U.S. privacy board says NSA phone program illegal; should end

[DirkGently]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/23/us-usa-security-privacy-idUSBREA0M0TI20140123

(Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency's bulk collection of phone records provides only minimal benefits to countering terrorism, is illegal and should end, a federal privacy watchdog said in a report to be released on Thursday and reviewed by Reuters.

(snip)

"The Section 215 bulk telephone records 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 board said in its report.

The board's conclusion that NSA's bulk collection of Americans telephone metadata lacks legal grounding goes further than both the president and an ad hoc panel he created to review NSA eavesdropping activities.

In its report released last month, the review panel, which included former White House and intelligence officials, also raised questions about the value of telephone metadata collection in producing counter terrorism breakthroughs. The panel recommended that metadata collection should continue, but that data should henceforth be stored either by telephone companies or an independent third party.

[nashville_brook]

1. k and r

[DirkGently]

3. And more from the NYT:

The report also sheds light on the history of the once-secret bulk collection program. It contains the first official acknowledgment that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court produced no judicial opinion detailing its legal rationale for the program until last August, even though it had been issuing orders to phone companies for the records and to the N.S.A. for how it could handle them since May 2006.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/23/us/politics/watchdog-report-says-nsa-program-is-illegal-and-should-end.html?_r=0

The Obama administration has portrayed the bulk collection program as useful and lawful while at the same time acknowledging concerns about privacy and potential abuse. But in its report, the board lays out what may be the most detailed critique of the government’s once-secret legal theory behind the program: that a law known as Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows the F.B.I. to obtain business records deemed “relevant” to an investigation, can be legitimately interpreted as authorizing the N.S.A. to collect all calling records in the country.

So, to recap: NSA massive phone date collection is not legal, and in fact no legal basis for it has even ever been articulated, it is specifically not Constitutional, and is NOT protecting us from terrorism.

That's according to a board within the Executive branch of the United States Government.

And President Obama would like to keep it, perhaps with some tweaks.

[bvar22]

8. After listening to his speech the other night,

it appears that the Obama Solution is to PRIVATIZE this program.

I've never seen a 3rd Way "Centrist" whose answer to ANY problem isn't putting Public Money into Private pockets.

[DirkGently]

10. It's a huge business already. I'm sure there's a

lot of pressure not to downsize any of the big-dollar contracts already in place. Booz-Allen, for example.

[MisterP]

16. Thatchernomics is not a good thing

[mindwalker_i]

9. Obama says it's useful, but the report says it hasn't provided anything concrete

to stop a terrorist attack. So how is it useful? I suspect that it's useful for catching other criminals, such as drug dealer or distributors, as well as other crimes. However, since the source of incriminating evidence is not given to the defendent, he or she cannot defend against it and, and best, there will be wrongful convictions. At worst (I hope), people will be targetted for political reasons and this data will be used to find some way to get them in jail.

So, yeah, it's useful.

[DirkGently]

11. The Intelligence community assumes all data is "useful."

That's the business they're in. If NSA, FBI, and CIA could achieve the ability pull up every piece of information on anyone, anywhere, anytime, they would do so, because that's the culture of what they do. "Total informational awareness" was never scrapped. Put people in a job where we ask them to gather information in secret, and they will try to get all of it.

But we know we need limits. We know secrecy and spying aren't just things that can be abused, but that they are abused, badly and frequently.

As you say, it's clear supposed "foreign surveillance" is being backdoored for domestic criminal cases already. It's no big leap from there to leaning on, threatening, or destroying people for political or business purposes.

Add to that the fact we've already let in private corporations, and the clear and recent examples of business looking for ways to use spying to crush critiques or competitors (HBGary, anyone?) and we've got a new era of global digital surveillance that needs new rules and new controls.

Handing it all over to private business would be gas on the fire.

[mindwalker_i]

17. Exactly, and the key point can be summarized thusly:

If a person or a group gets too much power over other people or groups, that power will be abused. We only know a little about how the NSA has abused its power, and I would argue that we only know a little about how Bush abused that and other power. The old addage applies that absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[nashville_brook]

2. link to the ACLU statement -->

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

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

January 23, 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: [e-mail]

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.

