The news of the day seems to be the blockbuster story reported by Glenn Greenwald in The Guardian of a court order that authorized the NSA to collect a good deal of phone call information from Verizon customers:
The order directs Verizon to “continue production on an ongoing daily basis thereafter for the duration of this order”. It specifies that the records to be produced include “session identifying information”, such as “originating and terminating number”, the duration of each call, telephone calling card numbers, trunk identifiers, International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) number, and “comprehensive communication routing information”.
The information is classed as “metadata”, or transactional information, rather than communications, and so does not require individual warrants to access. The document also specifies that such “metadata” is not limited to the aforementioned items. A 2005 court ruling judged that cell site location data – the nearest cell tower a phone was connected to – was also transactional data, and so could potentially fall under the scope of the order.
While the order itself does not include either the contents of messages or the personal information of the subscriber of any particular cell number, its collection would allow the NSA to build easily a comprehensive picture of who any individual contacted, how and when, and possibly from where, retrospectively.
Over the course of the morning, we’ve been treated to a number of Senators who have been asked about this largely noting that this surveillance is NORMAL. TPM has both Dianne Feinstein and Saxby Chambliss weighing in — here’s Senator Feinstein:
“It is lawful. It has been briefed to Congress,” Senate Intelligence Chair Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) told reporters at an impromptu news conference in the Capitol. “This is just meta data. There is no content involved. In other words, no content of a communication. … The records can only be accessed under heightened standards.” […]
“It’s called protecting America.”
Chambliss:
Senate Intelligence Vice Chair Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) backed up Feinstein, saying, “This is nothing particularly new. This has been going on for seven years under the auspices of the FISA authority, and every member of the United States Senate has been advised of this.”
“Right now I think everyone should just calm down and understand that this isn’t anything that’s brand new — it’s been going on for 7 years,” Reid said.
Reid said the program authorizing collection of meta-data on phone records has helped stop terrorist acts. He said senators will continue to review the law in that regard and work to make it better.
The White House has given a defense of the program, without committing to reasons. (And seriously, The Guardian has a really good package of articles on this.)
The Bureau’s broad application for phone records was made under the so-called business records provision of the Act. I do not believe the broadly drafted FISA order is consistent with the requirements of the Patriot Act. Seizing phone records of millions of innocent people is excessive and un-American.”
Translation — Yes I know I left all of those loaded guns on the table, but I told those kids to play with the waterguns on the *other* table! Sheesh.
Sure, there are people out there trying to attack us. But I STILL don’t believe handing the government a ton of detail about my phone usage can possibly be a cost effective or especially efficient way to stop these plots. I DO think that handing over this data wholesale lets the NSA (and other law enforcement) off of the hook from specifically targeting the so-called Bad Guys. I don’t care that this has been going on for 7 years, the Patriot Act continues to enable the government to have way more access to our lives in a way we have no recourse to either stop or inspect. (There’s a Terry Gilliam movie in there somewhere.) The thing that makes me mad about the Patriot Act is that it presumes that we are ALL terrorists until the Government can clear us. And if they are routinely collecting up this kind of data, it seems fair to assume that you never get cleared. That eagle on my passport is supposed to mean something and I’m pretty sure it doesn’t mean Terrorist Until Proven Otherwise.
And how heartbreaking is it that the majority of our legislators seem to think that this is AOK? Except maybe Bernie Sanders. And perhaps this numbnuts GOP rep who seems to be interested in this to find out if the NSA is spying on Congress.
So anyway, I’m sorry this thread was posted late. What interests you today?