Judge questions evidence on whether NSA spying is too broad

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2861912/judge-questions-evidence-on-whether-nsa-spying-is-too-broad.html


A federal judge on Friday questioned the strength of a key lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the government’s Internet surveillance program known as “upstream” data collection.


Judge Jeffrey White heard oral arguments by attorneys from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which filed the suit, and the government, during a hearing in a federal district court in Oakland, California. The EFF says its suit is the first challenge in public court to the government’s upstream data program, which copies online data from the main cables connecting Internet networks around the world.


The EFF first filed its suit in 2008 after an AT&T technician provided evidence that the company routed copies of its Internet traffic records to the NSA.


The National Security Agency program is unconstitutional because it collects communications, including content such as email, of people without ties to issues of national security, EFF attorney Richard Wiebe told the judge. That’s an overly broad dragnet that violates the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure, he said.


U.S. Justice Department attorney James Gilligan did not deny the government taps the Internet’s backbone to gather data. But the government uses filtering mechanisms to automatically destroy certain communications records within milliseconds, he said.


Judge White could declare the upstream collection program unconstitutional, a ruling the government would probably appeal. But on Friday, he questioned whether there was enough evidence on either side to say whether the program is constitutional.