finding terrorists is more important that your phone records. On Jun 7, 10:42 am, Travis <[email protected]> wrote: > Scope of phone records seizure causes alarm; data collection goes beyond > Verizon**** > > By Dave Boyer <http://www.washingtontimes.com/staff/dave-boyer/>**** > > The Washington Times**** > > Thursday, June 6, 2013 **** > > The Obama administration on Thursday defended its secret seizure of the > phone[image:http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png]<http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/6/white-house-defends-ph...>records > of millions of U.S. citizens as part of counterterrorism efforts, > while privacy advocates blasted the move as illegal and a debate erupted in > Congress over the intended scope of a key surveillance law.**** > > In a new development, the > National[image:http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png]<http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/6/white-house-defends-ph...>Security > Agency and the FBI are tapping into the central servers of nine > leading U.S. Internet companies in real time, obtaining audio and video > chats, photographs, e-mails and other information, various news outlets > reported. The program is code-named PRISM.**** > > The revelation that the National Security Agency has been collecting phone > records from Verizon Communications of all calls within the U.S. and to > sources overseas raised accusations that President Obama is running a > police state, in spite of his 2008 campaign promise to expand civil > liberties while prosecuting the war on terror differently from his > Republican predecessor.**** > > On Thursday, the scope of the records seizure apparently expanded as former > government officials familiar with the details of the domestic spying said > more phone companies likely are involved and lawmakers said the court order > is a routine three-month update of an ongoing program.**** > > But a White House official said such domestic surveillance is a "critical > tool in protecting the nation from terror threats."**** > > "It allows counterterrorism personnel to discover whether known or > suspected terrorists have been in contact with other persons who may be > engaged in terrorist activities, particularly people located inside the > United States," said White House deputy press secretary Joshua Earnest.**** > > "The information acquired does not include the content of any > communications or the name of any subscriber. It relates exclusively to > call details, such as a telephone number or the length of a telephone call." > **** > > The furor prompted Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to issue > a rare statement late Thursday night in which he argued that the disclosure > "threatens potentially long-lasting and irreversible harm to our ability to > identify and respond to the many threats facing our nation."**** > > "Discussing programs like this publicly will have an impact on the behavior > of our adversaries and make it more difficult for us to understand their > intentions," Mr. Clapper said.**** > > *Latest civil liberties issue***** > > The timing of the report came as the Obama administration already taking > fire over civil liberties issues, from the IRS targeting conservative > groups for extra scrutiny to the Justice Department seizing the phone > records of journalists in efforts to uncover the sources of leaks of > classified information.**** > > Lawmakers of both parties on the Senate Intelligence Committee said the > wholesale domestic surveillance has been going on for seven years, and that > it's necessary to prevent terrorist attacks.**** > > "It's called protecting America," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California > Democrat, saying that the secret court order which Britain's Guardian > newspaper posted online Wednesday night is a routine three-month renewal > and proves that the program is carefully overseen by federal judges.**** > > Sen. Saxby Chambliss, Georgia Republican, said the surveillance has "proved > meritorious, because we have gathered significant information on bad guys, > but only on bad guys, over the years."**** > > But other lawmakers called the seizures an outrageous invasion of privacy > and they said the Patriot Act, under which the snooping was granted, was > never intended to allow for > blanket[image:http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png]<http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/6/white-house-defends-ph...>surveillance > of Americans without any suspicion of wrongdoing. > **** > > Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., who as chairman of the House Judiciary > Committee helped write the Patriot Act after the Sept. 11 terrorist > attacks, said the administration's massive collection of phone records is > an "abuse" of the law.**** > > "How could the phone records of so many innocent Americans be relevant to > an authorized investigation as required by the act?" he wrote in a letter > to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.**** > > Sen. Ron Wyden, Oregon Democrat, also raised the possibility of > administration officials lying to Congress in service of the program. He > posted on his Twitter feed a video in which Director of National > Intelligence James Clapper "specifically told me #NSA does not wittingly > collect any type of data on millions of Americans."**** > > "No, sir ... not wittingly," Mr. Clapper told Mr. Wyden at the March > hearing in response to a question worded near identically to the senator's > Thursday tweet, though he cautioned that NSA could "inadvertently collect" > such data.**** > > *Widening scope***** > > Already reeling from accusations of too much intrusion by the Justice > Department, White House officials did not dispute that a court order signed > by Judge Roger Vinson of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in > April directs Verizon Communications to turn over "on an ongoing daily > basis" to the NSA all call logs "between the United States and abroad" or > "wholly within the United States, including local telephone calls."