18.01.2014 - 16:41 [ American Civil Liberties Union ]

The Most Important Surveillance Order We Know Almost Nothing About

(30.12.2013) Why is Executive Order 12,333 so important? Here is how we explained it in our complaint (filed today in federal court in New York):

„Although EO 12,333 permits the government to target foreigners abroad for surveillance, recent revelations have confirmed that the government interprets that authority to permit sweeping monitoring of Americans‘ international communications. How the government conducts this surveillance, and whether it appropriately accommodates the constitutional rights of American citizens and residents whose communications are intercepted in the course of that surveillance, are matters of great public significance and concern. While the government has released several documents describing the rules that govern its collection and use of Americans‘ international communications under statutory authorities regulating surveillance on U.S. soil, little information is publicly available regarding the rules that apply to surveillance of Americans‘ international calls and emails under EO 12,333.“