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EFF To DOJ In Lawsuit: Stop Pretending Information Revealed About NSA Over Last Seven Months Is Still A Secret

By The Electronic Frontier Foundation

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asked a federal court on Friday to order the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release more thorough information about the dragnet electronic surveillance being conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA). The filing in EFF’s long-standing case, Jewel v. NSA, also argues that the DOJ must stop pretending that information revealed and publicly acknowledged about government surveillance over the last seven months is still secret.

“The government has now publicly admitted much about its mass spying, but its filings before the court still try to claim broad secrecy about some of those same admissions,” EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn said. “It’s long past time for the Department of Justice to stop using overblown secrecy claims to try to prevent an open, adversarial court from deciding whether the NSA’s spying is constitutional.”

Since the Jewel case was first filed in 2008, the government has used claims of state secrets to fight court review. Last year, documents revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden confirmed many of the case’s allegations. As a result of the Snowden disclosures, Judge Jeffrey White of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ordered the government to review all of its filings and release everything that was no longer secret. The court also ordered the government to explain the effects of the disclosures on the case.

The DOJ filed its response on December 20, releasing eight, still-heavily redacted, declarations. The government also submitted new declarations, but those declarations largely ignored, and failed to explain the impact of, the flood of new information concerning the NSA’s surveillance operations revealed through the press, congressional hearings, or the administration’s website icontherecord.tumblr.com.

In our response, EFF argues that the DOJ did not comply with the judge’s order and that the agency’s submissions fell far short of an accurate and comprehensive presentation of the facts – especially with regard to the “upstream” program where the NSA accesses communications as they flow across the Internet backbone, the participation of AT&T in NSA surveillance, and the lack of demonstrated effectiveness of the bulk collection programs.

“The court ordered the government to review for release all previously secret filings in this case, yet there are still secret documents in the record,” EFF staff attorney Mark Rumold said. “We at least deserve an explanation for why we can’t have access to those documents. Our plaintiffs, as well as the general public, have a right to know what the government has been telling the court in secret.”

The filing.

The accompanying declaration.

Previously:
Judge On NSA Case Cites 9/11 Report, But It Doesn’t Actually Support His Ruling.

Edward Snowden’s Christmas Message.

Jon Stewart: Obama Totally Lying About NSA Spying.

Presidential Panel To NSA: Stop Undermining Encryption.

The NSA Is Coming To Town.

60 Minutes We Can’t Get Back.

Why Care About The NSA?

NSA Surveillance Drives Writers To Self-Censor.

Filed: 22 Firsthand Accounts Of How NSA Surveillance Chilled The Right To Association.

Claim On ‘Attacks Thwarted’ By NSA Spreads Despite Lack Of Evidence.

Obama Vs. The World.

How A Telecom Helped The Government Spy On Me.

UN Member States Asked To End Unchecked Surveillance.

Government Standards Agency: Don’t Follow Our Encryption Guidelines Because NSA.

Five More Organizations Join Lawsuit Against NSA.

A Scandal Of Historic Proportions.

Item: NSA Briefing.

The Case Of The Missing NSA Blog Post.

The NSA Is Out Of Control.

Patriot Act Author Joins Lawsuit Against NSA.

Obama’s Promises Disappear From Web.

Why NSA Snooping Is A Bigger Deal In Germany.

Item: Today’s NSA Briefing.

NSA Briefing: It Just Got Worse (Again).

Song of the Moment: Party at the NSA.

It Not Only Can Happen Here, It Is Happening Here.

What NSA Transparency Looks Like.

America’s Lying About Spying: Worse Than You Think.

Obama Continues To Lie His Ass Off About The NSA.

The Surveillance Reforms Obama Supported Before He Was President.

America’s Spying: Worse Than You Think.

Has The U.S. Government Lied About Its Snooping? Let’s Go To The Videotape.

Who Are We At War With? That’s Classified.

Six Ways Congress May Reform NSA Snooping.

NSA Says It Can’t Search Its Own E-Mails.

Does The NSA Tap That?

Obama Explains The Difference Between His Spying And Bush’s Spying.

FAQ: What You Need To Know About The NSA’s Surveillance Programs.

NSA: Responding To This FOIA Would Help “Our Adversaries”.

Fact-Check: The NSA And 9/11.

The NSA’s Black Hole: 5 Things We Still Don’t Know About The Agency’s Snooping.

Defenders Of NSA Surveillance Citing Chicago Case Omit Most Of Mumbai Plotter’s Story.

Obama’s War On Truth And Transparency.

ProPublica’s Guide To The Best Stories On The Growing Surveillance State.

See also:
* Jimmy Carter: America’s Shameful Human Rights Record.

* James Goodale: Only Nixon Harmed A Free Press More.

* Daniel Ellsberg: Obama Has Committed Impeachable Offenses.

* Paul Steiger: Why Reporters In The U.S. Now Need Protection.

Comments welcome.

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Posted on January 14, 2014