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In reply to the discussion: Greenwald's Latest - He is counter punching to great effect! [View all]pnwmom
(110,251 posts)From the same Wiki article:
According to the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, PRISM cannot be used to intentionally target any Americans or anyone in the United States. Clapper said a special court, Congress, and the executive branch oversee the program and extensive procedures ensure the acquisition, retention, and dissemination of data accidentally collected about Americans is kept to a minimum.[10] Clapper issued a statement and "fact sheet"[11] to correct what he characterized as "significant misimpressions" in articles by The Washington Post and The Guardian newspapers.[12]
SNIP
On June 8, 2013, the Director of National Intelligence issued a fact sheet stating that PRISM "is not an undisclosed collection or data mining program", but rather computer software used to facilitate the collection of foreign intelligence information "under court supervision, as authorized by Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) (50 U.S.C. § 1881a)."[34] Section 702 provides that "the Attorney General [A.G.] and the Director of National Intelligence [DNI] may authorize jointly, for a period of up to 1 year from the effective date of the authorization, the targeting of persons reasonably believed to be located outside the United States to acquire foreign intelligence information."[51] In order to authorize the targeting, the A.G. and DNI need to get an order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) pursuant to Section 702 or certify that "intelligence important to the national security of the United States may be lost or not timely acquired and time does not permit the issuance of an order."[51] When asking for an order, the A.G. and DNI must certify to FISC that "a significant purpose of the acquisition is to obtain foreign intelligence information."[51] They do not need to specify which facilities or property that the targeting will be directed at.[51]