Matt Reynolds reports:
Human Rights Watch wants to shut down the bulk collection of millions of Americans’ call records, claiming the program unconstitutionally disrupts its work in foreign countries.
Human Rights Watch filed a federal civil complaint Tuesday for violation of the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution challenging the “untargeted and suspicionless surveillance” of its call records without judicial oversight.
The group claims that the Drug Enforcement Administration program has been in existence since the 1990s and sweeps up millions of call records to foreign countries targeted for international drug trafficking.
Read more on Courthouse News.
EFF announced the lawsuit Tuesday.
In related surveillance news, EFF also announced:
A coalition of 34 organizations from across the political spectrum is launching Fight215.org today to help concerned individuals contact lawmakers and demand an end to NSA’s unconstitutional mass surveillance under the Patriot Act.
The launch coincides with the countdown to the expiration of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which the NSA claims justifies bulk collection of the phone records of millions of innocent people. Whistleblower Edward Snowden shared these thoughts with the coalition: