Google – AFP, Robert Lever (AFP), 16 July 2013
 |
Protesters
rally outside the US Capitol against the NSA's surveillance
programs June 13,
2013 in Washington, DC (Getty Images/AFP/File,
Win McNamee)
|
WASHINGTON
— Nineteen US organizations filed suit Tuesday against the National Security
Agency claiming their constitutional rights were violated by its secret data
collection programs.
The
Electronic Frontier Foundation filed the action on behalf of a variety of
groups including the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles, the gun rights
group Calguns Foundation, Greenpeace and Human Rights Watch.
The suit
filed in California federal court alleges that the mass collection of phone
records under the so-called PRISM program violates Americans' constitutional
rights.
"Our
case seeks to apply the right of association in the digital age," said EFF
attorney Cindy Cohn.
Cohn said
the suit, based on a longstanding Supreme Court ruling, contends the
government's collection of "metadata" or information on calls placed,
without the content of the conversation, allows the government to monitor who
is associating with various groups.
"People
who hold controversial views -- whether it's about gun ownership policies, drug
legalization, or immigration -- often must express views as a group in order to
act and advocate effectively," said Cohn.
"But
fear of individual exposure when participating in political debates over
high-stakes issues can dissuade people from taking part. That's why the Supreme
Court ruled in 1958 that membership lists of groups have strong First Amendment
protection."
Sherwin Siy
of the digital advocacy group Public Knowledge, which joined the lawsuit, said
the programs "don't just invade privacy; they also harm people's First
Amendment right of association."
"When
the government collects information about who calls whom, when, and how often,
they get a vivid picture of a person's contacts and associations. In the past,
authorities have tried to compile lists of association members to discourage
people from joining certain groups," Siy said.
Others
joining the suit include the California Association of Federal Firearms
Licensees, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Council on American Islamic
Relations, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, People for
the American Way and Students for a Sensible Drug Policy.
The case is
the latest in a wave of legal action since revelations in the media about the
PRISM program, believed to collect vast amounts of phone and Internet data as
part of efforts to protect national security.
In a
separate case Monday, the secret US court overseeing national security investigations
opened the door to declassifying documents related to the government's data
collection program in a case involving Internet giant Yahoo!
The Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court said the government should review which
documents should be declassified and inform the court of its decision by July
29.
The case
dates back at least to 2008, when the court issued an order reportedly
requiring Yahoo! to allow the government to obtain access to customer data. The
Justice Department took "no position" on the request, according to
the court document.
Judge
Reggie Walton said the Justice Department should address the matter with
"priority."
Yahoo!
asked the court on June 14 to release documents about the program, shortly
after revelations of the vast data collection program.
Other
Internet companies including Google and Microsoft have also sought
declassification of documents.
The
companies have stated they release information only in response to specific
court orders, and claim that reports about providing easy access to US
authorities are exaggerated.
Yahoo!
welcomed the judge's order.
"We're
very pleased with the decision by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
(FISC) ordering the government to conduct a declassification review of the
Court's Memorandum of Opinion of April 25, 2008, as well as the legal briefs
submitted," a Yahoo! statement said.
"Once
those documents are made public, we believe they will contribute constructively
to the ongoing public discussion around online privacy."
Apple,
Facebook, Microsoft and other top Internet and technology companies have come
under heightened scrutiny since word leaked of the vast, covert Internet
surveillance program US authorities insist targets only foreign terror suspects
and has helped thwart attacks.
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