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Wyden, who released the Dec. 11 letter, called upon U.S.
intelligence officials to stop using Americans' personal data
without their express knowledge and consent, saying it was
unlawful.
"Such records can identify Americans who are seeking help from a
suicide hotline or a hotline for survivors of sexual assault or
domestic abuse," Wyden said in a statement.
The NSA responded that the information has significant value for
national security and cybersecurity missions and is used
sparingly.
"At all stages, NSA takes steps to minimize the collection of
U.S. person information, to include application of technical
filters," a spokesperson for the agency said in an email.
Wyden, a privacy and internet freedom advocate, had blocked the
appointment of incoming NSA Director Timothy Haugh until the
agency responded to his questions about collecting Americans'
internet and location data.
NSA Director Paul Nakasone confirmed such purchases in his
letter to Wyden, saying the data collected "may include
information associated with electronic devices being used
outside - and, in certain cases, inside - the United States."
Such records, Wyden said, can reveal which websites Americans'
visit and what apps they use, and are in violation of U.S.
Federal Trade Commission standards. An FTC order earlier this
month barred Virginia-based data broker Outlogic, formerly
called X-Mode Social, from selling sensitive location data that
helps track people's whereabouts.
Wyden said he had written to the Director of National
Intelligence Avril Haines asking that the U.S. intelligence
community build an inventory of all the personal data of
Americans that the NSA has so far, and purge any of it that does
not comply with the FTC's standards.
(Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in San Francisco; Editing by Richard
Chang)
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