Controls keep NSA spy programs legal, director tells Black Hat audience

[steve2470]

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9241267/Controls_keep_NSA_spy_programs_legal_director_tells_Black_Hat_audience?source=rss_keyword_edpicks&google_editors_picks=true

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Since then, U.S. intelligence agencies have been under tremendous pressure to collect data that can "connect the dots" of terrorist activity, he said. Over the years, the NSA has combined the PRISM program with the collection of phone metadata records such as the originating and dialed number, call time and duration and location data to identify potential terrorist plots in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Alexander contended that such data collection activities have helped the NSA identify and stop 54 terrorist plots including 13 in the United States, 25 in Europe and 11 in Asia in recent years.

The NSA does not as a matter of routine, listen in on phone calls, monitor email content or collect personal data, Alexander maintained. Only 22 NSA officials can authorize such searches and only 35 NSA analysts have the ability to run queries on the data collected. Every query needs to be specifically related to an anti-terror investigation and is fully auditable, he said.

Alexander also noted that U.S. spy programs are overseen by all three branches of government along with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, he said. The detailed queries that the NSA has run against the information it has collected involves only 500 or so phone numbers, Alexander said.

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