FBI National Security Letters Scoop Up Information; No Court
Approval Even Needed
With a NSL letter the FBI can demand financial records from
any institution from banks to casinos, all telephone records, subscriber
information, credit reports, employment information, and all email records of
the target as well as the email addresses and screen names for anyone who has
contacted that account. The reason is
supposed to be for foreign counterintelligence.
There is no requirement for court approval at all. The Patriot Act has made this much easier for
the FBI.
According to Congressional records, there have been over
50,000 of these FBI NSL requests in the last three years. This does not count the numerous times where
the FBI persuades the disclosure of information without getting a NSL. Nor does it count FBI requests made just to
find out who an email account belongs to.
These reported NSL numbers also do not include the very high
numbers of administrative subpoenas issued by the FBI, which only require
approval of a member of the local US Attorney's office.
In 2012, the FBI issued 15,229 national-security-letter
requests for information concerning US citizens.
In 2011, the FBI made 16,511 national-security-letter
requests for information concerning US persons.
In 2010, the FBI made 24,287 national-security-letter
requests for information on US citizens.
Since there is no court approval needed, there are no
denials. The NSL record is even better
than the FISA record at 56,027 wins and no losses for Team Surveillance.
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