NSA Phone Records Collection Program Did Not Thwart Terror Attacks, Says Court

The court did not find any evidence that the National Security Administration’s (NSA) phone records collection program had stopped terror attacks. On Wednesday, a federal appeals court ruled that the program, which involved collecting phone records of Americans, was illegal and unconstitutional.

NSA’s phone records collection program was first exposed by former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013, sparking public outrage. At the time, the NSA defended the program by claiming that it had helped thwart terrorist attacks and led to the arrests of suspected terrorists.

On Wednesday, however, the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals said in its ruling that the program was against the law. The ruling stated that the warrantless telephone dragnet that secretly collected telephone records was a clear violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. However, it upheld the convictions of the four Somali immigrants who had been accused of raising funds for terrorist, saying that the NSA’s program was not relevant to their convictions.

After the NSA program was brought to light, top NSA officials fell back on the argument that the spying had played an important role in fighting extremism in America, citing the case of the four immigrants charged with providing aid to religious fanatics in Somalia. U.S. officials also insisted that the four immigrants were convicted in 2013 thanks to NSA’s telephone record spying. However, the court ruled on Wednesday that such claims were false.

“To the extent the public statements of government officials created a contrary impression, that impression is inconsistent with the contents of the classified record,” said Judge Marsha Berzon.

The NSA’s controversial program was halted in 2015 after the passage of the USA FREEDOM Act. Under the law, only private phone companies could keep bulk phone records and investigators could only obtain them with a judge’s permission. In 2018, the NSA completely stopped the use of phone metadata in its investigations.

Meanwhile, Snowden wrote on Twitter on Wednesday that the recent ruling vindicated his decision to bring to light the NSA’s illegal operation. “I never imagined that I would live to see our courts condemn the NSA’s activities as unlawful and in the same ruling credit me for exposing them,” he wrote.

Snowden, who is currently facing espionage charges in the U.S., fled to Russia in the aftermath of the NSA controversy in 2013.