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| U.S. Defends Phone Record Sweep as 'Tool' against Terror |
| 2013-06-07 |
| [An Nahar] The U.S. government Thursday said a top spy agency was using a "crucial tool" against terrorism by sweeping up domestic telephone records, but new revelations on the program sparked a swift backlash. One civil liberties group branded the practice, authorized by a top secret court order, as "beyond Orwellian" while others argued the idea of a massive dragnet encompassing tens of millions of phone records was unconstitutional. The program, which began under the Bush administration, apparently does not monitor the content of telephone calls or who is making them, but provides "metadata" on phone numbers used and the duration of calls. Advocates say the data, collected on calls inside and outside the United States, can then be crunched to show odd patterns of communication which can tip off spy agencies to possible planning for terror attacks. Senior U.S. officials, while not confirming reports in the Guardian newspaper that service provider Verizon had been ordered to turn over reams of data, defended the National Security Agency (NSA), the secret listening service. "Information of the sort described in the Guardian article has been a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats to the United States," said a senior U.S. official on condition of anonymity. "It allows counterterrorism personnel to discover whether known or suspected faceless myrmidons have been in contact with other persons who may be engaged in terrorist activities, particularly people located inside the United States." The official said that all three branches of the U.S. government, the White House, Congress, and the judicial system, were involved in reviewing and authorizing intelligence collection under current laws. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #17 The links were great, what do you do when they only phone and don't say anything(Checking if the phone is alive or not). |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2013-06-07 22:11 |
| #16 "Does the IRS have access to the data? Does the democratic national party have access?" Does a bear |
| Posted by: Barbara 2013-06-07 19:34 |
| #15 #14 I thought the war on terror was over. Who said the government is using the data for terrorism only? Does the IRS have access to the data? Does the democratic national party have access? |
| Posted by: Airandee 2013-06-07 19:21 |
| #14 I thought the war on terror was over. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2013-06-07 17:40 |
| #13 I'd feel a whole lot safer if they stop letting people from Muslim countries into the United States. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2013-06-07 16:20 |
| #12 I stand corrected Besoeker. Jim, go here and read the comments instead. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2013-06-07 11:48 |
#11 I doubt anything was being "ignored". Do you remember how quickly the terrorist's phone call to his wife was discovered ? Once you have someone's name, a court order for their phone records isn't that hard. They were told Tsarnaev was getting training. They ignored the warning. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2013-06-07 11:32 |
| #10 The thought that there are some people whose thoughts are not controlled terrorizes the current US administration? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2013-06-07 11:22 |
| #9 #8 When they ignore actionable information I doubt anything was being "ignored". Do you remember how quickly the terrorist's phone call to his wife was discovered ? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-06-07 09:29 |
| #8 When they ignore actionable information -- like the Russians, of all people, calling in with a "this guy's getting training" -- and do things like this, I get the feeling their target isn't terrorists as you and I define them. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2013-06-07 09:25 |
| #7 Locking everyone up in prison still won't end murder, rape, assaults as amply demonstrated in our existing institutions today. We're all Japanese internees now. They're just using virtual confinement for deprivation of liberties rather than physical. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2013-06-07 08:30 |
| #6 Shipman: That's a web placebo designed for the 'little people'. [Note the .gov URL] |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-06-07 07:40 |
| #5 Since profiling is un-PC they HAVE to spy on everyone. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2013-06-07 07:13 |
| #4 Jim, check this out. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2013-06-07 05:18 |
| #3 If they use it to stop crank calls, it'd be worth it.(Mr blank, we'd be so glad to extend you credit at MegaBank for the low, low rate of 15% to infinity, ((Compounded semi weekly))buy now.) They won't. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2013-06-07 03:03 |
| #2 Tracing numbers and calls from the captured Tsarnaev Bros. cellies wouldn't be sufficient, we'll just harvest a million or so from the actual service providers. Once we link the towers and numbers with voice recognition software [cellie DNA], the actual numbers will be inconsequential. We'll be off to the races and will only need a huge new data-storage facility in relatively stable climate. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-06-07 02:36 |
| #1 Yup, and I have a bridge to sell you in New York... Its called the Brooklyn Bridge.. but you can change the name to what ever you want after I sell it to you. |
| Posted by: Au Auric 2013-06-07 01:03 |