NSA Wiretapping

The agency known as the NSA (National Security Agency) has been in the hot seat in the past few years due to the exposure of the NSA using wiretapping illegally to spy in on conversations both domestic and worldwide. This wiretapping was done and clearly infringes on the people’s right to privacy as classified within the “the fourth amendment [that] appears to establish specific rules for the protection of rights to ownership, and makes plain that warrants be issued by a detached and impartial judge with reasonable cause” (Elder, Willie J., Jr.). The NSA has also had its hand in using companies to acquire information and citizens have raised their concerns with their methods of warrantless wiretaps. Court cases for example the case of Jewel v. NSA, 08-cv-04373 (N.D. California) where citizens complained and felt that “their constitutional rights were violated by the United States government through unauthorized surveillance of their telephone and internet activity by the National Security Agency (NSA) and other government actors under the “Terrorist Surveillance Program” or TSP” (“08-cv-04373.”).

The NSA in its website says that its object is “The NSA/CSS core missions are to protect U.S. national security systems and to produce foreign signals intelligence information” (http://www.nsa.gov/) it does not mention its intent to conduct domestic surveillance on private citizens of the United States. This Administrative agency was created “NSA was established on November 4, 1952, by order of President Harry Truman” (National Security Agency / Central Security Service — Top Banner Frequently asked questions). The NSA is meant for the protection of our nation by gathering intelligence from foreign sources. The National Security Agency: Missions, Authorities, Oversight and Partnerships states “NSA is an element of the U.S. intelligence community charged with collecting and reporting intelligence for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes” (“National Security Agency”). The power which the NSA “stems from two key sources: Executive Order 12333 and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA)” (“National Security Agency”). Executive Order 12333 gives the NSA its’ foundational principal to collect information on foreign intelligence. “The principal application of this authority is the collection of communications by foreign persons that occur wholly outside the United States” (“National Security Agency”) this gives the NSA full rights to do whatever may be necessary to obtain information that will ensure the safety of the United States from foreign attacks. The second source of the NSA’s power is Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) this act is used to regulate how and what information the NSA gathers its information. However in 2008 a law was enacted that allowed for the NSA to gain a very controversial power, “FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (FAA) — the surveillance law that gives the NSA virtually unfettered access to the international phone calls and emails of U.S. citizens and residents” (Toomey, Patrick C.). This new amendment to the FISA “ includes a divisive element that Mr. Bush had deemed essential: legal immunity for the phone companies that cooperated in the National Security Agency wiretapping program he approved after the Sept. 11 attacks” (“Timeline of NSA Domestic Spying | Electronic Frontier Foundation”). This new and exponential growth of the NSA’s power came with many concerns from the people of the United States as it starts to invade the privacy of the private citizen.

Movements and court cases have been started because of this amendment one of which was the ACLU. This organization also known as the American Civil Liberties Union put in a motion on behalf of the first man who was affected by this amendment, Jamshid Muhtorov, in which the NSA “is using the law to engage in dragnet surveillance, siphoning communications off the Internet backbone and also collecting them directly from companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and others” (Toomey, Patrick C.). On their website they have an article in which states their reasons as to why they are looking for the removal of this amendment:

“The FAA violates the Fourth Amendment because it authorizes surveillance that violates the warrant clause and, independently, because it authorizes surveillance that is unreasonable. The statute also violates Article III by requiring judges to issue advisory opinions in the absence of a case or controversy. The procedural deficiencies of the FAA render the statute unconstitutional, and they render the surveillance of Mr. Muhtorov unconstitutional as well.” (Toomey, Patrick C.).

The organizations argument is strong in the fact that this amendment does clearly violate the 4th amendment which prohibits the unlawful search and seizure without reasonable cause and a warrant. Also, Jewel v. NSA “this case involves claims by numerous citizens that their constitutional rights were violated by the United States government through unauthorized surveillance of their telephone and internet activity by the National Security Agency (NSA) and other government actors under the “Terrorist Surveillance Program” or TSP” (“08-cv-04373.”). The plaintiffs in this case where claiming “this was done in concert with major telecommunications companies and outside of the procedures of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and without authorization by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC)” (“08-cv-04373.”). This being in direct violation on the part of the NSA in which as stated that the NSA relies on FISA authorizations to acquire significant foreign intelligence information and that FISA authorizations are consistent with the statute, as well as the U.S. Constitution, including the Fourth Amendment. “Evidence in the case includes undisputed documents provided by former AT&T telecommunications technician Mark Klein showing AT&T has routed copies of Internet traffic to a secret room in San Francisco controlled by the NSA” (“Federal Judge Allows EFF’s NSA Mass Spying Case to Proceed | Electronic Frontier Foundation.”) showing that big name companies where being tapped into.

In a statement made by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in 2012 said in agreement that “the head of the U.S. government’s vast spying apparatus has conceded that recent surveillance efforts on at least one occasion violated the Constitutional prohibitions on unlawful search and seizure” (Ackerman, Spencer). An article about the statement reveals further that “the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court found that “minimization procedures” used by the government while it was collecting intelligence were “unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment.”(Ackerman, Spencer). The term Minimization is the amount of time that the government can hold on to the surveillance data it collects. To admit this fault is one of the main steps that may one day allow us to return to a society in which we can have our privacy back.

We as citizens of the United States live in a world of freedom because long ago our fore-fathers became fed up with a government that attempted to control them too much. They felt that they deserved simple rights and freedoms as human beings. A right to both privacy and fairness when it came to legal proceedings are just a few. We certainly have come a very long way since the days of colonialism and live in a technologically advanced society the likes of which the original writers of the Constitution never could of dreamed of. However with all the advancements that we have in our modern day world doesn’t mean we need to return to the days of strict monitoring and unjust methods. The NSA’s illegal wiretappings threaten our rights to be able to communicate not because it silences them, but by the way it can inflict fear into the people’s minds. This event has created an impact on the way that laws may be more closely examined in the future to allow us to be able to communicate more freely and not have to worry about big brother watching us. And in the words of George Orwell “Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.” So let us be the wiser generation and establish a world where the future can really bloom in a nation of freedom.