Obama was unaware NSA was spying on allies, White House says
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Obama was unaware NSA was spying on allies, White House says - Video
A U.S. secret court has extended the authorization of the National Security Agency to continue surveillance of phone records in its current form, after a reform bill ran into difficulties in the Senate.
Besides stopping the NSA from collecting bulk phone records of Americans from phone companies, the USA Freedom Act aimed to restrict access of the NSA to these records by requiring the use of targeted selection terms.
It also has a provision for the appointment of a special advocate tasked with promoting privacy interests in closed proceedings in the secret court.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has reauthorized the NSA program for another 90 days at a request from the government, according to a statement Monday by the offices of the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. The order expires on Feb. 27 next year.
In the wake of revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that the government was collecting bulk phone metadata of Americans from Verizon, President Barack Obama announced reforms to the program earlier this year, including a plan to stop NSA from collecting and holding the data from operators in bulk.
Obama instructed that other than in an emergency, phone metadata could only be queried after a judicial finding that there was a reasonable, articulable suspicion that the selection term was linked to an approved international terrorist organization. He also directed that the query results must be limited to associated metadata within two hops, or connections, from the selection term instead of the earlier three. The two changes to the program have been made since February this year, according to officials.
For the plan that the phone records data should stay with telephone companies, Obama said the necessary legislation would be required. Last month, the USA Freedom Act ran into difficulties in the Senate, and could not be moved towards a final vote. The setback could delay any NSA reform until next year.
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy, the sponsor of the bill and a Democrat from Vermont, last week said Obama could end the NSAs dragnet collection of phone records once and for all by not asking for reauthorization of the program by the FISC.
Doing so would not be a substitute for comprehensive surveillance reform legislationbut it would be an important first step, Leahy said in a statement.
Obama had in November urged the Senate to pass the USA Freedom Act and officials in the administration, including Attorney General Eric Holder and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, also backed it.
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Secret court extends NSA surveillance rules with no changes
A U.S. secret court has extended the authorization of the National Security Agency to continue surveillance of phone records in its current form, after a reform bill ran into difficulties in the Senate.
Besides stopping the NSA from collecting bulk phone records of Americans from phone companies, the USA Freedom Act aimed to restrict access of the NSA to these records by requiring the use of targeted selection terms.
It also has a provision for the appointment of a special advocate tasked with promoting privacy interests in closed proceedings in the secret court.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has reauthorized the NSA program for another 90 days at a request from the government, according to a statement Monday by the offices of the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. The order expires on Feb. 27 next year.
In the wake of revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that the government was collecting bulk phone metadata of Americans from Verizon, President Barack Obama announced reforms to the program earlier this year, including a plan to stop NSA from collecting and holding the data from operators in bulk.
Obama instructed that other than in an emergency, phone metadata could only be queried after a judicial finding that there was a reasonable, articulable suspicion that the selection term was linked to an approved international terrorist organization. He also directed that the query results must be limited to associated metadata within two hops, or connections, from the selection term instead of the earlier three. The two changes to the program have been made since February this year, according to officials.
For the plan that the phone records data should stay with telephone companies, Obama said the necessary legislation would be required. Last month, the USA Freedom Act ran into difficulties in the Senate, and could not be moved towards a final vote. The setback could delay any NSA reform until next year.
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy, the sponsor of the bill and a Democrat from Vermont, last week said Obama could end the NSA's dragnet collection of phone records once and for all by not asking for reauthorization of the program by the FISC.
"Doing so would not be a substitute for comprehensive surveillance reform legislation -- but it would be an important first step," Leahy said in a statement.
Obama had in November urged the Senate to pass the USA Freedom Act and officials in the administration, including Attorney General Eric Holder and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, also backed it.
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US court extends NSA surveillance rules in current form
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The NSA's bulk phone metadata spying program was renewed for another 90 days, the fourth time the warrantless snooping has been reauthorized following President Barack Obama promising reform last January, the government said Monday.
That means the nation's telecoms will continue forwarding a database to the government that includes the phone numbers of all calls, the international mobile subscriber identity number of mobile callers, the calling card numbers used in calls, and the time and duration of those calls to and from the United States. Whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed the program 18 months ago, but the numerouscalls for reform sincehave fallen on deaf ears.
The renewal comes the same day that the government defended the program's constitutionality before a federal appeals court. The case before the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals is one of three lawsuits challenging the program. Ultimately, the issue could reach the Supreme Court, perhaps as early as next year. Also, legislation the government says authorizes the intelligence program expires in June.
In January, Obama slightly reined in the bulk telephone metadata program. He ordered the nations spies to get approval from the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to search the metadata database under a "reasonable articulable standard" that a target is associated with terrorism. (A probable-cause standard continues to be lacking, however.)Obama also dramatically reduced the number of associated calling records connected to the original target that the NSA may analyzefrom three hops to two. Future presidential administrations, however, are not bound by Obama's changes.
Still, Obama punted any other reform measures to Congress. The Senate last month defeated a measure that, among other things, would have stripped the government of its unfettered access to the metadata database and would have kept the metadata in the hands of the telcos.
"The Administration welcomes the opportunity to work with the new Congress to implement the changes the President has called for. Given that legislation has not yet been enacted, and given the importance of maintaining the capabilities of the telephony metadata program, the government has sought a 90-day reauthorization of the existing program, as modified by the changes the President directed in January," the government said Monday whenannouncing that the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Courtapproved the snooping for another 90 days.The order expires February 27.
Sen. Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) urged Obama to let the program die instead of getting it reauthorized.
"The President can end the NSAs dragnet collection of Americans phone records once and for all by not seeking reauthorization of this program by the FISA Court, and once again, I urge him to do just that," Leahy said. "Doing so would not be a substitute for comprehensive surveillance reform legislationbut it would be an important first step."
TheFISA Court has now renewed bulk telephone metadata spying program four times following Obama's reform speechin March, June, September, and December.
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NSA warrantless bulk phone metadata spying continues unabated
The National Security Agency (a.k.a. the NSA)
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