[DirkGently]

4. Right. The ACLU and the EFF were RIGHT. NSA was wrong.

Can we now finally dispose all the of the nonsense rationalizations?

- "But it's totally legal because FISA!"

- "Privacy / schmivacy. The innocent have nothing to fear!"

- "But everyone does it!"

- "It's keeping us safe. Maybe."


The NSA is out of control, and two Bush and two Obama administrations have allowed it grow ever more so. Not to keep us safe. Not because of terrorism. Not because no one's privacy is being violated.

So, why?

Lack of will? Lack of power?

Is the intelligence community so powerful that even U.S. Presidents have to give in to the "Total Informational Awareness" they've wanted for decades?

Can we even stop them at this point?

[nashville_brook]

5. here's the full text of the oversight board report -->

http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2014/jan/23/privacy-civil-liberties-board-nsa-report-text


It's an interactive PDF reader.

[DirkGently]

12. Thanks!

[WillyT]

6. K & R !!!

[nashville_brook]

7. here's the EFF statement -->

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/01/privacy-oversight-board-agrees-eff-mass-surveillance-illegal-and-must-end


Privacy Oversight Board Agrees with EFF: Mass Surveillance Is Illegal and Must End

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (or PCLOB), today issued a report strongly condemning the NSA’s mass telephone records surveillance program. PCLOB is an independent and bipartisan panel appointed by the president to advise the government on ensuring privacy and civil liberties. The report determined that the program, which the administration claims is authorized under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, is illegal under the terms of that same law and doesn’t actually keep us safe.

(snip)

The report follows a set of similar recommendations and conclusions issued by the president’s separate review group in December regarding the 215 program.

“Now two independent government panels, a bipartisan coalition in Congress, a federal judge sitting in open court, and the majority of the American public agree—the government’s bulk collection of Americans’ private phone records must end,” EFF Staff Attorney Nate Cardozo said.

President Obama signaled last week that he believed the collection must stop. The president should rely on PCLOB’s findings and recommendations to guide his decisions as he ends the program.

[Luminous Animal]

13. So Snowden DID blow the whistle on illegal activity.

[DirkGently]

15. THAT is a good point.

I wonder if that's why the sudden flood of, "And maybe he also spied for Russia" balloons are popping up.

Someone knew this report was coming, and there'd no longer be the excuse of "It wasn't whistleblowing, because nothing was illegal?"

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

[G_j]

19. +1000

[nashville_brook]

25. eggsactly.

[LittleBlue]

14. The program is too dangerous

It must be ended.

[sabrina 1]

18. That's what Bernie Sanders said about it also and he also said 'it has to stop'

Too much in it for the Private Security Corps who have made billions since 9/11 spying on innocent people so it's going to be a fight to shut them down but one that is worth fighting.

[DirkGently]

22. The industry will make it hard to roll this stuff back.

Money is being made (or rather taxpayer money is being "redistributed&quot by the truckload. There will be incredible resistance to giving up the Global Surveillance State cheese.

[sabrina 1]

23. I agree. In the end it is all about money and we have no significant number of elected officials

working for the people. So the money flow will continue. What gets me is that during the Bush years we KNEW about these Private Security Corps and how they planned to privatize our Security pouring money into them all of them FOBs, (friends of bush). But now, there is hardly a peep from Democrats about the Privatization and outsourcing of our security. I guess for now they won.

[DirkGently]

24. At least the conversation has begun.

No one's backing off of this "because 9/11" or what have you at this point. We've shaken some of our collective shock, and people are realizing -- however late -- that the War on Terror is just another point of leverage being used to sweep aside civil rights and reasonable safeguards.

They didn't get Snowden.

They didn't get away with lying to Congress

They aren't getting away with the notion that data collection isn't "really" spying on people.

No one is buying this.

It's a start.

[Luminous Animal]

20. Hmmm. Where are the "but it's only metadata" apologists?

[Solly Mack]

21. K&R

[woo me with science]

26. K&R