Declassified documents indicate CIA has been collecting information on Americans: Report

In the US, the personal information of the Americans has been collected in bulk by the Central Intelligence Agency, as freshly declassified documents suggest. It has sparked outrage from civil liberties watchdogs. As per the reports of The Guardian, two Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee revealed the spying programme on Thursday. Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico stated that the CIA has been withholding information from the public and Congress for a long time.

The two senators, who have been vocal opponents of the CIA, claimed they could not provide specifics about the types of data collected in bulk and stated that more information would be released, according to The Guardian. The document was sent in April 2021 and declassified on Thursday, and it was blacked out in large areas. The CIA and the National Security Agency (NSA) have a foreign mission and are generally prohibited from conducting investigations into American or US businesses.

Revelation has reignited debate about privacy protections

The senators' revelation has reignited debate about privacy protections. Patrick Toomey, who is an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union stated that these findings raise serious questions about the types of information the CIA vacuums up in bulk and how the agency uses that information to spy on Americans, according to the Guardian. He said that the CIA conducts these broad monitoring operations without seeking court clearance and with few if any, congressional oversight.

Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor stated on Twitter that they are about to witness an enormous political debate in which the spy agencies and their apologists on television will tell that this is normal and OK and the CIA doesn't know how many Americans are in the database or even how they got there anyway. Justin Amash, a former Republican congressman stated that rogue agencies like the NSA, FBI, and CIA are a greater threat to liberty in America than the enemies they claim to protect people against.

CIA presented a series of redacted recommendations

On Thursday, the CIA presented a series of redacted recommendations from the privacy and civil liberties review board on the programme, according to The Guardian. The document suggests that when CIA analysts use the application, a pop-up box informs them that they must use it for foreign intelligence purposes if they want to get information about US people or others who are subject to privacy regulations.

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