- Weeks after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) banned two companies for failing to meet established standards for commercial data practices, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden announced that the NSA also illegally obtained data. It was revealed that there was.
- The senator said it took three years to clarify the details.
It has been confirmed that the US National Security Agency (NSA) was purchasing data on Americans from online data brokers. Last week, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) released a letter he wrote to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines confirming as much and highlighting how the letter was obtained illegally. .
Wyden lamented that intelligence agencies collect data on Americans from telecommunications companies, which typically require a court order if they don’t have one. The data in question reveals an individual’s browsing patterns, the websites he visits, the applications he accesses, etc.
“I first disclosed in 2021 that the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) buys, stores, and uses domestic location data. Such location data is collected from Americans’ smartphones by app developers. “It is collected, sold to data brokers, resold to defense contractors, and then resold again to the government. In addition; the National Security Agency (NSA) is purchasing Americans’ domestic internet metadata,” Wyden said. he pointed out.
This revelation may be especially disconcerting for people with sensitive search histories regarding things like health, social life, and work. Metadata allows anyone who has access to the metadata to access information such as medical facilities, places of religious worship, locations that may be used for LGBTQ+ identification, domestic abuse shelters, welfare shelters, and homeless shelters. You will be able to investigate sensitive locations that you are visiting, such as:
The data in question reveals a person’s gambling addiction or suicidal tendencies (through data on calls to suicide hotlines, call history to hotlines for victims of sexual assault or domestic violence, etc.) can also do.
Wyden, a member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, provided his office’s communications with NSA officials who confirmed they were obtaining data on U.S. citizens without a court order.
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This is a screenshot of a follow-up letter to Wyden from USDI&S Under Secretary of Defense Ronald Moultrie, following NSA Director Paul Nakasone.
NSA Correspondence with Senator Ron Wyden
Source: Senator Wyden Office
Mr. Wyden’s latest revelations come three years after his revelations about the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). It also took three years for Wyden to make the breakthrough of publicly disclosing this information for the first time after he withheld the nomination of Nakasone’s successor, Lt. Gen. Timothy Ho, as NSA director. He also pointed out.
Mr. Wyden urged Mr. Haines to rein in this illegal activity by intelligence agencies. “The U.S. government should not fund or legalize shady industries whose flagrant violations of Americans’ privacy are not only unethical but illegal. We urge you to adopt a policy that only allows you to purchase data about Americans that meets the FTC’s standards for legal data sales.”
For reference, the FTC has charged X-Mode Social and Outlogic with unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce for selling user data without obtaining consent.
How can the FTC enforce data sales standards? Please share your thoughts about linkedin, X(Twitter)or Facebook. We look forward to hearing from you!
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