**** > > The FBI requested the court order, first reported by Britain's Guardian > newspaper, with the surveillance to last until July 19.**** > > A former NSA employee, William Binney, said other phone companies' records > have been seized routinely by the agency. *USA Today reported in 2006 that > three phone companies — Verizon, Bell South and AT&T — *had been turning > over data on Americans' domestic phone calls to NSA, though lawmakers told > the newspaper then that the companies' cooperation was only partial.**** > > "NSA has been doing all this stuff all along and it's been all the > companies, not just one," Mr. Binney said in a discussion hosted by the > progressive nonprofit group Democracy Now!**** > > Thomas Drake, another former NSA official, said the revelation shows that > government secrecy has become "institutionalized."**** > > "This isn't just a terrorist issue, this is simply the ability of the > government in secret on a vast scale to collect any and all phone call > records including domestic to domestic, local, as well as location > information," Mr. Drake said.**** > > "There is no need to call this the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. > Let's just call it the 'surveillance court,' it's no longer about foreign > intelligence. It's simply about harvesting millions and millions and > millions of phone call records and beyond," he said.**** > > Also Thursday, the Guardian revealed the five-year existence of another > NSA-FBI surveillance program, this one getting data from America's Internet > giants.**** > > "The NSA access is part of a previously undisclosed program called PRISM, > which allows them to collect material including search history, the content > of emails, file transfers and live chats," the Guardian wrote, citing a > top-secret Power Point presentation.**** > > The slide show boasts of "collection directly from the servers" of > companies such as Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, Apple. YouTube and Skype. > Several of the companies told multiple news outlets Thursday that they had > no knowledge of the program and that any access to their servers was > clandestine.**** > > *Backlash under way***** > > Privacy advocates reacted angrily to the news.**** > > University of Notre Dame Law Professor Jimmy Gurulé, a former assistant > U.S. Attorney General and former undersecretary for enforcement for the > Treasury Department, called the program "deeply disturbing."**** > > "It strains credulity to believe that there is probable cause to believe > that the millions of Americans targeted by the NSA are engaged in > international terrorism," Mr. Gurulé said. "This appears to be an abuse of > power that threatens the civil liberties of all Americans. Further, if > Congress is aware of these FISA warrants and has failed to act to restrain > the NSA's overreach, it is complicit by omission."**** > > The White House and some lawmakers said Congress is briefed regularly about > such surveillance programs.**** > > "The intelligence community is conducting court-authorized intelligence > activities pursuant to a public statute with the knowledge and oversight of > Congress and the intelligence community in both houses of Congress," Mr. > Earnest said.**** > > "There is also extensive oversight by the executive branch, including the > Department of Justice and relevant agency counsels and inspectors general, > as well as annual and semi-annual reports to Congress as required by law."** > ** > > But many lawmakers said they are often kept out of the loop on sensitive > national security issues. > "This 'fully brief' is something that drives us up a wall because often > 'fully briefed' usually means a group of eight [members of] leadership," > said Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, Maryland Democrat.**** > > Many expressed outrage at the revelation of the phone seizures.**** > > "If the president and Congress would obey the Fourth Amendment we all swore > to uphold, this new shocking revelation that the government is now spying > on citizens' phone data en masse would never have happened," said Sen. Rand > Paul, Kentucky Republican.**** > > The White House said Mr. Obama "welcomes" a debate about the trade-offs > between national security and civil liberty.**** > > "The close examination of some of these complicated issues could cause > people to arrive at differing opinions," he said. "The president welcomes > that debate. He has his own ideas, he's presented them."**** > > Two weeks ago, in a speech at the National Defense University about the use > of drones in the war on terror, Mr. Obama outlined a plan for shifting away > from perpetual war with terrorists.**** > > "In the years to come, we will have to keep working hard to strike the > appropriate balance between our need for security and preserving those > freedoms that make us who we are," Mr. Obama said.**** > > "That means reviewing the authorities of law enforcement so we can > intercept new types of communication, but also build in privacy protections > to prevent abuse."**** > > © Copyright 2013 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint > permission.<http://license.icopyright.net/3.7280?icx_id=/news/2013/jun/6/white-ho...> > **** > > About the Author**** > > Dave Boyer <http://www.washingtontimes.com/staff/dave-boyer/> > > **** > > Dave Boyer is a White House correspondent for The Washington Times. A > native of Allentown, Pa., Boyer worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer from > 2002 to 2011 and also has covered Congress for the Times. He is a graduate > of Penn State University. Boyer can be reached at [email protected] > .**** > > Read > more:http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/6/white-house-defends-ph... > **** > > image001.png > < 1KViewDownload
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