from the we're-not-listening....but-we-might dept.
Breaking a long silence about a high-profile National Security Agency program that sifts records of Americans' telephone calls and text messages in search of terrorists, the Trump administration on Thursday acknowledged for the first time that the system has been indefinitely shut down — but asked Congress to extend its legal basis anyway.
In a letter to Congress delivered on Thursday and obtained by The New York Times, the administration urged lawmakers to make permanent the legal authority for the National Security Agency to gain access to logs of Americans' domestic communications, the USA Freedom Act. The law, enacted after the intelligence contractor Edward J. Snowden revealed the existence of the program in 2013, is set to expire in December, but the Trump administration wants it made permanent.
The unclassified letter, signed on Wednesday by Dan Coats in one of his last acts as the director of National Intelligence, also conceded that the N.S.A. has indefinitely shut down that program after recurring technical difficulties repeatedly caused it to collect more records than it had legal authority to gather. That fact has previously been reported, but the administration had refused to officially confirm its status.
[...] The executive branch had been internally divided over whether to push for an extension of the part of the Freedom Act that authorizes the phone records program. Months ago, the N.S.A. presented a bleak assessment of the program to the White House, saying it carried high costs and few benefits, but some officials argued that it made sense to keep the legal authority in case technical solutions emerged to make it work better, according to officials familiar with internal deliberations.
Trump Administration Asks Congress to Reauthorize N.S.A.'s Deactivated Call Records Program
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 18 2019, @06:43AM (9 children)
As much as Trump is hated over at the House, there will probably be a 3-ring circus, complete with clowns falling on their faces, in their rush to comply with Trump's request.
In this instance, I can't decide if Trump is being used, or he really believes that this surveillance is somehow "good" or "useful" or even "desirable". Given that he's not a very "good" man to start with, nor is he especially bright, the two possibilities are about as likely.
Hey, Donald! 🖕🏽 Go find something more useful to do, like hitting a ball around in a quicksand course!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 18 2019, @02:31PM (8 children)
Sorry, but you do not understand how Trump functions at all. You are just as bad as the libtards. Trump does not give a shit about surveillance or anything else, he just cares about "making deals". Obviously he did this in trade for something else.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 18 2019, @02:39PM (4 children)
Maybe he got another 100 miles of The Wall in return?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 18 2019, @03:00PM (2 children)
More likely something to do with Epstein.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday August 18 2019, @04:59PM (1 child)
No, it's so the Jews can keep getting data on Americans who are a threat to their agenda.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @07:54PM
He's not trolling, whether you agree or not, so stop abusing the mod system, you dumb bitch.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 18 2019, @04:56PM
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ2L-R8NgrA [youtube.com]
GOP Jesus lololol runaway is right on message
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 18 2019, @04:26PM (2 children)
Hey, libertarians may be a bit naive but "libtard" is a bit harsh.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 18 2019, @05:23PM (1 child)
I got called a libtard for not believing the elites are reptilians who plan to purge the surface of the earth to live in their underground bases theory. It somewhat does make sense since it is considered moral for reptiles to eat the young of their own species, humans generally abhor that practice.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 18 2019, @06:54PM
Not to be too pedantic, but there is a difference between "libtard" and "lizardtard" and "libertariantard". Primarily the difference is the number of letters. All are the same with regard to the deprecated use of "-tard", which is no longer best practice, and tends to be used only by those who are somewhat behind the times, a little late in development, one might say.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 18 2019, @08:07AM
Gerard Butler's character: "Only thing worse than Dragons, Republicans!"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 18 2019, @09:47AM (4 children)
Like this one, you're free to be spied upon. And patriots love to be spied on. (This act is patriot act 2.)
Doublespeak at its finest.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 18 2019, @12:22PM (3 children)
Sorry, but no. This surveillance thing is far less than 1% of the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act created dozens of laws, modified hundreds of laws directly and indirectly, when it was passed. The Patriot Act is responsible for the FISA courts, among other things. In short, the Patriot Act was a comprehensive reworking of United States Code.
One more authorization for mass surveillance? Just a drop in the bucket, by comparison. And, without the Patriot Act already in place, the NSA authorizations would quickly be found to be unconstitutional.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Sunday August 18 2019, @03:30PM
To those who run the NSA, the constitution doesn't even exist.
There is no point in barking about them. Reining in the NSA will require that we elect a congress that would do it.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @01:38AM (1 child)
FISA already existed. It was put in place, in the 1970s, due to abuses of power by the FBI and CIA-- it was one of the reforms proposed by the Church Committee. Bad solution for the problem, though.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday August 19 2019, @02:55AM
https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/testimony/usa-patriot-act-amendments-to-foreign-intelligence-surveillance-act-authorities [fbi.gov]
Yes, FISA existed before the Patriot Act - but as I alluded, the Patriot Act gave FISA real teeth. Prior to the Patriot Act, FISA was a puppy, with little bitty milk teeth. After the Patriot Act, we had a full grown pit bull on our hands.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 18 2019, @10:11AM (1 child)
Fast to forget. Who's gonna be the next Snowden?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 18 2019, @02:40PM
I'm your huckleberry!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 18 2019, @02:58PM
Trumptin.
(Score: 2) by Tokolosh on Sunday August 18 2019, @03:12PM
These are the same idiots whining about the Deep State. You think they would have learned something.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by sjames on Sunday August 18 2019, @09:29PM
How about instead, we require the NSA to secure wipe the data, melt any equipment used to collect or store the data to slag, grind it to a fine powder, mix it into concrete and use the concrete to build a new monument to freedom. The project shall be funded out of their existing budget and shall take priority over all other expenditures.
Lets ACTUALLY make America great again!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 19 2019, @08:18PM
we don't need to be subjugated just b/c the feds have turned ICE into an invader facilitation bureau and the MIC goes around the world purposely destabilizing shit. You want to do something to improve national security? destroy the Federal reserve and return the power of the purse to the congress. first, arrest the majority of congress for sedition and/or treason depending on the PoS in question. arrest everyone who works at any federal reserve bank and banish them from the country. Shut down the IRS and let those fucks look for honest work. Everyone should let them starve like they've been more than happy to bleed you dry. Abolish all the rest of the unconstitutional agencies and balance the budget. Rip the band aid off and let it bleed or heal or the USA will die a slow and shameful death instead.