Still No Answers On The CIA’s Unconstitutional Mass Surveillance Of Americans

The Central Intelligence Agency has been collecting American’s private data without any oversight or even the minimal legal safeguards that apply to the NSA and FBI, an unconstitutional affront to our civil liberties. According to a declassified report released last week by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), the CIA’s surveillance program is reminiscent of the mass surveillance programs conducted by the NSA, though the details released thus far paint a disturbing picture of potential wide-scale violations of people’s privacy.

To start, the CIA program has apparently been conducted outside the statutory reforms and oversight of the intelligence community instituted after revelations by Edward Snowden in 2013. The newly declassified CIA data collection program is carried out in conjunction with Executive Order 12333 and is therefore subject to even less oversight than the woefully under-supervised NSA surveillance programs subject to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The whos, whats, whys, and hows of this semi-disclosed CIA program are still unknown, and the public deserves the right to know exactly what damage has been done. Senators Ron Wyden and Martin Heinrich are already pressing for the release of even more information. In a partially-redacted letter sent to the Director of National Intelligence and the CIA Director on April 13, 2021, the senators have called for the public release of the full report about the CIA’s surveillance, which remains classified. The senators’ letter also demands answers about how the agency collects the data, what data is being collected, and the rules governing its storage and retention.

From that letter and a PCLOB “Staff Recommendations” document, we know that the CIA collects a vast amount of data, often on U.S. persons, without any clear guidelines about data retention and without substantial oversight of analysts querying information about U.S. citizens. The program seems to exist outside the jurisdiction of either courts or Congress–given that even the Senate Intelligence Committee was left in the dark about this program.

According to PCLOB’s staff recommendations, when an analyst attempts to look at information relating to an American citizen, a “pop-up box will appear to remind the analysts that an F[oreign] I[ntelligence] purpose is required for such a query. However, analysts are not required to memorialize the justification for their queries. As a result, auditing or reviewing U.S. Person (USP) queries is likely to be challenging and time-consuming.” So, not only is there no way of preventing curious and prying eyes of CIA agents from pulling up data about their friends and family–there’s no good way to audit agents’ activity after the fact.

And we shouldn’t be surprised that this might be happening. In the past, NSA officers often used their invasive surveillance powers to spy on significant others. In response, the PCLOB staff recommended for the CIA to employ “automated tools” to assist in the auditing and compliance monitoring involving all of that U.S. data. “The declassification is urgent,” the Senators’ letter states—we agree.

In their letter, Wyden and Heinrich inquire as to the nature of the CIA’s relationship to its “sources,” perhaps a reference to whether the CIA might be getting some of its data from the same place as the NSA—through secretive agreements with private companies. In 2013, it was reported that the CIA paid $10 million a year in order to gain access to AT&T’s call data.

So, CIA is basically saying “trust us—this is legal, but we aren’t going to tell you what we’re doing.”

And two privacy hawk US Senators are saying, “If CIA were made to reveal what they’re doing…we’d all agree, it’s not kosher.”

In addition to new declassifications and clarity on the scope of this program, the government needs to act fast to prevent the CIA from continuing to circumvent constitutional rights. If we learn, in fact, that the CIA is purchasing this data, then Congress should work fast to pass the Fourth Amendment is Not for Sale Act. Intended to prevent government agencies and law enforcement from buying data harvested from apps—data they otherwise could not get without a warrant—the bill may also work to prevent the CIA from purchasing the phone records of U.S. persons in bulk.

Regardless of the CIA’s legal justification or technical means of collection and storage, Congress must act fast to ensure the Fourth Amendment’s vitality in the modern age.

Officially, the CIA and National Security Agency (NSA) have a foreign surveillance mission, and domestic spying is prohibited by the CIA's 1947 charter.
Obama and his thugs did not want/need any FISA warrants to spy on/monitor/surveil Candidate Trump or President Elect Trump. They did it via our Brit Intel allies.
Napolitano: Obama Admin Used British GCHQ To Spy On Trump During Campaign
Posted By Tim Hains On Date March 14, 2017
On Monday, Fox News Channel judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano alleged that three intelligence sources had confirmed to him that the Obama administration used GCHQ (Britain's NSA) to spy on President Trump during the 2016 election so that there would be no paper trail.
"Three intelligence sources have informed Fox News that President Obama went outside the 'chain of command' to conduct the surveillance on Trump," he said. "Obama didn’t use the NSA, he didn’t use the CIA, he didn’t use the FBI, and he didn’t use the Department of Justice."
"What happened to the guy who ordered this? Resigned three days after Trump took office," he added.*
GCHQ nor Obama did nor required any paperwork to monitor and spy on candidate Trump.
All Obama had to do was have his AG Lynch make a phone call to Robert Hannigan @DCHQ and tell him to monitor candidate Trump and his people. No FISA stuff or judges nor paper trails.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/03/14/napolitano_obama_admin_used_british_intel_service_to_spy_on_trump_during_campaign.html
When did Mr Trump become our President? Jan 21, 2017 - Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States on Friday, vowing to drain power from Washington elites and always put "America first" in its dealings with the world at a moment of transformative political change.
*So one might ask who resigned 2-3 days after Trump became president. It was not one of our intel guys. It was the director of Brit GCHQ intel. Go to the links below to find out who left GCHQ to spend more time with his family.
*Robert Hannigan has quit as head of GCHQ Credit: GCHQ. Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter. 23 January 2017 • 3:32pm. Robert Hannigan, the director of GCHQ, has resigned from his job as head of one of the three Government intelligence agencies after just two years.Jan 23, 2017
GCHQ boss Robert Hannigan quits for 'personal reasons' after just two days after Trump becomes President.
www.telegraph.co.uk/.../2017/.../breaking-gchq-boss-quits-personal-reasons-just-two-ye...
*GCHQ chief Robert Hannigan quits | UK news | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com › World › UK News › GCHQ Jan 23, 2017 - In his resignation letter to the Foreign Office, which is responsible for both GCHQ and the Secret Intelligence Service, better known as MI6, Hannigan said: “As you know, I have also initiated the greatest internal change within GCHQ for 30 years, and I feel that we are now well on the way to being fit for the …
*GCHQ boss Robert Hannigan quits for 'personal reasons' after just two ... www.telegraph.co.uk › News
*Jan 23, 2017 - Robert Hannigan has quit as head of GCHQ Credit: GCHQ. Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter. 23 January 2017 • 3:32pm. Robert Hannigan, the director of GCHQ, has resigned from his job as head of one of the three Government intelligence agencies after just two years.
*Director GCHQ to step down | GCHQ Site https://www.gchq.gov.uk/news-article/director-hannigan-gchq-step-down Jan 23, 2017 - News article - 23 Jan 2017. In an exchange of letters with the Foreign Secretary, Robert Hannigan, Director of GCHQ since 2014, has today announced his decision to step down as Director of GCHQ once a successor is in place. He explains that this is for personal reasons in a letter to the Foreign …
*GCHQ director Robert Hannigan resigns - BBC News - BBC.com www.bbc.com/news/uk-38723040 Jan 23, 2017 - 23 January 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-38723040. Image copyright GCHQ Image caption Robert Hannigan took over the role in 2014. The head of Britain's electronic surveillance agency GCHQ has resigned.
Our mediots and most of our Congressiots have ignored the above and following for years!

Remember: Officially, the CIA and National Security Agency (NSA) have a foreign surveillance mission and domestic spying is prohibited by the CIA's 1947 charter.

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