NSA collected phone data it was not authorized to obtain, months after it admitted over-collecting hundreds of millions of files due to 'technical irregularities'
- In 2018 the NSA disclosed it had over-collected hundreds of millions of metadata
- The metadata was of calls and texts sent within the U.S. but not of conversations
- It has now emerged that a similar issue occurred several months afterwards too
- An undisclosed number of cellular data files were recorded, documents reveal
- 'These documents only confirm that this surveillance program is beyond redemption and should be shut down for good,' attorney Patrick Toomey said
The NSA's much maligned phone data collection program was dealt another blow Wednesday, after it emerged it had collected call and text records it wasn't authorized to obtain - the second time such an incident has occurred.
The error, which took place last October, happened several months after the agency said it had purged hundreds of millions of metadata records it had over-collected since 2015, following a similar incident.
Metadata include the numbers and time stamps of calls or texts but does not contain the contents of the conversation.
The error, which took place last October, happened several months after the agency said it had purged hundreds of millions of metadata records it had over-collected since 2015, following a similar incident (NSA HQ in Fort Meade, Florida)
When the initial error was disclosed, the NSA said it had addressed the 'root cause' of the issue, however, information obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union indicated a similar over-collection occurred just a few months later.
'These documents only confirm that this surveillance program is beyond redemption and should be shut down for good,' Patrick Toomey, an ACLU staff attorney, said in a statement.
'The NSA's collection of Americans' call records is too sweeping, the compliance problems too many, and evidence of the program's value all but nonexistent. There is no justification for leaving this surveillance power in the NSA's hands.'
The NSA said in a statement: 'The technical irregularities that led NSA to delete data last summer were identified and addressed,' an NSA spokesperson said in a statement.
'Since that time, NSA identified additional data integrity and compliance concerns caused by the unique complexities of using company-generated business records for intelligence purposes.'
However, the NSA failed to offer additional information about why the October incident was not declared in the same way as the one several months prior, in June.
It is also unclear how many files were recorded in the second incident, although the agency said their effect on privacy was likely 'limited' given their quick identification.
'While NSA lawfully sought data pertaining to a foreign power engaged in international terrorism, the provider produced inaccurate data and data beyond which NSA sought,' the NSA said.
It appears the data was collected, like in the previous situation, by a telecommunications firm which furnished call-data records that the NSA had not requested and were not approved by the Secretive U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
The company, whose name is redacted, told the NSA it began delivering those records on Ocober 3, 2018, until that Oct. 12, when the agency asked it investigate the 'anomaly.'
The ACLU said the documents also suggest an individual may have been targeted for surveillance as a result of the first overcollection episode, which led to the deletion of the program's entire database in June 2018, according to the WSJ.
