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NEW REPORT REVIEWS NSA ACCESS TO PHONE RECORDS

By Carl Rauscher | Thursday, May 18, 2006, 12:42 PM

The secret National Security Agency database of billions of phone calls made by ordinary Americans raises a host of thorny legal issues, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service.

Secrecy News, an on-line newsletter highlighting government secrecy issues, obtained a copy of the report. The report is timely because the Senate Intelligence Committee is debating today whether to approve General Michael V. Hayden, the former NSA director, to be the new head of the CIA.

“The factual information available in the public domain with respect to any such alleged program is limited and in some instances inconsistent,” the CRS report states. “And the application, if at all, of any possibly relevant statutory provisions to any such program is likely to be a very fact specific inquiry.”

Having said that, the CRS explains that there are several statutes that may be pertinent and that could conceivably entail civil or criminal penalties for telephone companies that provide information to the government without statutory authorization, wrote Steve Aftergood, the author of Secrecy News.

“This [CRS] report …summarize[s] statutory authorities regarding access by the Government, for either foreign intelligence or law enforcement purposes, to information related to telephone calling patterns or practices. Where pertinent, we will also discuss statutory prohibitions against accessing or disclosing such information, along with relevant exceptions to those prohibitions.”

See “Government Access to Phone Calling Activity and Related Records: Legal Authorities,” May 17, 2006:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/RL33424.pdf

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