Secret U.S. Court Extends NSA Authority to Collect Phone Metadata
Written by Brian Koenig- font size
A chief U.S. intelligence official affirmed Friday that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been granted authority to continue collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers. The verdict from the court, authorized by the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), renewed the controversial data-collection campaign that has posed serious threats to Americans’ right to privacy and, in turn, the U.S. Constitution.
In an action propelled by a disclosure in June of the NSA’s collection of Verizon metadata, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released a statementasserting that the program has been renewed. The statement reads, in part:
On June 6, 2013, the Director of National Intelligence declassified certain information about this telephony metadata collection program in order to provide the public with a more thorough and balanced understanding of the program. Consistent with his prior declassification decision and in light of the significant and continuing public interest in the telephony metadata collection program, the DNI has decided to declassify and disclose publicly that the Government filed an application with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court seeking renewal of the authority to collect telephony metadata in bulk, and that the Court renewed that authority.
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