An Independent Federal Panel Report Finds NSA Surveleince An Infringement On Privacy Rights and Is Illegal...
by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth I've said all along that the NSA surveillance plan (data mining)was not only an infringement on the privacy rights of every American citizen but quite probably illegal as well. An independent federal agency has arrived at the same conclusion. WASHINGTON — An independent federal privacy watchdog has concluded that the National Security Agency’s program to collect bulk phone call records has provided only “minimal” benefits in counterterrorism efforts, is illegal and should be shut down. The findings are laid out in a 238-page report, scheduled for release by Thursday and obtained by The New York Times, that represent the first major public statement by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, which Congress made an independent agency in 2007 and only recently became fully operational. The report is likely to inject a significant new voice into the debate over surveillance, underscoring that the issue was no...