US Continues Collection of Telephone Records
US intelligence agencies continue their bulk collection of US phone records – although it’s been a year after the controversial practice was first revealed by Edward Snowden. Despite both Congress and President Obama demanded to ban the mass gathering of private US phone records, a few days ago a court has approved the request to extend such practice, allowing the National Security Agency to continue collecting metadata for another three months.
The Justice Department and Director of National Intelligence have issued a joint statement, saying that it was necessary to continue seeking such legal extensions. The reason specified was that the Congressional reform process was not yet complete. So, the government has once again sought a 90-day reauthorization of the existing program. The privacy outfits point out that the 90-day blanket license granted by the secretive FISA court is the 5th such granted extension since the very existence of the program was revealed back in 2013 by the well-known former NSA contractor.
Indeed, similar 90-day extensions were subsequently declassified in July 2013, October 2013, January 2014 and April 2014. However, a few months ago, Obama reacted to growing criticism of the domestic surveillance and called for an end to mass collection, suggesting that records be retained instead by telephone companies. A few weeks later, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the USA Freedom Act, though civil liberties campaigners complained that it was significantly watered down after pressure by government regulators.
According to the statement which explained the latest renewal request, the Justice Department and Office of the Director of National Intelligence claimed they still support the legislation and would cooperate with US Congress to help clarify its content before the Senate votes on it. They said that the administration strongly supports the Freedom Act and therefore urges the Senate to consider it and be ready to help Congress clarify that the law prohibits mass collection. The statement says the US intelligence and law enforcement professionals have to ensure they have powers to protect the Nation, though it is unclear why they need to keep listening to all phone calls in the country.
