NSA not interested in American Users’ Surveillance
The National Security Agency of the United States has categorically stated that the organization is not at all interested in spying on American internet users.
This statement came from NSA’s security and civil liberties officer, Rebecca Richards, on Thursday, during a panel discussion.
“We are not interested in American citizens. We are looking for where our targets really are”, she said. The statement came in the wake of a new report, published by the Brennan Center for Justice. The report contains information about US spying trends, that have continued from the Reagan era till now. President Ronald Reagan passed an Executive Order 12333, during his time at the White House. The order was subsequently updated during the tenure of President George W. Bush.
The Executive Order 12333 includes provisions for foreign surveillance. It has got some implications for the US users’ privacy that could be greater for domestic users. There are many US internet users, who tend to communicate and engage in transaction of money in a foreign land. Hence, their information is stored overseas.
It is to be noted that NSA’s surveillance activities under the Executive Order 12333 are completely different as compared to the bulk of activities carried out under general surveillance instructions. The Executive Order 12333 is going to be updated in the later half of the year 2017.
The NSA officer has acknowledge the fact that the Order is for foreigners only, but it incidentally picks up the data about the US residents.
Meanwhile, Neema Singh Guliani, a lobbyist holds the point of view that Congress must look into agency’s activities, and should come up with strict privacy procedures for the Americans. This is an area where the legislative can play a part by having an infrastructure in place, as to how surveillance activities should be carried out, she opined.
Well, there seems to be no urgent changes in the NSA’s surveillance activities, but Americans should be well informed about their communication habits and money transactions from and to a foreign country.
