ACLU: Curb FBI's Power
The American Civil Liberties Union called on Congress Wednesday to curb the power of the FBI to collect private information on U.S. citizens without court approval after a new report found the FBI abused its authority to obtain telecommunications records. The Justice Department's inspector general found widespread misuse of emergency letters to telecom providers that sought access to Americans' telecommunication records, saying in many cases the letters were sent even when an emergency did not exist.
"We concluded that the FBI's use of exigent [emergency] letters and other informal requests, for telephone toll billing records circumvented, and in many cases violated, the requirements of the [Electronic Communications Privacy Act] statute," according to the inspector general's report.
The ACLU said in a statement that the FBI's use of exigent letters and national security letters (NSL), which are used to obtain information from third parties for national security investigations, "reveals a systemic, widespread abuse of power." The FBI's power to use national security letters was expanded under the USA Patriot Act, passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The ACLU noted that Wednesday's report is the third from the Justice Department's IG that identified breaches of department regulations and possible law violations by the FBI.
"Given this report, there is absolutely no excuse for Congress not to reform the NSL authority during the current Patriot Act debate," ACLU Washington legislative office acting director Michael Macleod-Ball said. "Without an outside check, FBI agents are able to demand and obtain sensitive information at will."
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