Board declares NSA data sweep illegal, says program should be ended

from Fox News:

An independent board tasked with reviewing National Security Agency surveillance called Thursday for the government to end its mass data collection program and "purge" its files, declaring the program illegal in a major challenge to President Obama. 

The president did not go nearly as far when he called last week for ending government control of phone data collected from hundreds of millions of Americans. In its report, obtained by Fox News and scheduled for release Thursday afternoon, The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) said the program ran afoul of the law on several fronts. 

"The ... bulk telephone records program lacks a viable legal foundation," the board's report said, adding that it raises "serious threats to privacy and civil liberties" and has "only limited value." 

"As a result, the Board recommends that the government end the program," the panel wrote. 

It remains to be seen whether Obama will accept all or part of the recommendations, but the findings could nevertheless be used as leverage in federal lawsuits against NSA spying. 

The report concluded that the NSA collection raises "constitutional concerns" with regard to U.S. citizens' rights of speech, association and privacy. 

"The connections revealed by the extensive database of telephone records gathered under the program will necessarily include relationships established among individuals and groups for political, religious, and other expressive purposes," it said. "Compelled disclosure to the government of information revealing these associations can have a chilling effect on the exercise of First Amendment rights." 

The panel added that the program "implicates constitutional concerns under the First and Fourth Amendments." 

read more here: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/01/23/independent-federal-review-board-says-nsa-phone-data-collection-program-should/

Liberal New York Times editorial board says Obama administration has 'lost all credibility'

article below from Fox News:

The New York Times editorial board, which twice endorsed President Obama and has championed many planks of his agenda, on Thursday turned on the president over the government's mass collection of phone data -- saying the administration has "lost all credibility."
The grey lady's editorial section lately has shown frustration with the administration's civil liberties record. It has criticized the escalation of the lethal drone program, and it lashed out after the Justice Department acknowledged seizing reporters' phone records last month.
The report that the National Security Agency has been collecting phone records from millions of Verizon subscribers appeared to be the last straw.
An editorial published late Thursday said the administration was using the "same platitude" it uses in every case of overreach -- that "terrorists are a real menace and you should just trust us."
The editorial continued: "Those reassurances have never been persuasive -- whether on secret warrants to scoop up a news agency's phone records or secret orders to kill an American suspected of terrorism -- especially coming from a president who once promised transparency and accountability. The administration has now lost all credibility."
The New York Times, overnight, amended the last line to say: "The administration has now lost all credibility on this issue."
The editorial board claimed Obama "is proving the truism that the executive will use any power it is given and very likely abuse it."
The language was a far cry from the Times' Oct. 23, 2008, endorsement of then-candidate Obama. At the time, the Times praised Obama's "cool head and sound judgment," and said he was "putting real flesh on his early promises of hope and change."
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle voiced concern on Thursday about the records collection effort. It was first reported by The Guardian newspaper, which obtained a copy of a secret court order allowing the government to collect phone call information - though not monitor the calls themselves -- directly from Verizon. Civil liberties-conscious lawmakers like Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., cried foul, as did the American Civil Liberties Union.


Read rest of article here: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/06/new-york-times-editorial-board-says-administration-has-lost-all-credibility/#ixzz2WgSerNko