It took a while, but the National Security Agency has finally admitted it has been buying heaps of data from private sources to help it spy on just about everyone, everywhere, all the time.
A press release from the office of Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden notes that the kinds and amount of data the NSA has been buying is nothing less than shocking. And very likely illegal. Wyden's office…
…released documents confirming the National Security Agency buys Americans' internet records, which can reveal which websites they visit and what apps they use. In response to the revelation…Wyden called on the administration to ensure intelligence agencies stop buying personal data from Americans that has been obtained illegally by data brokers. A recent FTC order held that data brokers must obtain Americans' informed consent before selling their data.
Regarding that Federal Trade Commission order…
Wyden urged the DNI to direct U.S. intelligence agencies to stop purchasing Americans' private data that was obtained unlawfully in violation of new rules outlined by the Federal Trade Commission this month. Through this case, the FTC announced that Americans must be told and agree to their data being sold to “government contractors for national security purposes,” for the practice to be allowed.
You can read the proposed rule here. Of note:
“Geolocation data can reveal not just where a person lives and whom they spend time with but also, for example, which medical treatments they seek and where they worship. The FTC's action against X-Mode makes clear that businesses do not have free license to market and sell Americans' sensitive location data,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. “By securing a first-ever ban on the use and sale of sensitive location data, the FTC is continuing its critical work to protect Americans from intrusive data brokers and unchecked corporate surveillance.”
And, as Wyden believes, unchecked, and unconstitutional, federal government surveillance as well.
Not that the feds are going to clean up their act anytime soon. On the contrary, they think buying all this data is perfectly legal and – of course – essential to protecting the country:
...the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security, Ronald Moultrie, said that the Department of Defense (DoD) “adheres to high standards of privacy and civil liberties protections” when buying Americans' location data. He also said that he was “not aware of any requirement in US law or judicial opinion” forcing the DoD to “obtain a court order in order to acquire, access, or use” commercially available information that “is equally available for purchase to foreign adversaries, US companies, and private persons as it is to the US government.”
In another response to Wyden, NSA leader General Paul Nakasone told Wyden that the “NSA takes steps to minimize the collection of US person information” and “continues to acquire only the most useful data relevant to mission requirements.” That includes some commercially available information on Americans “where one side of the communications is a US Internet Protocol address and the other is located abroad,” data which Nakasone said is “critical to protecting the US Defense Industrial Base” that sustains military weapons systems.
In other words, laws are for little people, and not the federal security state (which is above, outside, and wholly unaccountable to such pitiful things as warrants and the Fourth Amendment).
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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