Trust us: Federal government urges judge not to pull plug on massive phone data collection program Lawyers for the government told a federal judge on Friday that he should defer to national security experts and refuse to pull the plug on the NSAs controversial phone data collection program. The NSA only uses the massive treasure trove of phone information for counter-terrorism investigations, not to look into the lives of everyday Americans, Stuart Delery said. But this has already been proven as an un=truth by other released documents. The data helps the feds find connections between known and unknown terrorists, he told Manhattan federal court Judge William Pauley. The American Civil Liberties Union had filed suit seeking to get the program pulled, charging it infringes on Americans’ right to privacy. If Pauley were to let the policy — revealed earlier this year by leaker extraordinaire Edward Snowden — remain in place, it could open the door for more intrusive actions by the government, argued ACLU lawyer Jameel Jaffer. If you accept the governments theory here, you are creating a dramatic expansion of the governments investigative power, Jaffer said. Delery countered that while the program was supposed to remain a secret, the feds made sure they werent trampling on anyones rights. He said the phone data collection, which he contends is authorized under the Patriot Act, was signed off on repeatedly by Congress, and 35 times by federal judges in secret proceedings. He also disputed the ACLUs contention that the governments access to the records constitute an improper search under the Fourth Amendment. Collecting them is not a search, he said. Then what is it? Theft? Taxes? Magic? The ACLU recommended the judge taken a common-sense approach. Most Americans would be shocked if strangers were collecting this information, and would not be reassured by their assertion theyre not reviewing them, said another of their lawyers, Alex Abdo. Pauley said he had a lot to think about and would rule at a later date.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 22:54:31 +0000