FBI and DEA under review for use of NSA mass surveillance data
The Justice Department is investigating the FBI's use of information taken directly from mass surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA)'s collection of telephone metadata.
The yield of that NSA spying program was described by a judge as a "staggering" amount of data when the agency's ability to collect it was struck down as illegal in court earlier this year. The program was resumed in June and will run until at least December.
Another ongoing Justice Department investigation is examining the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)'s use of "parallel construction."
Just to clarify because the title of this post may be confusing, the DEA is under DOJ review specifically for engaging in parallel construction using NSA data. The FBI is under review more broadly for its use of NSA data.
It both amazes and saddens me how many people ignored the Snowden leaks. Moreso for those who are aware of what is going on and simply don't care. I talk about this a lot offline, and an overwhelming number of people say they shouldn't care because they have nothing to hide. Then they give me a dirty look when I ask for their passwords.