From the "No Shit, Sherlock" news desk.

Government oversight board issues report saying NSA bulk phone calls program is illegal (Click on this heading to read more)

Rss@dailykos.com (meteor Blades)
Thursday, January 23, 2014, 9:48 am
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    An independent federal privacy watchdog has concluded that the National Security Agency's program to collect bulk phone call records has provided only "minimal" benefits in counterterrorism efforts, is illegal and should be shut down.
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    The Obama administration has portrayed the bulk collection program as useful and lawful while at the same time acknowledging concerns about privacy and potential abuse. But in its report, the board lays out what may be the most detailed critique of the government's once-secret legal theory behind the program: that a law known as Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows the F.B.I. to obtain business records deemed "relevant" to an investigation, can be legitimately interpreted as authorizing the N.S.A. to collect all calling records in the country.