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U.S. releases first data on sensitive surveillance

The Columbian
Published: June 28, 2014, 12:00am

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government on Friday for the first time released data on the scope of some of its most sensitive foreign intelligence-gathering efforts, saying that it had targeted nearly 90,000 foreign persons or organizations for surveillance through U.S. companies last year.

The release of the “transparency report,” issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, follows an order a year ago from President Barack Obama to declassify and make public as much information as possible about certain sensitive surveillance programs.

Some privacy advocates said the figure was not as high as they had expected, but that the report left out important data.

It did not include figures on the number of U.S. persons whose phone calls or emails were collected accidentally or because they were in contact with foreign targets.

“The intelligence community is hiding the extent to which this surveillance conducted without a warrant is impacting people in the United States, who have constitutional rights,” said Gregory Nojeim, senior counsel for the Center for Democracy and Technology.

Obama’s directive came on the heels of disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked documents about U.S. surveillance programs out of a concern that their scope had exceeded the bounds of what was lawful and proper.

Section 702 of the 2008 FISA Amendments Act permits the NSA to intercept without individualized warrants the communications of foreigners thought to be located overseas for foreign intelligence purposes.

Michael Sussmann, a former federal prosecutor who now represents tech companies in national security matters, said the disclosure of the number of foreign targets counters the notion that the Section 702 program amounts to widespread, indiscriminate collection.

“For those people who say it’s dragnet surveillance — it’s not,” Sussmann said. “These aren’t small numbers, but considering that several billion people use U.S. email services, this shows a targeted use of 702 authorities.”

Sussmann said the disclosure was a good step.

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