Massive Spying Program Exposed
Demand Answers Now
Not in the U.S.? Take our international action instead.
Reports by the Guardian and the Washington Post confirm secret spying on phone records and Internet activity.
A new report in the Guardian shows that the National Security Agency (NSA) has collected the call records of every Verizon customer in America—millions upon millions of call records. This includes every call made, the location of the phone, the time of the call, the duration of the call, and other "identifying information"—for every single call made by a Verizon customer, regardless of whether they've ever been suspected of a crime.
And that's not all. Reports have now been published by the Washington Post and the Guardian based on information provided by an intelligence contractor showing how the NSA and the FBI are gaining broad access to data collected by nine leading U.S. Internet companies and sharing this information with foreign governments. The government is extracting audio, video, photographs, e-mails, documents, and connection logs that enable analysts to track a person's movements and contacts over time.
It's likely been happening for years. Speaking about the secret order to Verizon, Senator Diane Feinstein says she believes that "This is an exact three-month renewal of what has been the case for the past seven years."
And the Obama administration is defending this surveillance. A senior official in the Administration stated that these programs "comply with the Constitution" and "appropriately protect privacy and civil liberties."
They're wrong.
It's time for a full accounting of America's secret spying programs—and an end to unconstitutional surveillance.
When the government was caught spying on American citizens in the 1960s and 70s, Congress created the Church Committee to right the government's wrongs. Recommendations from that commission resulted in legal reforms that ensured judicial oversight of surveillance programs. Congress must act in a similar fashion and create a 21st Century Church Committee and enact strong legislation to rein in the Executive Branch and protect our communications.
Join EFF in calling for a full investigation by emailing Congress today.
For far too long, secret law and a secret surveillance state have been a dark shadow on Americans' freedom. It's time to shine a light on NSA's spying.
