The National Security Agency has released its records detailing privacy violations against innocent Americans during its widespread phone and Internet surveillance that followed the 9/11 terror attacks.
Under an executive order, the agency had to file quarterly and annual reports covering its activities from 2001 to 2013 with the President’s Intelligence Oversight Board, according to
The Wall Street Journal.
The reports were released this week, albeit heavily redacted, after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
"By emphasizing accountability across all levels of the enterprise, and transparently reporting errors and violations to outside oversight authorities, NSA protects privacy and civil liberties while safeguarding the nation and our allies," the agency said in a statement.
But Patrick Toomey, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Security Project, said the documents showed "how the NSA has misused the information it collects over the past decade" and also proved that there is "an urgent need for greater oversight by all three branches of government."
The records revealed that American citizens, residents and businesses had their communications "inadvertently targeted or collected" by agency analysts.
The reports also listed "overly broad or poorly constructed data queries that potentially targeted" people in the U.S.
In one case of misuse of government surveillance, a U.S. Army sergeant used an NSA system in 2009 "to target his wife," also a soldier, which resulted in punishment and reduction in rank.
In another instance, an analyst in 2011 "reported that, during the past two or three years, she had searched her spouse’s personal telephone directory without his knowledge to obtain names and telephone numbers for targeting," the Journal reported, citing one of the reports.
The NSA said the reports show most incidents "involve unintentional technical or human error."
But the agency added, "In the very few cases that involve the intentional misuse of a signals intelligence system, a thorough investigation is completed" while noting that "appropriate disciplinary or administrative action is taken."
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