The US Court of Appeals has ruled an NSA surveillance program violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (BBC). The program was first brought to light by whistle blower Edward Snowden in 2013. The court found the Intelligence community leaders who defended the phone surveillance of US citizens lied about the effectiveness of the technique.
Snowden, who now resided in Moscow, feels vindicated by the ruling. Unwarranted wire tapping and other illegal surveillance tactics legitimized through citizens’ fear after the 9=11 attacks, have continued unabated. The PRISM program is one such operation that utilizes Facebook, Google, Apple and Skype to gather information on Americans. This program is described on the ACLU website.
“Today’s ruling is a victory for our privacy rights,” the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement.”It makes plain that the NSA’s bulk collection of Americans’ phone records violated the Constitution.”