In a letter [PDF] to Haines, Wyden (D-OR) said that not only are US intelligence agencies buying location data harvested from Americans’ smartphones that would normallyrequire a court order, but the NSA has been purchasing Americans’ domestic internet metadata, including their browsing habits.
The NSA for years has been intercepting phone metadata and internet communications through bulk data collection programs under Section 702 of the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Yet that promise means a lot less if authorities can conduct such searches through purchased data without seeking permission from a judge.
But recent action by the US Federal Trade Commission suggests that buying and selling of unlawfully obtained data will no longer be tolerated.
“Although the intelligence agencies’ warrantless purchase of Americans’ personal data is now a matter of public record, recent actions by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the primary federal privacy regulator, raise serious questions about the legality of this practice,” said Wyden.
Congress must adequately protect Americans’ online lives from NSA surveillance – regardless of whether the agency purchases data or intercepts it."
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