An early American version of espionage was carried out by the Cypher Bureau in the early 1900s. It was shut down by the then-Secretary of State Henry Stimson, who said, “Gentlemen don’t read each other’s mail.” After World War II, however, the Americans decided that gentlemen needed a permanent surveillance network. The US began collecting and monitoring all telegraph information under a program called Project Shamrock, which created a watch list of individuals to keep tabs on, as part of another program, Project Minaret.
Various techniques of wiretapping were adopted soon after the invention of the telephone. Since phones required operators to patch and transfer calls, interception and eavesdropping were relatively easy. New technologies led to advances in spying techniques. A few weeks prior to 9/11, the National Security Agency had a program for foreign surveillance called ThinThread, which was replaced by Trailblazer. Both were abandoned.
When the US cracked the UN videoconferencing system, it discovered that China was already there
The Internet age has made surveillance much easier. Now, spies don’t have to place a bug in your chandelier to hear your conversation. The “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” protocol of “Moscow Rules” became old school, and terms like ‘meta-data’ became synonymous with government overreach.
By 2008, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendment Act was passed allowing the NSA to legally conduct warrantless wiretapping of international communications.
Germany’s Der Spiegel, in 2013, reported that the US National Security Agency cracked the encryption protecting the United Nations’ internal videoconferencing system, but when it infiltrated it discovered that China was already there and listening in. The American spooks also found out that there had been “hundreds of data breaches since 2004” by a Chinese military unit in Shanghai. The German newspaper’s report was a followup to a story about the NSA spying on EU leaders. Germany was up in arms when it discovered that their Chancellor was under American surveillance.
Leaked official documents later revealed that the NSA was listening in to ruling political parties in various other countries, including Lebanon’s Amal, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian National Salvation Front, India’s BJP and Pakistan’s PPP. Almost everyone on the list protested, while the US in return hoped that its relationships with the governments under surveillance would not be affected.
A poster at a protest against NSA spying in Frankfurt, Germany in 2013
While foreign governments had to take the arrogant response with a pinch of salt, the domestic surveillance via phone and collection of meta-data was challenged in the US.
Enacted after the September 11 attacks, the Patriot Act gave the government broad tools to investigate terrorism. Since 2006, Section 215 of the Act empowered the FBI to secure secret court orders and obtain “any tangible things” to protect against international terrorism and clandestine intelligence activities. The secret phone records collection program was disclosed a year-and-a-half ago by former NSA system analyst Edward Snowden. The knowledge about the program to hold records for up to five years outraged the American public and cases were filed against it.
After months of legal proceedings, a federal appeals court in New York struck down NSA’s domestic surveillance program last Thursday, saying it “exceeds the scope of what Congress has authorized” under the USA Patriot Act, which the government has maintained permits massive data collection. The 97-page opinion did not rule on whether the surveillance violated the US Constitution. It also declined to halt the program, noting that parts of the Patriot Act including Section 215 expire on June 1.
The provision outlines access to records and other items under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The judge handing down the decision remarked that it was “prudent” to give Congress a chance to decide what surveillance is permissible, given the national security interests at stake. He further wrote, “Meta-data can reveal civil, political, or religious affiliations; they can also reveal an individual’s social status, or whether and when he or she is involved in intimate relationships.”
Just days before the appeal court’s decision, the House Judiciary Committee debated privacy rights and surveillance and approved a bill to end the NSA meta-data collection program.
Anticipating the unfavorable decision against the NSA program, the White House announced a redesign of the program. It aims to recommend that phone companies can maintain the records for 18 months, and the government would be able to see some of them with court’s approval. The renewed plan still needs Congress’ approval.
Deputy White House Press Secretary Eric Shultz told reporters that the White House was working with Congress and was encouraged by what was bipartisan progress on the USA Freedom Act, an updated version of the Patriot Act, which ends the bulk collection of data.
While the government could appeal the court’s decision, it seems it has chosen to wait for Congress to decide the fate of the Act. If Congress revamps the NSA program, then courts may decide to review it, but if Congress reauthorizes Section 215, then there could be further litigation. The American public now wants a check on government’s overreach within and outside the country.
