Surveillance: NSA Warrantless Wiretapping

The court fight between Apple and FBI over access to a terrorist iPhone is just the latest chapter in the long-running tension between security professionals trying to get access to information and communications companies who hold user data. The debate is often framed as a balance between government power and individual privacy. Frequently overlooked is the critical role of the communications companies, who as physical and legal gatekeepers regulate government access to private information.

On midnight of November 29th, the NSA stopped its bulk collection of telephony metadata once authorized under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. Under the USA Freedom Act, which Congress passed in June, the agency was required to reform its phone records program, creating a mechanism by which the data would be stored locally with the phone providers and searchable only after receiving an order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) for a "specific selection term."

There is a lot of bad blood between Silicon Valley companies and the intelligence community. It should not be surprising with what the NSA did to understand why Silicon Valley is pushing back so strongly, with encryption, with lawyers, and with any other tool at their disposal.

Today, the White House released a response to a petition to pardon Edward Snowden. The original petition, filed on June 9th, 2013, has received 167,954 signatures and reads:

Edward Snowden is a national hero and should be immediately issued a a full, free, and absolute pardon for any crimes he has committed or may have committed related to blowing the whistle on secret NSA surveillance programs.