Posted on 01/24/2014 7:31:41 PM PST by Olog-hai
The White House on Thursday disputed the findings of an independent review board that said the National Security Agency’s mass data collection program is illegal and should be ended, indicating the administration would not be taking that advice.
“We simply disagree with the board’s analysis on the legality of the program,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said.
He was responding to a scathing report from The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), which said the program ran afoul of the law on several fronts.
“The … bulk telephone records program lacks a viable legal foundation,” the board’s report said, adding that it raises “serious threats to privacy and civil liberties” and has “only limited value.” The report, further, said the NSA should “purge” the files. …
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Democrats like living in the past.
I’m going to use this defense next time I get in trouble with the law.
Do f’n tell.
The NSA is just a machine. It’s our “representatives” that are responsible for the alleged violations. Too bad Snowden only described the caliber of the machine and not the description of the perpetrators — figuratively speaking.
Didn’t this administration, not only continue but ratcheted up on the NSA data gathering? How come that little tidbit has not been discussed?
Another “FU, we got our EO to override any inconvenient legal decisions/laws” moment...
I have been carefully watching and re watching the Wire. In the episode 11 season 2, the cops take a sopeana to the cell phone company requesting the number called from a specific GPS located point at a specific time.
The phone company guy informed them that the incident was the first time that GPS/time data had been used to pinpoint a call. He asked for the warrant. They had no warrant, just the sopena. He said with that, you get the number. With a warrant you get all the text messages for the last 60 days.
This program was produced in I believe 2002. The legality of what is what has been known for a very long time.
As best I can tell from news reports, the current flap is over collection of metadata that is developed and held by third parties.It is not private information stored either in one’s home or office or auto or castle. Unlike the actual voice or text message nothing of substance is learned that is private. One of the Wire themes is that if you are criminal you need to use phones with care because they leak when tapped. The cops go to great legal lengths to get taps to listen but have no real problems with locating and observing specific cell and land line phones.
Unless Congress makes the metadata gathering illegal, the process will continue. Only bad guys need fear the process.
The problem is not the process but the tyrannical despots. To solve the problem, the despot must be deposed.
Sure, just as the WH rejects the United States Constitution.
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