In 1981, President Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order 12333 allegedly granting the authority relied upon by the US intelligence agencies to surveil foreigners outside of the borders of the US. The order has been modified several times since — most notably in 2008 by President George W. Bush to increase the power of the Director of National Intelligence — and is now believed to provide part of the legal basis for the surveillance of international communications by American citizens.
In May 2013, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to various government agencies for information about Executive Order 12333.
The domestic surveillance activities conducted by the US National Security Agency (NSA) have been rationalized — and found to be legal by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York — by Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act. But domestic surveillance activities — not covered under those sections — are also thought to be conducted under the authorization of Executive Order 12333.
Accordingly, the ACLU has filed a FOIA complaint demanding the government provide details of its use of Executive Order 12333 to surveil the international communications of American citizens. The ACLU’s concern is that the executive branch of the US government is conducting surveillance under Executive Order 12333 without oversight by either of the other two branches of US government.
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For several months, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has
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ACLU files FOIA complaint challenging Executive Order 12333 was originally published by ARTS & FARCES internet on Tuesday, 7 January 2014 at 7:12 AM CDT. Copyright © ARTS & FARCES LLC. All rights reserved. | ISSN: 1535-8119 | OCLC: 48219498 | Digital fingerprint: 974a89ee1284e6e92dd256bbfbef3751 (64.237.45.114)
