Court says it’s legal for NSA to spy on you because Congress says it’s OK "An abrupt end to the program would be contrary to the public interest...."


Court says it’s legal for NSA to spy on you because Congress says it’s OK

"An abrupt end to the program would be contrary to the public interest...."



You gotta love this twisted logic.

In May, a federal appeals court declared the National Security Agency's bulk telephone metadata collection program illegal because it wasn't authorized under the Patriot Act, as the Obama administration and its predecessor administration had maintained.

Then, in June, Congress semi-dismantled the program with the passage of the USA Freedom Act, which President Obama signed on June 2. As part of the new act, Congress authorized a spying transition period of sorts where the old tactics could continue until new laws were in place.

But on Thursday, the same federal appeals court that originally declared it "illegal" now said the original NSA program could continue, beating back a challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union that questioned both the transition period and the constitutionality of NSA surveillance overall.

In case you've forgotten, here's what is at stake: Under the program that former NSA contractor Edward Snowden disclosed, the nation's telecoms forward data to the National Security Agency, including the phone numbers of both parties in all calls, calling card numbers, the length and time of the calls, and the international mobile subscriber identity (ISMI) number for mobile callers. The NSA keeps a running database of that information. The NSA says it queries the data solely to combat terrorism and that one party of a call must be believed to have been overseas.

So how could something so seemingly unconstitutional continue? Congress said it could, that's how.

With the passage of the USA Freedom Act, Congress extended the program that Snowden exposed for another six months to allow for an orderly transition to the new snooping program. And now the courts essentially maintain that the original surveillance is legal because Congress says it's legal.

"An abrupt end to the program would be contrary to the public interest in effective surveillance of terrorist threats, and Congress thus provided a 180-day transition period," 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Gerard Lynch wrote for the unanimous three-judge panel. "Under the circumstances, we will defer to that reasonable decision."

This matters because whether the NSA, lawmakers, or the administration will construe some other law to allow the original, secret bulk collection program to continue is anybody's guess. Meanwhile, although the original spy program as disclosed by Snowden has been dramatically altered by Congress, there will continue to be a lot of authorized warrantless phone spying done by the NSA on Americans after the six-month extension expires.

Under the new legislation, the bulk phone metadata will stay with the telecoms and will be removed from the NSA's hands. It can still be accessed with the secret FISA Court's blessing as long as the government asserts that it has a reasonable suspicion that the phone data of a target is relevant to a terror investigation and at least one party to the call is overseas. The Constitution's Fourth Amendment standard of probable cause still does not apply.

David Kravets / The senior editor for Ars Technica. Founder of TYDN fake news site. Technologist. Political scientist. Humorist. Dad of two boys. Been doing journalism for so long I remember manual typewriters with real paper.


Views: 87

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Sandy commented on Sandy's video
1 hour ago
Sandy posted a video
1 hour ago
cheeki kea posted a photo
Wednesday
Burbia posted a video

Strange Videos That Expose Something Massive

#disturbing #video #strange #scary #scaryvideos #strangevideos This is a compilation of the most disturbing videos on the internet, not only...
Wednesday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Tuesday
Burbia commented on Burbia's video
Tuesday
Burbia posted a video

SUPEROLA & THE LOST BURGERS

This Game is RUBBISH !
Tuesday
pohonemas33 team commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

DejaVu

"nice very goodjob, i wish you can visit official situs pohonemas33"
Jul 26
Sandy posted a photo
Jul 26
Doc Vega posted a blog post
Jul 25
Saint Quinn favorited Burbia's video
Jul 24
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Jul 24
Burbia commented on tjdavis's blog post The Jewish Couple That Taught Bob Dylan Hebrew and Introduced Him to Zionism
"Haaretz put this story behind a pay wall. Sali Ariel and Terry Noble were the names of the couple…"
Jul 23
William Heckman is now a member of 12160 Social Network
Jul 23
cheeki kea commented on tjdavis's photo
Jul 23
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's video
Thumbnail

This Woman DESTROYED Harley-Davidson's Future Forever

"It's a sad day on the highway. But I guess the show must go on. Watch out for the ruination of…"
Jul 23
cheeki kea posted a video

This Woman DESTROYED Harley-Davidson's Future Forever

This Woman DESTROYED Harley-Davidson's Future ForeverWelcome to Ride Radar – Your Frontline Source for Motorcycle Deals, Trends & Market Mayhem.Looking for t...
Jul 23
tjdavis posted a photo
Jul 23
Burbia posted a status
"Who knew releasing the MLK files and literally deflecting, it ends up implicating himself with the Epstein Files."
Jul 21
Burbia posted a video

Dan Bilzerian DEMOLISHES MAGA Nutjob Patrick Bet-David on His Own Show

Watch as two powerhouse personalities collide in this no-holds-barred debate on one of the world’s most contentious issues. Patrick Bet-David, known for his ...
Jul 21

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted