New Docs: ‘Primary Source’ Of NSA’s Spying Power Is A 33-Year-Old Executive Order By Ronald Reagan

[kpete]

Newly released documents prove the U.S. National Security Agency’s spying power overseas primarily comes from a 33-year-old executive order signed by then President Ronald Reagan:

The American Civil Liberties Union obtained a series of internal papers from intelligence agencies including the NSA and Defense Intelligence Agency detailing how integral Reagan’s 1981 order is to the NSA’s current surveillance program. The order broadly allows the government to collect data from any company that is believed to have ties to foreign organizations. It also complicates the path forward for intelligence reforms in Congress.

Previous reports acknowledge the order’s use as a foundation for some of the NSA’s surveillance programs such as gaining backdoor access to tech companies’ data centers. But the new documents, which were released as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit the ACLU and other civil liberties advocates filed just before Edward Snowden’s leaks to the media, show Executive Order 12333 is the “primary source” authority when it comes to the NSA’s foreign spy programs.

“Because the executive branch issued and now implements the executive order all on its own, the programs operating under the order are subject to essentially no oversight from Congress or the courts,” Alex Abdo, a staff attorney for the ACLU wrote in a blog post.

Compared to section 215 of the Patriot Act, which would let intelligence agencies gather lists of incoming and outgoing calls from telecommunication companies, Reagan’s order has lax constraints on bulk data collection on U.S. citizens. As long as the communications data is stored internationally, the NSA can collect it. Federal law enforcement agencies can also get data stored overseas but first need a search warrant.



MORE:
https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/new-documents-shed-light-one-nsas-most-powerful-tools
http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/09/30/3573647/reagan-nsa-order/

[hedda_foil]

1. The two links above got smooshed together. Try this.

https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/new-documents-shed-light-one-nsas-most-powerful-tools.

[kpete]

2. thanks

and please excuse my arthritic fingers...


peace to you hedda_foil,
kp

[hedda_foil]

3. And peace to you as well, kpete

Hedda

[underpants]

4. 12333

Kicking and rec

[Xithras]

5. If that's the case...

...then Obama can eliminate the spying with a single stroke of his pen. Authority granted by one Executive Order can be revoked by another, and the Congressional Republicans don't get any say in the matter.

So the question is: Will he use his lawful and legal authority to end the spying, or will he stand complicit in one of the greatest abuses of power in American history?