12-28-2013, 12:02 PM
NSA META DATA COLLECTION RULED LEGAL BY FEDERAL JUDGE
Yesterday, a federal judge (Pauley) in New York ruled the NSA's bulk collection of data on nearly every phone call made in the United States was legal. This contrasts with federal Judge Leon's ruling in Washington week before last.
15 separate judges of the FISA Court have held on 35 occasions that Section 215 (of the Patriot Act) authorizes the collection of telephony metadata in bulk in support of counterterrorism investigations."
Pauley said the NSA's bulk collection of phone records under Section 215 of the Patriot Act was legal.
The New York ruling makes it more likely that the U.S. Supreme Court will have to tackle the issue of privacy and settle the dispute over the the NSA program.
For years, the courts have relied on a 1979 Supreme Court precedent that found privacy rights didn't extend to personal information people give to third-parties such as the phone companies, which store basic data on calls made. The secret court that oversees the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has relied on that ruling to periodically reauthorize the NSA phone data program.
But technology has come a long way since then; modern cell phones are in constant communication with phone towers and tell a lot more information about phone customers than old land line phones. And at least some justices may be ready to take on the issue again.
Full story:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/27/justice/ns...?hpt=ju_c2
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Obama says that he is reviewing the pros and cons of the NSA meta data collection program; what data should and shouldn't be collected moving forward, etc... He'll have a plan to announce in January.
I'm interested to see how the President ultimately weighs what many consider their constitutional right to privacy against how to best possibly protect society from terrorism in today's technological world.
I wouldn't want to be looking down from that tightrope, but it's better for Obama to be forced to walk that tenuous walk now than it would have been during his first term.
Yesterday, a federal judge (Pauley) in New York ruled the NSA's bulk collection of data on nearly every phone call made in the United States was legal. This contrasts with federal Judge Leon's ruling in Washington week before last.
15 separate judges of the FISA Court have held on 35 occasions that Section 215 (of the Patriot Act) authorizes the collection of telephony metadata in bulk in support of counterterrorism investigations."
Pauley said the NSA's bulk collection of phone records under Section 215 of the Patriot Act was legal.
The New York ruling makes it more likely that the U.S. Supreme Court will have to tackle the issue of privacy and settle the dispute over the the NSA program.
For years, the courts have relied on a 1979 Supreme Court precedent that found privacy rights didn't extend to personal information people give to third-parties such as the phone companies, which store basic data on calls made. The secret court that oversees the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has relied on that ruling to periodically reauthorize the NSA phone data program.
But technology has come a long way since then; modern cell phones are in constant communication with phone towers and tell a lot more information about phone customers than old land line phones. And at least some justices may be ready to take on the issue again.
Full story:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/27/justice/ns...?hpt=ju_c2
===================================================
Obama says that he is reviewing the pros and cons of the NSA meta data collection program; what data should and shouldn't be collected moving forward, etc... He'll have a plan to announce in January.
I'm interested to see how the President ultimately weighs what many consider their constitutional right to privacy against how to best possibly protect society from terrorism in today's technological world.
I wouldn't want to be looking down from that tightrope, but it's better for Obama to be forced to walk that tenuous walk now than it would have been during his first term.