| USA TODAY | - |
SHARE
72 CONNECT 39 TWEET 10 COMMENTEMAILMORE. The Obama administration
released more documents about National Security Agency surveillance
programs Wednesdayas a new set of leaks raise more questions about the
extent of them.
Obama team releases more NSA documents
The Obama administration released more documents about National Security Agency surveillance programs Wednesdayas a new set of leaks raise more questions about the extent of them.Director of National Intelligence James Clapper authorized the release of documents on "the collection of telephone metadata pursuant to Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act," the DNI office said in a statement. "DNI Clapper has determined that the release of these documents is in the public interest."
MORE: Read the declassified documents
The Senate Judiciary Committee is conducting a hearing on the surveillance programs Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Guardian newspaper, relying on documents provided by NSA leaker Edward Snowden, reported that a "top secret" NSA program "allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals."
The DNI documents -- which include many redacted sections -- describe in general how the surveillance programs are designed to work and what the restrictions on NSA analysts are.
One document says "these programs are authorized to collect in bulk certain dialing, routing, addressing, and signaling information about telephone calls and electronic communications, such as telephone numbers or e-mail addresses."
Analysts review the numbers, addresses, times and dates of the communications, "but not the content of the calls or the e-mail messages themselves," the document says.
The "bulk collection programs provide important tools in the fight against terrorism," the document says, "especially in identifying terrorist plots against the homeland."
Regarding the privacy issues, the document says that intelligence officials take "compliance problems in the programs very seriously, and substantial progress has been made in addressing those problems."
The documents included 2009 and 2011 reports on the bulk collection programs and letters to key congressional chairs about their re-authorization under the PATRIOT Act.
end quote from:
No comments:
Post a Comment