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Feds Renew Bulk Phone Spy Program
Friday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Justice Department released a joint statement regarding the declassification of a renewal of collection under Section 501 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The statement reveals that President Obama’s transition to end the Section 215 bulk telephony metadata program as it previously existed is still underway. The President directed the Attorney General to work with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to ensure that, absent a true emergency, the telephony metadata can only be queried after a judicial finding that there is a reasonable, articulable suspicion that the selection term is associated with an approved international terrorist organization.
The President also directed that the query results must be limited to metadata within two hops of the selection term instead of three. These two changes were put into effect in February 2014.
In March, the President announced that the best path forward is that the government should not collect or hold this data in bulk, and that it remain at the telephone companies with a legal mechanism in place which would allow the government to obtain data pursuant to individual orders from the FISC approving the use of specific numbers for such queries.
Consistent with the President’s proposal, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3361, the USA FREEDOM Act, which would, if enacted, create a new mechanism for the government to obtain this telephony metadata pursuant to individual orders from the FISC, rather than in bulk.
The Administration strongly supports the USA FREEDOM Act and urges the Senate to swiftly consider it. Given that legislation has not yet been enacted, and given the importance of maintaining the capabilities of the Section 215 telephony metadata program, the government has sought a 90-day reauthorization of the existing program, as modified by the changes the President announced earlier this year.
According to the joint statement, the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, has declassified the fact that the government’s application to renew the program was approved yesterday by the FISC. The order issued yesterday expires on September 12, 2014. The Administration is undertaking a declassification review of this most recent court order and an accompanying memorandum opinion for publication.
The renewal of the bulk phone metadata collection program has sparked concerns over government surveillance and individual privacy rights. Critics argue that the program is an overreach of government authority, while supporters argue that it is necessary for national security.
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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