Secret surveillance program apparently broke its own rules

[kpete]

Purely domestic calls were intercepted
Secret surveillance program apparently broke its own rules
James Risen, Eric Lichtblau, New York Times

Wednesday, December 21, 2005


Telecommunications experts say the issue points up troubling logistical questions about the program. At a time when communications networks are increasingly globalized, it is sometimes difficult even for the NSA to determine whether someone is inside or outside the United States when making a cell phone call or sending an e-mail. As a result, people that NSA may think are outside the United States can actually be on U.S. soil.

Eavesdropping on communications between two people who are both inside the United States is prohibited under Bush's order that allows some domestic surveillance.


But in at least one instance, someone using an international cell phone was mistakenly thought to be outside the United States when in fact both people in the conversation were in the country. Officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the program remains classified, would not discuss the number of accidental intercepts, but the total is thought to represent a very small fraction of the wiretaps that Bush has authorized without getting warrants. In all, officials say the program has been used to eavesdrop on as many as 500 people at any one time, with the total reaching perhaps into the thousands in the past three years.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/12/21/MNGQ6GB5LM1.DTL