Privacy Board Blind To NSL Abuse
The White House Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board will be briefed Thursday on a recent report on breakdowns in the FBI's use of a special subpoena power to obtain American citizens' telephone, e-mail and financial records without prior judicial approval, Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine said Wednesday.
The five-member board, whose mission is to advise the president and other senior executive branch officials, has been criticized since its inception for reacting slowly or inadequately to emerging privacy problems in the ongoing war on terror.
Fine told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the board did not know about the slew of "national security letters" being inappropriately issued prior to his investigation. "This was a board that was supposed to clear these things in advance," Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said. "Clearly, under current law, they are irrelevant."
Read more about the panel's NSL hearing in Technology Daily's PM edition.
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