NSA phone data collecting is illegal and should stop, says privacy board

A new report from an independent federal privacy watchdog group says that the National Security Agency’s program to collect bulk phone records is illegal and should stop. The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board also said that the program has barely helped stop acts of terrorism.

The report comes just days after President Barack Obama again said that the program is helpful and outlined a proposal to take the program out of the NSA’s hands. However, the report says that the program should be stopped immediately.

According to The New York Times, the report points out that Section 215 in the Patriot Act gives the FBI the right to have business records considered “relevant” to an investigation. The panel, which was created by Congress in 2007, said that this section essentially gives the NSA the ability to gather all phone records in the U.S.

So, the program “lacks a viable legal foundation under Section 215, implicates constitutional concerns under the First and Fourth Amendments, raises serious threats to privacy and civil liberties as a policy matter, and has shown only limited value,” the report reads, notes the Times. “As a result, the board recommends that the government end the program.”

Bloomberg notes that the 238-page report may not have as big an impact as the panel hopes. They were split 3-2 in their decision, with two suggesting that they should only rule on the program’s possible privacy and civil liberties violations. The majority said that the program was outright illegal.

“In 38 times over the past seven years, 17 federal judges have examined this issue and found the telephone metadata program to be legal, concluding this program complies with both the statutory text and with the U.S. Constitution,” Rep. Mike Rogers said in a statement Thursday morning. “I don’t believe the Board should go outside its expertise to opine on the effectiveness of counterterrorism programs.”

The NSA program was brought to light through leaks to the press by Edward Snowden, who has insisted he worked alone.

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