Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said lawmakers should “thoroughly...
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said lawmakers should “thoroughly investigate” and “promptly pass legislation” to rein in the NSA’s top-secret XKeyscore program, in a news release Thursday. The program, whose existence was revealed in a Guardian article published online late Wednesday…
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(http://bit.ly/15aTRpw), permits NSA analysts to search and access Internet traffic data including user emails, chats and browsing history. Barton said lawmakers were “assured that the NSA was only collecting unidentifiable metadata that could only be accessed after a warrant was issued. The truth is that by filling out a simple online form analysts could search your emails, your online chats and even your browsing history without prior authorization. This is a violation of your privacy, a violation of the 4th Amendment, and it is just wrong,” Barton said. Separately, the chairman and ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee said the disclosure of XKeyscore “provides a completely inaccurate picture of the program,” in a joint news release. “The program does not target American citizens,” said Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and Ranking Member Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md. “Further, the program referenced in the story is not used for indiscriminate monitoring of the Internet, as many falsely believe. Rather, the program is simply a tool used by our intelligence analysts to better understand foreign intelligence, including terrorist targets overseas. Finally, the story also once again ignores the legal constraints, comprehensive training, and layers of oversight built into all NSA programs. Every search on the program by an NSA analyst is fully auditable to ensure it is done within the law,” Rogers and Ruppersberger said.