The US National Security Agency has Å“gone past its authority” with its Å“blanket surveillance” and is seeking to retain Å“its horrific powers,” a social justice activist says.
The NSA and its allies are making a final public push to keep as much of their mass surveillance powers as they can, before President Barack Obamaâ„¢s announcement on Friday, Jan. 17, about the future scope of US surveillance.
In December, a US presidential review panel tasked with examining the policies and procedures of the NSA concluded that a program to collect data on every phone call made in the United States should continue.
The committee recommended, however, the bulk collection of phone records by the NSA be carried out under broad new restraints that would be intended to increase privacy protections.
The committee has Å“come to the conclusion that the NSA has gone past its authority, that its blanket surveilling the people of the United States, reading their emails, listening to their phone calls,” said Tighe Barry, a member of CODEPINK, an NGO that describes itself as a Å“grassroots peace and social justice movement.”
The review panel Å“recommended 46 steps to stop NSA in its tracks and the NSA is quickly trying to cover up any of its wrongdoing and theyâ„¢re lobbying the president and theyâ„¢re lobbying Congress,” Barry said.
Å“They are busily trying to lobby to retain these horrific powers that it has come up with,” he added.
The administration has provided no details about Fridayâ„¢s highly anticipated speech, where the president is expected to announce sweeping changes to the work of the NSA.
AHT/HJ
Source: Press TV