On Friday, the National Security Agency (NSA) stated that it collects the geolocation of billions of cell phones across the world pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 12333. The Hill cited an NSA spokeswoman, saying “the collection does not violate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.” Earlier this week, The Washington Post published this latest Snowden revelation, according to which the intelligence agency operates a set of tools referred to as CO-TRAVELER, collecting nearly 5 billions cell phone location-related records each day.
This fall, we have already outlined that the NSA’s eavesdropping on foreign leaders and infiltration of internal Google and Yahoo networks abroad are covered by EO 12333. CO-TRAVELER adds a pervasive bulk collection program to the surveillance measures never approved by Congress.
The increasing number of NSA activities under executive authority is not only in sharp contrast with the current legislative debate on Capitol Hill, which still focuses primarily on the PATRIOT Act and on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Due to the collateral surveillance of United States citizens, it also reflects the constitutional relevance of the authorization of such invasive surveillance measures within the executive branch.
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