USA/FILE: The American Civil Liberties Union calls the latest NSA surveillance program an example of "U.S. government overreach" and "bulk collection that sweeps up a lot of innocent people"

Record ID: 838329

  • Title: USA/FILE: The American Civil Liberties Union calls the latest NSA surveillance program an example of "U.S. government overreach" and "bulk collection that sweeps up a lot of innocent people"
  • Date: 19th March 2014
  • Summary: WASHINGTON D.C. UNITED STATES (MARCH 19, 2014) (REUTERS) WIDE OF MICHELLE RICHARDSON, AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION (ACLU) LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL, WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHELLE RICHARDSON, ACLU LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL, SAYING: "Well, we are concerned that this is another example of U.S. government overreach and that instead of really targeting its very powerful surveillance authorities on terrorists and spies, that they are doing this bulk collection that sweeps up a lot of innocent people. So, if they are targeting an entire country's phone calls, collecting and recording them, and searching through them later that doesn't just violate the privacy of people in that country- but the Americans that communicate with them." WIDE OF RICHARDSON SEATED DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHELLE RICHARDSON, ACLU LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL, SAYING: "These sorts of programs are completely consistent with what the Bush, and now the Obama administration, has claimed is their authority- especially when they are operating overseas, they feel there are no limitations on the type of information they collect. So this is consistent with their long held beliefs. And it's probably just the tip of the iceberg. There are probably other countries that are going to be subject to this, there are probably other programs that have not been revealed yet that are doing this mass data collection overseas." WIDE OF RICHARDSON SEATED DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHELLE RICHARDSON, ACLU LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL, SAYING: "But overall we need to completely rejigger the system. We need to stop doing this bulk, suspicion-less information collection on everybody all the time. We need to go back to more targeted programs that really trace terrorists and spies and leave the rest of innocent people alone."
  • Embargoed: 3rd April 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVADC1IPSPPLZ4M1Q752N944PYLA
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has condemned and expressed concern Wednesday (March 19) over the latest NSA surveillance program known as MYSTIC.
    A day earlier, The Washington Post newspaper reported that the U.S. National Security Agency created a surveillance system that is recording all the phone calls in an undisclosed foreign country, allowing it to play back any conversation up to 30 days later.
    The newspaper cited unnamed sources with direct knowledge of the system as well as documents supplied by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who since last year has leaked extensive data revealing sweeping American spying activities.
    At the ACLU office in Washington D.C., Legislative Counsel, Michelle Richardson, called it another example of U.S. government overreach.

    "We are concerned that this is another example of U.S. government overreach and that instead of really targeting its very powerful surveillance authorities on terrorists and spies, that they are doing this bulk collection that sweeps up a lot of innocent people," Richardson said in an interview with Reuters TV. "So, if they are targeting an entire country's phone calls, collecting and recording them, and searching through them later that doesn't just violate the privacy of people in that country- but the Americans that communicate with them."
    The Washing Post newspaper said that at the request of U.S. officials, it was withholding details that could be used to identify the nation where the system is being used or others where it might be used in the future. The Post cited documents that envisioned similar U.S. spying operations in other nations.
    The voice interception program is known as MYSTIC and started in 2009, with its "retrospective retrieval" capability, called RETRO, reaching full strength in 2011 against the first target nation, the Post reported.
    A classified summary of the system said the collection effort was recording "every single" conversation nationwide in the first target country, storing billions of conversations in a 30-day rolling buffer that clears out the oldest calls as new ones are made, the Post reported.
    A senior manager for the program likened it to a time machine that can replay voices from any phone call without the need to identify a person for spying in advance, the newspaper reported.
    The Post said that no other disclosed NSA program captures a nation's telephone network in its entirety.
    Current and former U.S. officials quoted anonymously by the Post said large numbers of conversations involving Americans would be gathered using the system.
    Richardson said the latest revelation was troubling, but not surprising.

    "These sorts of programs are completely consistent with what the Bush, and now the Obama administration, has claimed is their authority- especially when they are operating overseas, they feel there are no limitations on the type of information they collect," she said. "So this is consistent with their long held beliefs. And it's probably just the tip of the iceberg."
    Richardson said there will probably be other countries that are or will be involved in this. She also called for a complete overhaul of the system
    "Overall we need to completely rejigger the system. We need to stop doing this bulk, suspicion-less information collection on everybody all the time. We need to go back to more targeted programs that really trace terrorists and spies and leave the rest of innocent people alone," she said.
    President Barrack Obama on January, 17 began reining in the vast collection of Americans' phone data and banned U.S. eavesdropping on the leaders of close allies in a series of limited reforms triggered by the revelations from numerous documents leaked by Edward Snowden.
    Snowden last year fled to Hong Kong and then to Russia, where he has been granted asylum. The United States wants him returned to face criminal prosecution.
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