ACLU: Federal Privacy Board Recommends Ending NSA Phone Records Programs, Calls it “Illegal”

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Federal Privacy Board Recommends Ending NSA Phone Records Programs, Calls it “Illegal”

WASHINGTON – The government's Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has concluded that the NSA’s mass domestic phone spying is illegal, ineffective, and should end.

American Civil Liberties Union Deputy Legal Director Jameel Jaffer, who testified before the board in July, had this reaction:

“We welcome the board’s report, and we agree with is principal conclusions. The NSA’s call-records dragnet is illegal and ineffective and presents a serious threat to civil liberties. The board’s report makes even clearer that the government’s surveillance policies, as well as our system of oversight, are in need of far-reaching reform. The report should spur immediate action by both the administration and Congress."

The 238-page report is expected to be released this afternoon, and advance copies were obtained by news outlets. The PCLOB was created by Congress on the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission, and its five members were appointed by President Obama.

https://www.aclu.org/national-security/federal-privacy-board-recommends-ending-nsa-phone-records-programs-calls-it

From the NYT:

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The program “lacks a viable legal foundation under Section 215, implicates constitutional concerns under the First and Fourth Amendments, raises serious threats to privacy and civil liberties as a policy matter, and has shown only limited value,” the report said. “As a result, the board recommends that the government end the program.”

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But the privacy board was unanimous in recommending a series of immediate changes to the program. The three in the majority wanted those changes as part of a brief wind-down period, while the two in dissent wanted them to be structural for a program that would continue.

Some of those recommendations dovetailed with the steps Mr. Obama announced last week, including limiting analysts’ access to the call records of people no further than two links removed from a suspect, instead of three, and creating a panel of outside lawyers to serve as public advocates in major cases involving secret surveillance programs.

Other recommendations — like deleting data faster — were not mentioned in the president’s speech. And all members of the board expressed privacy concerns about requiring phone companies to retain call records longer than they normally would, which might be necessary to meet Mr. Obama’s stated goal of finding a way to preserve the program’s ability without having the government collect the bulk data.

- more -

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/23/us/politics/watchdog-report-says-nsa-program-is-illegal-and-should-end.html

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