A group of Democratic US senators are supporting a lawsuit seeking to end the National Security Agency�™s mass collection of the American people�™s phone records.
The American Civil Liberties Union Tuesday filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of Democratic senators Martin Heinrich (New Mexico), Mark Udall (Colorado) and Ron Wyden (Oregon), all members of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The brief states that mass collection of Americans telephone metadata is ineffective and violates the privacy of millions of people.
“[The senators] have reviewed this surveillance extensively and have seen no evidence that the bulk collection of Americans�™ phone records has provided any intelligence of value that could not have been gathered through less intrusive means,” the ACLU wrote for the lawmakers.
The senators called for better targeted surveillance programs instead of mass collection of US citizens�™ phone records, which is a violation of their privacy rights.
“Because the government�™s call-records program needlessly intrudes upon the privacy rights of hundreds of millions of Americans, [the senators] believe the bulk collection of these phone records should be ended,” the brief said.
Amicus Curiae, or literally friend of the court, is a person with strong interest in or views on the subject matter of an action, but not a party to the action. Amicus curiae may petition the court for permission to file a brief on behalf of a party.
The senator�™s filling was accompanied by four other supporting amicus briefs. The briefs were brought by a coalition of groups represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).
“The First Amendment guarantees the freedom to associate and express political views as a group,” EFF legal director Cindy Cohn said of the suit�™s concerns.
“The NSA undermines that right when it collects, without any particular target, the phone records of innocent Americans and the organizations in which they participate. In order to advocate effectively, these organizations must have the ability to protect the privacy of their employees and members.”
AN/ISH
Source: Press TV