In the wake of the alarm that has been evoked due to the PRISM leaks, U.S. government officials have been aggressively defending NSA and the wiretapping measures of the government. Now, the officials have claimed that during 2012, only 300 phone records were investigated, even when the intelligence agencies gathered records of millions of users.
Naturally, it is rather hard to fathom that after collecting millions of phone records, the intelligence agencies wouldn’t dive into this data, and limit themselves to a mere 300 phone numbers. The officials have further claimed that by investigating these records, they have been able to thwart a number of terrorist plots.
While the government seems to have put its PR team on an extra shift in order to control the damage done by PRISM leaks, criticisms continue to pour in. In fact, even members of Congress have spoken out against the PRISM project, citing that in certain instances, NSA doesn’t even need court orders to tap into domestic phone calls within the U.S.
These trends are not encouraging, because they show that despite blatant constitutional violations perpetuated by NSA, the U.S. government is ready to go to any lengths to defend its wiretapping methods. However, the recent statistics revealed by the government is a welcome move because it leads to a more transparent governance. Similar transparency must be ensured in the monitoring project and initiatives undertaken by intelligence agencies.
Courtesy: Engadget
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