The court’s opinion, dated August 29 and made public Tuesday, stated that the court was aware of the disclosures made by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden but reaffirmed that the controversial data collection program falls within the parameters of the law. Judge Claire Eagan of the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (also known as the FISA court), the same court that ruled the NSA may carry out the data collection, wrote the opinion. “The court concludes that there are facts showing reasonable grounds to believe that the records sought are relevant to authorized investigations,” Eagan stated. She is one of 11 judges serving on the panel. “This court is mindful that this matter comes before it at a time when unprecedented disclosures have been made about this and other highly sensitive programs designed to obtain foreign intelligence information and carry out counter-terrorism investigations,” she continued in a veiled reference to Snowden. The Guardian newspaper first published the existence of the phone data collection program in June. The revelations are reportedly the first of thousands of pages that are still in the process of being released to the public. The program in question stores “metadata,” including numbers called, as well as the time and length of calls dating back as far as seven years. US officials claim the metadata harvesting excludes the names of the callers and the content of the interaction. Earlier this week, FISA court Judge Dennis F. Saylor ordered the White House to declassify more of the surveillance court’s decisions, specifically under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which grants the government broad powers to monitor American citizens. The ruling comes in response to a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, and calls on the White house to release the decisions by October 4. “The unauthorized disclosure in June 2013 of a Section 215 order, and government statements in response to that disclosure, have endangered considerable public interest and debate about Section 215,” Saylor wrote. “Publication of FISC opinions relating to this opinion would contribute to an informed debate.” The only phone company known to be turning over data to the NSA is Verizon, although internet companies including Facebook, Google, and Microsoft are legally required to supply data as well. Each of the 11 judges, and another three who sit on FISA’s Court of Review, are required each year to disclose their income and financial investments. In the years since the phone collection was authorized, multiple judges have admitted to owning stock in the very telecommunications giant that the government extracts data from. Judge Thomas F. Hogan, appointed to the FISA court in 2009, disclosed between $15,000 and $50,000 in stock with both AT&T and Verizon. At least two other judges admitted similar investments. … Read More
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