Civil Society Groups Approve of End to NSA Surveillance Program, Want More Changes
Civil liberties groups praised the reported end of an NSA warrantless wiretapping program that collected Americans' emails and texts sent and received from people overseas that mentioned foreign surveillance targets. The New York Times Friday reported the agency made the…
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change to comply with special rules the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court imposed in 2011 to protect Americans' privacy. Michelle Richardson, Center for Democracy & Technology deputy director-Freedom, Security and Technology Project, said in a news release the content of people's emails and texts contain "incredibly" personal data. "NSA should never have been vacuuming up all of these communications, many of which involved Americans, without a warrant," she said. Neema Singh Guliani, legislative counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement that the development shows lawmakers need to change Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that she and other critics, including CDT, said illegally sweeps up information about Americans even though 702 is supposed to target only foreigners overseas. The program sunsets at the end of 2017 unless reauthorized by Congress. "While the NSA’s policy change will curb some of the most egregious abuses under the statute, it is at best a partial fix," Guliani said. Congress has been trying to find out for a long time how many Americans are swept up through 702 (see 1704070041). The NSA didn't immediately comment.