NSA: you might be a terrorist if...

Posted by Deanna Zandt at 8:24 AM on May 29, 2006.

More from the Life Imitates Art Dept.: Following the lines of last week's FCC refusal to investigate the NSA and AT&T, there's some folks out there filing Freedom of Information Act requests for their phone records to be released -- and being denied, not surprisingly.

Yakov Shafranovich detailed his experience in filing the request and the NSA's response to him; he also provides information on how to file your own request. What did the NSA say to support the denial?

Because of the classified nature of the National Security Agency’s efforts to prevent and protect against terrorist attacks, the fact of whether or not any specific technique or method or activity is employed in that effort is exempt from release pursuant to the exemption provisions of the FOIA.

We can neither confirm nor deny the existence of records responsive to your request. The fact of the existence or non-existence of responsive records is a currently and properly classified matter in accordance with Executive Order 12958, as amended. Thus, your request is denied pursuant to the first exemption of the FOIA, which provides that the FOIA does not apply to matters that are specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive Order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign relations and are properly classified pursuant to such Executive Order. (emphasis mine)

What's event slightly more insidious is the linked Pittsburgh Indymedia article, where several anti-war groups in Ohio filed FOIA requests to have information gathered about their activites released. What'd they have to say for themselves?

As you know, the President of the United States "authorized the National Security Agency [(NSA)], consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, to intercept the international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations." The President also noted that, "[t]his is a highly classified program that is crucial to our national security."

Rest assured that safeguards are in place to protect the civil liberties of U.S. citizens. However, because of the highly classified nature of the program, we can neither confirm nor deny the existence of records responsive to your request. The fact of the existence or non-existence of responsive records is a currently and properly classified matter in accordance with Executive Order 12958, as amended. Thus, your request is denied pursuant to the first exemption of the FOIA, which provides that the FOIA does not apply to matters that are specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive Order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign relations and are properly classified pursuant to such Executive Order. (emphasis mine)

Oh yes, I certainly trust that the NSA is keeping my civil liberties close to its heart. Don't you?

Deanna Zandt is a contributing editor at AlterNet.