The National Security Agency has been utilizing their massive data mining capacities to track and map the social connections of American citizens since 2010, according to The New York Times. The NSA’s reach extends beyond cataloging phone records — they collect and organize information from various insurance companies, bank codes and Facebook profiles to create sophisticated graphs of Americans’ associates and locations. Since the original leak by whistleblower Edward Snowden about the NSA’s controversial practices, the NSA has been defending their surveillance programs, claiming exclusive focus on foreign targets.
Prior to the shift in policy in November 2010, the NSA was constrained to inspecting the social connections of foreign nationals, circumnavigating any threat of intruding on the civil liberties of American citizens. But following a substantial policy change, the spy agency has insisted on the same justification for its actions. Asked about the analysis of American data, an agency spokeswoman asserted that “all data queries must include a foreign intelligence justification, period.” Using one justification for two very distinct policies exposes fallacious — or deceptive — grounds for increasingly grave accusations.
The new leak adds to a recent string of espionage allegations concerning foreign countries, particularly Brazil. Last week, Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff opened the UN General Assembly, condemning the United States over allegations including the interceptions of her emails, as well as those of her aides and the state oil company Petrobras. Rousseff rejected the American position that the interceptions were aimed at protecting countries against terrorism. She declared Brazil would adopt legislative and technical measures against alleged illegal surveillance.
As more ugly details surface about NSA programs, security officials have adopted a narrative intended to distract from their violations, one that belittles the press for speaking truth to power. Last week at the Senate Intelligence Committee, Gen. Keith Alexander lambasted the media’s “sensational headlines” for public sentiment that the NSA infringes on civil liberties. This misplaced blame shows why Americans have lost faith in the NSA, not only for abusing its power and neglecting to secure confidential information, but for decrying the media for revealing these travesties.
The fundamental flaw with an intelligence agency as secretive as the NSA — which is still not subject to an effective system of checks and balances — is that it is in an unprecedented position of power to know everything about U.S. citizens, but citizens are prohibited from knowing anything about them. For presumed national security reasons, the NSA has not verified whether their massive, growing metadata pile is working to counter terrorism. If collecting mass amounts of public and private information without meaningful justification is keeping Americans safer, show us.
A version of this article appeared in the Monday, Sept. 30 print edition. Email the WSN Editorial Board at [email protected].
