The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald tonight reported that the government’s National Security Agency ordered Verizon to turn over the phone records of millions of Americans for a three-month period starting this April and ending July 9th:
The National Security Agency is currently collecting the telephone records of millions of US customers of Verizon, one of America’s largestAi??telecomsAi??providers, under a top secret court order issued in April.
The order,Ai??a copy of which has been obtained by the Guardian, requires Verizon on an “ongoing, daily basis” to give the NSA information on all telephone calls in its systems, both within the US and between the US and other countries.
The document shows for the first time that under the Obama administration the communication records of millions of US citizens are being collected indiscriminately and in bulk ai??i?? regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing.
The secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (Fisa) granted the order to the FBI on April 25, giving the government unlimited authority to obtain the data for a specified three-month period ending on July 19.
Under the terms of the blanket order, the numbers of both parties on a call are handed over, as is location data, call duration, unique identifiers, and the time and duration of all calls. The contents of the conversation itself are not covered.
The disclosure is likely to reignite longstanding debates in the US over the proper extent of the government’s domestic spying powers.
Congress does indeed need to have hearings on NSA policies, and the public needs to be better informed about the unclassified details of these surveillance programs. We must have a national debate about the balance between security and privacy, and how best to execute the proper balance. However, secrecy must be maintained when it comes to certain critical information. Secrecy about detailed intelligence information, data collection activities, and the laws protecting secret information were established to keep our citizens safe and to enable the U.S. to operate effectively on the global stage. Secrecy and intelligence activities are the harsh reality of living in today’s world. Snowden broke these U.S. laws, deliberately revealing secret information he was entrusted with, and he’s already caused the country great harm in our conduct of foreign relations. He needs to be brought to justice for his crimes. I’ve supported Bold Progressives on most progressive issues, but I believe your organization is wrong on this issue – in your unwavering support of Snowden – and I can’t in good conscience contribute to your fundraising effort for his legal defense. He needs to be brought back to the U.S. and be tried for his crimes. We are a nation of laws. If some laws appear to be unjust or unwarranted, then we need to change those laws – not violate them and precipitate international crises or diplomatic difficulties in our dealings with other nations.