US appeals court rules NSA's 'bulk collection' of documents was illegal

[ControlFreak]

US appeals court rules NSA's 'bulk collection' of documents was illegal and unauthorised by congress

The 'bulk collection' of citizens' phone records exceeded programme authorised by congress.

PUBLISHED : Friday, 08 May, 2015, 1:14am
UPDATED : Friday, 08 May, 2015, 1:16am

Agence France-Presse in Washington

Details about the vast surveillance programmes came from documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Photo: AP

A US appeals court ruled yesterday that the National Security Agency's massive collection of phone records of Americans is illegal because it exceeds the scope of what congress authorised.

The laws used as a basis for the bulk data collection "have never been interpreted to authorise anything approaching the breadth of the sweeping surveillance at issue here," said the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in a 97-page opinion.

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against the NSA and FBI, following disclosures about the vast surveillance programmes in documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

The "metadata" collected from millions of phone calls includes the numbers called, times and other information but not the content of conversations. Still, civil liberties advocates argue the programme is a massive intrusion on privacy while providing only minimal help in the anti-terrorism effort.

The court said metadata can reveal considerable personal information such as whether a person is a victim of crime, or has "civil, political, or religious affiliations" and "whether and when he or she is involved in intimate relationships".

The New York appellate court stopped short of ruling on the constitutional issues of the bulk collection of phone metadata, but said the government went far beyond what congress intended in Section 215 of the Patriot Act, a law aimed at allowing authorities to thwart terrorism.

"There is no evidence that congress intended for those statutes to authorise the bulk collection of every American's toll billing or educational records and to aggregate them into a database," the appellate panel said.

The court declined to issue an injunction to halt the programme, saying it would make little sense since the law is set to expire on June 1. Lawmakers are currently debating whether to reform the law or extend it.

The court said that "in light of the asserted national security interests at stake, we deem it prudent to pause to allow an opportunity for debate in congress that may (or may not) profoundly alter the legal landscape."

Representative Mike Honda of California said on Twitter that congress needs to narrow the scope of surveillance: "We need to rein in #NSA's intrusive bulk collection programmes. These programmes are not what #Congress authorised."