Other Agencies Clamor for Data N.S.A. Compiles

[poofyhairguy]

WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency’s dominant role as the nation’s spy warehouse has spurred frequent tensions and turf fights with other federal intelligence agencies that want to use its surveillance tools for their own investigations, officials say.

Agencies working to curb drug trafficking, cyberattacks, money laundering, counterfeiting and even copyright infringement complain that their attempts to exploit the security agency’s vast resources have often been turned down because their own investigations are not considered a high enough priority, current and former government officials say.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/u...or-data-nsa-compiles.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Basically exactly what everyone fears- using this data for more than protecting Americans- other agencies are attempting to do. The good news in the article is it seems the NSA understands that allowing this data to be used for non-terrorism investigations might lead to them losing the tools due to political backlash.

The bad news is that it seems each agency wants to act like its mission is handed down from God himself, and does everything they can to weakly connect their cases to terrorism to get at the data. I feel like if this database is going to exist it needs better protections than the NSA's political sensibilities or eventually groups like the DEA, ATF, etc. will get what they want.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

As long as it's only foreign intelligence with the exception of national info in the cases of FISA warrants I wouldn't mind. They shouldn't have access to even national info that's unreadable (no good reason to give it away to others without cause).

 

[poofyhairguy]

I would tend to agree if the secret courts weren't rubber stamping almost every information request that comes across their desk.

I don't think this data should be used for non-terrorism EVER, as in that is codified in law.