US judge rules bulk collection of telephone records as likely to be unconstitutional
Obama’s national security policy is facing a new internal challenge after a senior US judge ruled that the bulk collection of telephone records is likely to be unconstitutional.
The ruling was made by the Washington District Court and comes amidst continued public debate as to the merits, or otherwise, of collecting countless telephone records since the practice was first revealed by Edward Snowden, a former security contractor.
Describing such practices as ‘almost Orwellian’ judge Richard Leon said the NSA’s practices probably violated the fourth amendment of the US constitution which actively prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.
Leon said: “I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary invasion’ than this systematic and high tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying and analyzing it without prior judicial approval. Surely, such a program infringes on ‘that degree of privacy’ that the founders enshrined in the Fourth Amendment.”
This opinion differs sharply with that of a 15 strong panel of judges on America’s surveillance court, which ruled such activities to be legal after hearing the government’s case.