A newly disclosed document shows the NSA can get away with domestic spying in the US.<\/p>\n
A newly disclosed US National Security Agency document shows the US spy agency is legally authorized to search for Americans\u00e2\u201e\u00a2 email and phone calls without a warrant.\n<\/p>\n
On Friday, the Guardian<\/i> reported that a top-secret document provided by former NSA contractor turned whistleblower Edward Snowden shows that a legal authority enables NSA operatives to sieve through US citizens\u00e2\u201e\u00a2 communications using their names or other identifying information.\n<\/p>\n
Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act (FAA) authorizes the NSA to gather intelligence without warrant on the communications of foreign targets stipulated that they are non-US citizens and outside the US at time of data collection.\n<\/p>\n
NSA agents can also collect the communications of US citizens in direct contact with foreign targets without a warrant. Moreover, through a process termed \u00c5\u201cincidental collection,” domestic communications on US soil can also be recorded into the spy agency\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s databases.\n<\/p>\n
The newly disclosed document reveals for the first time that the NSA is legally authorized to sieve through those databases in search for specific American individuals\u00e2\u201e\u00a2 communications.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u00c5\u201cWhile the FAA 702 minimization procedures approved on 3 October 2011 now allow for use of certain United States person names and identifiers as query terms when reviewing collected FAA 702 data,\u201d the Guardian<\/i> quoted from the leaked document, \u00c5\u201canalysts may NOT\/NOT [not repeat not] implement any USP [US persons] queries until an effective oversight process has been developed by NSA and agreed to by DOJ\/ODNI [Office of the Director of National Intelligence].<\/p>\n
The Guardian<\/i> explained that the term \u00c5\u201cidentifier\u201d may refer to an individual\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s name, telephone number, email address, or IP address and username.\n<\/p>\n
The new revelation about the US government\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s massive spying programs comes a few days after President Obama denied on a television show that the White House has \u00c5\u201ca domestic spying program\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
On NBC\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s Tonight Show on Tuesday, Obama described the NSA\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s spying programs as \u00c5\u201cuseful\u201d mechanisms that \u00c5\u201ccan track a phone number or an e-mail address that is connected to a terrorist attack.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a phone interview with Press TV, Danny Schechter, editor of mediachannel.org, said Obama denies that the US government is spying on Americans because he \u00c5\u201cdoesn\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t call it spying, he calls it mining information.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
ISH\/MA<\/p>\n<\/div>\n