were obtained as part of an 老澳门开奖结果 lawsuit and include previously undisclosed reports prepared by the NSA concerning the agency鈥檚 call record program, which the NSA uses to conduct large-scale surveillance and collection of Americans鈥� call records under Section 215 of the Patriot Act.

鈥淭hese documents further confirm that this surveillance program is beyond redemption and a privacy and civil liberties disaster,鈥� said Patrick Toomey, staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 National Security Project. 鈥淭he NSA鈥檚 collection of Americans鈥� call records is too sweeping, the compliance problems too many, and evidence of the program鈥檚 value all but nonexistent. There is no justification for leaving this surveillance power in the NSA鈥檚 hands.鈥�

In response to the new information in the reports, the 老澳门开奖结果 sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee urging it to end the call detail record authority under Section 215 of the Patriot Act. The 老澳门开奖结果 is also calling on the committee to investigate and make public additional information about recent compliance violations.

Congress is expected to debate expiring Patriot Act provisions this year.

The NSA鈥檚 call record program has suffered repeated compliance violations. In June 2018, the agency announced that it had started deleting over 600 million call records after discovering an earlier violation. At the time, little information was provided to the public about the violation. The reports released today by the 老澳门开奖结果, however, show the NSA improperly collected Americans鈥� call records in November 2017 and February 2018, and that the 2018 compliance violation likely contributed to the agency鈥檚 decision to begin purging millions of call records. The government also concluded that the improper collections had a 鈥渟ignificant impact on civil liberties and privacy.鈥�

The records further show the NSA relied on the improperly collected information from the February 2018 violation to seek approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to spy on individuals. The NSA later informed the FISC of this error, but the redacted report does not provide further information about whether this use of 鈥渋naccurate information鈥� in 鈥渢argeting requests鈥� resulted in the improper surveillance of individuals. Moreover, the report does not indicate that any remedial action taken by the agency included notification to individuals whose information may have been improperly obtained as a result of the errors.

Another oversight report reveals that, on or around October 12, 2018, the NSA discovered it had once again obtained private information about Americans鈥� phone calls that the agency was not authorized to collect under Section 215. The NSA subsequently stopped collecting information from the communications provider in question, but resumed collection once the provider indicated that it had resolved the problem.

The timing of the October 2018 compliance violation is notable for two reasons. First, it came just four months after the agency announced it had remediated the 鈥渞oot cause of the problem鈥� that led to earlier compliance violations. The fact that Americans鈥� call records were improperly collected just months later indicates that problems of the same or another kind persisted. Second, the October violation also comes around the same time that news reports indicate the NSA decided to shutter its call record program. The agency has not yet confirmed these reports or stated that it intends to permanently end the program.

The full impact of the October 2018 incident remains unclear, but the breadth and complexity of the NSA call records program may have compounded the effects of the errors. At the time of the oversight report, the NSA鈥檚 investigation to determine the privacy and civil liberties impact of the violation was still 鈥渙pen鈥� and ongoing. The NSA鈥檚 quarterly report to the Intelligence Oversight Board for the first quarter of 2019 may contain further information about the October violation, but it was not included in the FOIA documents. The 老澳门开奖结果 is filing a new Freedom of Information Act request to obtain that report.

The 老澳门开奖结果 in March 2018 joined a coalition of nearly 40 groups including EFF, NAACP, Brennan Center, and National Immigration Law Center in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee urging the committee hold hearings over the reauthorization of Section 215 and other provisions of the Patriot Act. The letter also requested that the committee obtain and make public information critical to determining how surveillance authorities are being used and the impact they have on individuals鈥� rights.

The documents can be found here: /legal-document/nsa-foia-documents-quarterly-reports...

The 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 letter to the House Judiciary Committee can be found here: /letter/aclu-letter-house-judiciary-committee-regard...