• A copy of a  secret order shows that the National Security Agency ordered Verizon to hand  over millions of phone records with no explanation
• Order  extends from until July 19 and includes domestic and foreign  calls
• Nearly  150million Verizon customers could be affected by the court  order
• Even more  had their email and social networking accounts recorded
• Comes just  after news of the Department of Justice spying on  journalists

By  Associated Press and Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 23:57 EST, 6 June  2013 |  UPDATED: 00:09  EST, 7 June 2013

 

Not good: Director of National Intelligence James  Clapper warned that the leak of top secret documents proving government  oversight over personal records could cause serious national security  issues

The top U.S. intelligence official denounced  the disclosure of highly secret documents Thursday and sought to set the record  straight about how the government collects intelligence about people’s telephone  and Internet use.

He said he was declassifying some aspects of  the monitoring to help Americans understand it better.

Director of National Intelligence James  Clapper called the disclosure of an Internet surveillance program  ‘reprehensible’ and said it risks Americans’ security.

He said a leak that revealed a program to  collect phone records would affect how America’s enemies behave and make it  harder to understand their intentions.

‘The unauthorized disclosure of a top secret  U.S. court document threatens potentially long-lasting and irreversible harm to  our ability to identify and respond to the many threats facing our nation,’  Clapper said in an unusual late-night statement.

At the same time, he moved to correct  misunderstandings about both programs, taking the rare step of declassifying  some details about the authority used in the phone records program and alleging  that articles about the Internet program ‘contain numerous inaccuracies.’

He did not specify what those inaccuracies  might be.

At issue is a court order, first disclosed  Wednesday by The Guardian newspaper in Britain, that requires the communications  company Verizon to turn over on an ‘ongoing, daily basis’ the records of its  customers’ calls. Separately, The Washington Post and The Guardian reported  Thursday the existence of another program used by the NSA and FBI that scours  the nation’s main Internet companies, extracting audio, video, emails and other  information.

 

Spying: The NSA has been getting millions of phone  records from Verizon on a daily basis for months without any justification for  the order, that was only revealed today

 

‘The unauthorized disclosure of a top secret U.S. court  document threatens potentially long-lasting and irreversible harm to our ability  to identify and respond to the many threats facing our nation,’ Clapper said  Thursday

Clapper said the Internet program, known as  PRISM, can’t be used to intentionally target any Americans or anyone in the U.S.

He said a special court, Congress and the  executive branch all oversee the program and that extensive procedures make sure  the acquisition, retention and dissemination of data accidentally collected  about Americans is kept to a minimum.

He added that Congress recently reauthorized  the section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that authorizes such a  program.

‘Information collected under this program is  among the most important and valuable foreign intelligence information we  collect, and is used to protect our nation from a wide variety of threats,’  Clapper said.

Clapper acknowledged the risks inherent in  publicly discussing details about the phone records program but said he wanted  to correct the ‘misleading impression’ created by the article that disclosed its  existence.

 

Double bind: Part of the order mandated that Verizon not  tell its’ customer’s about the record transfer nor could they admit that the  order existed

‘I believe it is important for the  American  people to understand the limits of this targeted  counterterrorism program and  the principles that govern its use.’

To that end, Clapper said he was  immediately  declassifying and releasing to the public certain details  about the FISA  provision that governs the program.

A special panel known as the FISA  Court  authorizes the phone records program and reviews it about every 90 days, Clapper  said, adding that the Justice Department oversees  information acquired under  the court order and that members of Congress  have been fully and repeatedly  briefed.

He said only a small fraction of the  records  collected ever get examined because most are unrelated to any  inquiries into  terrorism activities.

The NSA collects the phone data in  broad  swaths, Clapper said, because collecting it a narrow fashion would make it  harder to identify terrorism-related communications.

 

Wide-reaching: Millions of Verizon customers had their  data turned over to the NSA, and it is not known whether similar orders were  given to other phone companies as well

 

Lashing out: Former Vice President Al Gore called the  surveillance ‘outrageous’, not supporting his fellow Democrats

 

Timing: The revelation comes the same day as President  Obama announced his appointment of Susan Rice (right) to be the new head of the  NSA, replacing Tom Donilon (center)

He said the information collected lets the  government, over time, make connections about terrorist activities. He said the  program doesn’t let the U.S. listen to people’s calls, but  only includes  information like call length and telephone numbers dialed.

The court also prohibits the  government from  indiscriminately rummaging through the phone data, which he said can only be  queried when there are specific facts to back up a  reasonable suspicion of an  association with a foreign terrorist group.

He says officials allowed to access the  records must be specially cleared and are trained in the court-approved  procedures.

Clapper also cited the USA Patriot Act and  noted both the Obama and Bush administrations had reauthorized the  provision  used to grant authority to the program. That provision deals  with the ability  to compel an entity to hand over business records.

Warning: Senators Mark Udall (left) and Ron Wyden  (right) wrote a letter warning the Attorney General that there would be public  outcry should the government’s actions become public

When the first revelation in the case came  out Wednesday night about the order against Verizon, The American Civil  Liberties Union  put out an immediate statement calling for an end to the  program – which  is scheduled to run until July 19 – and a investigation into  the order.

‘From a civil liberties perspective,  the  program could hardly be any more alarming,’ ACLU deputy legal  director Jameel  Jaffer said in a statement.

‘It’s a program in which some untold  number  of innocent people have been put under the constant surveillance  of government  agents.

‘It is beyond Orwellian, and it provides  further evidence of the extent to which basic democratic rights are being  surrendered in secret to the demands of unaccountable intelligence  agencies.’

The order is the first concrete evidence that  U.S. intelligence officials are continuing a broad campaign of domestic  surveillance that began under President George W. Bush and caused great  controversy when it was first exposed.

In 2005, the New York Times reported that the  NSA was wiretapping Americans without warrants on international calls. Los  Angeles Times and USA Today later reported that the agency also had unchecked  access to records on domestic calls.

In addition, a former AT&T technician,  Mark Klein, said that a room accessible only with NSA clearance in the carrier’s  main San Francisco hub received perfect copies of all  transmissions.

Verizon is the second biggest U.S. telephone  company behind AT&T in terms of revenue. The vast majority of Verizon’s  overseas operations come from its acquisition of MCI Communications, which is  also covered by the order although foreign-to-foreign calls are exempted from  it.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2337265/Leak-NSA-order-Verizon-cause-irreversible-harm-national-security-says-intelligence-officer.html#ixzz2VVYaKkti Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Categories: Cyber Security

Tags: Director of National Intelligence, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Guardian, James R. Clapper, National Security Agency, NSA, United States, Verizon