WASHINGTON — An independent federal privacy watchdog has concluded that the National Security Agency’s
program to collect bulk phone call records has provided only “minimal”
benefits in counterterrorism efforts, is illegal and should be shut
down.
The
findings are laid out in a 238-page report, scheduled for release by
Thursday and obtained by The New York Times, that represent the first
major public statement by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight
Board, which Congress made an independent agency in 2007 and only
recently became fully operational.
The
report is likely to inject a significant new voice into the debate over
surveillance, underscoring that the issue was not settled by a high-profile speech President Obama gave last week. Mr. Obama consulted with the board, along with a separate review group
that last month delivered its own report about surveillance policies.
But while he said in his speech that he was tightening access to the
data and declared his intention to find a way to end government
collection of the bulk records, he said the program’s capabilities
should be preserved.
The
Obama administration has portrayed the bulk collection program as
useful and lawful while at the same time acknowledging concerns about
privacy and potential abuse. But in its report, the board lays out what
may be the most detailed critique of the government’s once-secret legal
theory behind the program: that a law known as Section 215 of the Patriot Act,
which allows the F.B.I. to obtain business records deemed “relevant” to
an investigation, can be legitimately interpreted as authorizing the
N.S.A. to collect all calling records in the country.
The
program “lacks a viable legal foundation under Section 215, implicates
constitutional concerns under the First and Fourth Amendments, raises
serious threats to privacy and civil liberties as a policy matter, and
has shown only limited value,” the report said. “As a result, the board
recommends that the government end the program.”
Members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, a federal
panel, at a workshop about surveillance held in a Washington hotel last
summer.
Christopher Gregory for The New York Times
