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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

Further Reading

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)
The National Security Agency (a.k.a. the NSA) A summary of the many recent revelations about the spying incident of the National Security Agency (a.k.a. the NSA). In this video you #39;ll also...

By: Plethrons

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The National Security Agency (a.k.a. the NSA) - Video

December 8, 2014

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

US National Security Agency (NSA) employees spent years monitoring domestic and international companies to find security vulnerabilities that could be exploited for surveillance purposes, according to new reports originating from documents obtained by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Ryan Gallagher of The Intercept, who first broke the story, said that the program was codenamed Auroragold and also detailed how the agency planned to secretly introduce new flaws into communication systems that it could tap into but which experts said would also have made the general public more susceptible to hackers in the process.

The covert operation has monitored the content of messages sent and received by more than 1,200 email accounts associated with major cellphone network operators, intercepting confidential company planning papers that help the NSA hack into phone networks, Gallagher said.

One high-profile surveillance target is the GSM Association (GSMA), an influential UK-headquartered trade group that works closely with large US-based firms including Microsoft, Facebook, AT&T, and Cisco, and is currently being funded by the U.S. government to develop privacy-enhancing technologies, he added.

CNET technology columnist Don Reisinger said the NSA targeted IR.21 documents, which highlight new technologies and encryption methods used by mobile carriers, and Chris Johnston of The Guardian said that the documents reveal that the agency targeted meetings held by the trade association.

Cryptographer and cellphone security expert Karsten Nohl told Gallagher that information contained in the Auroragold documents provide hints that the volume and broad scope of data collected as part of the operation suggests the intent was to make sure that the overwhelming majority of mobile networks worldwide were NSA accessible.

Collecting an inventory [like this] on world networks has big ramifications, Nohl said, because it allows the agency to monitor and work around improvements in encryption technology cell providers utilize to protect calls and text messages from eavesdropping.

He added that evidence suggesting the NSA was deliberately attempting to weaken mobile communication infrastructure was especially alarming, since those vulnerabilities could be exploited by anyone, not just the NSA. The files also reveal that the NSA basically had unfettered access to the infrastructure of roughly 700 global wireless carriers as of May 2012, Engadgets Chris Velazco added.

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NSA Accused Of Spying On Cellphone Carriers To Find Security Exploits

A panel of federal appeals judges in Seattle is considering an Idaho woman's challenge to the National Security Agency's bulk collection of cellphone information.

U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Winmill ruled in Boise, Idaho, last June that the NSA's collection of such data doesn't violate the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches. But the judge also said the issue does raise privacy concerns and that the case could wind up before the Supreme Court.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have joined nurse Anna Smith's case for the appeal. Arguments at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals were scheduled for Monday morning.

The NSA has said it collects the phone numbers of calls made and received and how long a call lasts, but the agency contends it does not monitor the contents of a call. Smith said her cellphone is her primary means of communication with family, friends, doctors and others, and that her phone calls are none of the government's business.

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Judges to Hear Arguments Over NSA Surveillance