http://www.forbes.com/home/businessinthebeltway/2006/05/11/nsa-wiretap-bush_cx_jh_0511NSA.htmlBusiness In The Beltway
Did The NSA Break The Law?
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Section 222 of the 1934 Communications Act forbids phone companies from giving out data on the calling patterns of their customers. But telecom experts say the law wasn't designed to address national security issues.
"There were large competition concerns over how the Bell companies might misuse that information," says Larry Strickling, the former chief of the common carrier bureau of the Federal Communications Commission.
The USA Today piece alleges that the government, as it had with a domestic wiretapping program, skirted the courts set up under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and didn’t get warrants. "I don't know why they didn't do that," said James Lewis, the director of technology and public policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
When grilled about their failure to get warrants, the NSA, which is known for its data-mining, is likely to characterize the collection of the call data as standard practice, said Lewis. "They'll argue that they bought the data from the companies and used it for statistical analyses."