Super-secret spy court raises alarm over feds' snooping
Established in 1978 at the height of the Cold War, the clandestine FISA court, known as the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, is located blocks away from the White House and the Capitol in a bunker-like complex.
The barest of details about the court and its oversight were publicly disclosed until the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when 19 militants associated with al-Qaida carried out suicide attacks, hijacking four planes and flying them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, triggering major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism.
Authorities began dramatically intensifying their espionage efforts, doubling the number of warrant applications. This prompted the court to authorize sweeping collections of mass data.
The FISA court approves more than 99 percent of the domestic electronic surveillance requests the deep state brings to its vaulted door, according to the Wall Street Journal
A 2016 Justice Department report showed the National Security Agency and the FBI made 1,457 requests for permission to the FISA court to conduct electronic surveillance in 2015.
While it is the sole responsibility of the FISA court to scrutinize every one of these requests, only one application was rejected by the government in all of 2015.
As for the rest, “FISC did not deny any applications in whole, or in part,” the Justice Department said.
The FISA court also issues subpoenas that intelligence agencies use to compel private companies to turn over personal data on customers. These “national security letters” contain everything from Americans’ billing information to their browsing histories.
Read more at Super-secret spy court raises alarm over feds’ snooping
Ninety Nine Percent of the FISA requests were approved in 2015. 1457 requests approved, one denied. Does the FISA Court have too much faith in the FBI? I don't like those numbers.
Established in 1978 at the height of the Cold War, the clandestine FISA court, known as the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, is located blocks away from the White House and the Capitol in a bunker-like complex.
The barest of details about the court and its oversight were publicly disclosed until the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when 19 militants associated with al-Qaida carried out suicide attacks, hijacking four planes and flying them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, triggering major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism.
Authorities began dramatically intensifying their espionage efforts, doubling the number of warrant applications. This prompted the court to authorize sweeping collections of mass data.
The FISA court approves more than 99 percent of the domestic electronic surveillance requests the deep state brings to its vaulted door, according to the Wall Street Journal
A 2016 Justice Department report showed the National Security Agency and the FBI made 1,457 requests for permission to the FISA court to conduct electronic surveillance in 2015.
While it is the sole responsibility of the FISA court to scrutinize every one of these requests, only one application was rejected by the government in all of 2015.
As for the rest, “FISC did not deny any applications in whole, or in part,” the Justice Department said.
The FISA court also issues subpoenas that intelligence agencies use to compel private companies to turn over personal data on customers. These “national security letters” contain everything from Americans’ billing information to their browsing histories.
Read more at Super-secret spy court raises alarm over feds’ snooping
Ninety Nine Percent of the FISA requests were approved in 2015. 1457 requests approved, one denied. Does the FISA Court have too much faith in the FBI? I don't like those numbers.
