indexLast June, a bombshell intelligence leak by Edward Snowden revealed a massive domestic surveillance program by the National Security Agency. Snowden, then an employee of the NSA defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, leaked the details of the NSA program to the British national daily news organization and the Washington Post.   

Various disclosures revealed the extent of the NSA massive “metadata” collection of all phone calls within and to the United States.  Last month, U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III, in Manhattan, sided with the government in his decision, calling the collection program a “vital tool” to combat terrorism. It represents the government’s “counter-punch” against the diffuse networks that connect modern terrorist groups such as al Qaeda, stating is his opinion.

A different federal judge in the District of Columbia took the opposite opinion and stating, the program “almost certainly” violates the Constitution.”

The often used reference giving the government bulk collection of phone calls authority was the court’s interpretation of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, and Smith V Maryland- U.S. Supreme Court Case of 1979. The case spoke of the “legitimate expectation of privacy,” this ultimately will be decided by the U.S. Supreme court.

It is well to note the authors of the Patriot Act never contemplated or envisioned the “metadata” collection of millions of American citizens.

Facing mounting public anger from all sides, President Obama spoke today on what National Security Agency intelligence reforms he would be implementing.

This places the president in a difficult position, as candidate for president he often criticized then President Bush for warrantless wire-tapping of phone calls.

As president “I will provide our intelligence and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to track and take out the terrorists without undermining our constitution and our freedom. That means no more illegal wiretapping of American citizens. No more National Security Letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime. No more tracking citizens who do nothing more than protest a misguided war. No more ignoring the law when it is inconvenient. That is not who we are. That is not what is necessary to defeat the terrorists.”

Now, President Obama expanded the NSA program and the leak by Snowden created a firestorm of controversy both here in the United States and around the world.  Since the leaks were first made public it has been revealed the NSA program has tapped into the phones of many foreign leaders and collect data on millions across the globe.

In his speech, the president did not make any sweeping changes. He mentioned that since becoming president, “We increased oversight and auditing, including new structures aimed at compliance.  Improved rules were proposed by the government and approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.  And we sought to keep Congress continually updated on these activities.”

One of the president’s recommendations is to have outside privacy advocates provide independent voice to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.  He also mentioned to have a third party retain the bulk records and the government accessing the information as needed, but never stipulated who would hold these record.  The phone companies want to distance themselves as far as possible from this.

Proponents of the NSA program such as Republican Congressman Peter King of New York, support the surveillance program as a necessary tool in in protecting U.S. national security in the fight against international terrorism.

A balance has to be drawn against the protection of U.S. national security and the privacy rights of individual Americans; eventually the U.S. Supreme Court will be the ultimate arbitrator! 

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