US court deems NSA bulk phone-call snooping illegal, possibly unconstitutional, and probably pointless anyway
- Reference: 1599145332
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/09/03/nsa_metadata_collection/
- Source link:
[1]PDF
that the National Security Agency's phone-call slurping was indeed naughty, seven years after former contractor Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the tawdry affair.It's been a long time coming, and while some might view the decision as a slap for officials that defended the practice, the three-judge panel said the part played by the NSA programme wasn't sufficient to undermine the convictions of four individuals for conspiring to send funds to Somalia in support of a terrorist group.
Snowden made public the existence of the [2]NSA data collection programmes in [3]June 2013 , and by June 2015 US Congress had passed the [4]USA FREEDOM Act , "which effectively ended the NSA's bulk telephony metadata collection program," according to the panel.
The panel took a long, hard look at the metadata collection programme, which slurped the telephony of millions of Americans (as well as at least one of the defendants) and concluded that not only had the Fourth Amendment of the constitution likely been violated, it certainly flouted [5]section 1861 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) , which deals with access to business records in foreign intelligence and international terrorism investigations.
"On the merits," the ruling said, "the panel held that the metadata collection exceeded the scope of Congress's authorization in 50 U.S.C. § 1861, which required the government to make a showing of relevance to a particular authorized investigation before collecting the records, and that the program therefore violated that section of FISA."
So, both illegal and quite possibly unconstitutional.
It isn't a good look for the intelligence services. The panel was able to study the classified records and noted that "the metadata did not and was not necessary to support the requisite probable cause showing for the FISA Subchapter I warrant application in this case."
The panel went on to administer a light slapping to those insisting that the metadata programme was an essential element in the case. The evidence, such as it was, "did not taint the evidence introduced by the government at trial," the panel observed before going on to say: "To the extent the public statements of government officials created a contrary impression, that impression is inconsistent with the contents of the classified record."
Thus not only illegal, possibly unconstitutional but also not particularly helpful in this instance, no matter what officials might have insisted.
While the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [6]declared the ruling "a victory for our privacy rights", the process could have a while to run yet, including a trip to America's Supreme Court. ®
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[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2020/09/03/13-50572_opinion_nsa_bulk_metadata.pdf
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2014/08/26/new_snowden_leak_nsa_massively_expanded_metadata_sharing_in_200607/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2013/06/14/companies_share_data_with_spies/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2014/07/29/senate_introduces_usa_freedom_act_to_curb_nsa_spying_excesses/
[5] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/1861
[6] https://twitter.com/ACLU/status/1301227394511122432
[7] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: What is the point of the court ruling ?
The NSA will just continue to do it - just be a bit more careful about being caught.
It really boils down to public perception - if the public feel that the NSA needs reining in then that will happen because politicians need votes. If they don't, or more likely, the NSA and its backers manages to change the subject of the conversation, * then nothing will happen.
* We've no interest in law-abiding citizens like you, it's all about protecting y'all from the communist Muslim extremist Antifa extinction rebellion paedoterrorists who want to take your assault rifles away and give you free healthcare.
Re: What is the point of the court ruling ?
The NSA has probably got enough blackmail evidence to ensure that it continues unfettered by law or decency.
"Hey Senator XYZ are you going to do as the NSA wants or are we going to release the evidence of you having underage sex ? "
Re: What is the point of the court ruling ?
I'm sure you can squeeze Corona in there too
Great, so NSA slurping back in Snowden's day was illegal
Wonderful to know, nice to see justice being done, etc.
Now, what about the slurping the NSA is doing today ?
Because you don't think this ruling is going to stop it, now do you ?
Re: Great, so NSA slurping back in Snowden's day was illegal
Question is can you extradite and prosecute somebody for revealing an illegal operation, while not dealing with those doing the illegal stuff - and still be a legitimate government ?
Come home Ed, all is forgiven.
Can Ed Snowden come home now, on the basis that the disclosures he made are now valid whistleblowing? Or must he remain in Vlad's house for the foreseeable future?
Offshoring bulk surveillance
Nothing prevents the Brits and the US wiretapping the other's messages on their territory. With visitors looking at the screens.
The weird thing is that they have had no success using wiretaps to thwart attacks. And bulk surveillance can't be used as evidence after the fact. It may be useful for creating profiles of suspected terrorists.
For all of us who have been receiving scam calls in a foreign language, we are now all suspected of consorting with hackers from that country. /sarcasm.
What is the point of the court ruling ?
The NSA will just continue to do it - just be a bit more careful about being caught.