ACLU Sues for Disclosure of Surveillance Executive Order

The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against the US Government yesterday to force disclosure of the executive order dealing with electronic surveillance.  The suit relates to executive order 12333 that governs surveillance of foreign entities. 

Under the order, the National Security Administration is collecting “vast quantities” of data globally under the order’s authority, “inevitably” including communications of U.S. citizens, the lawsuit said.

The suit references the recent revelations about domestic surveillance by Edward Snowden.  “This FOIA request seeks, in part, to determine what protections are afforded to those U.S. persons and whether those protections are consistent with the Constitution,” it said.

Alex Abdo, an ACLU attorney said “The core of the problem is that the NSA has, for years, relied upon its authority to gather foreign intelligence as permission to conduct sweeping surveillance of Americans’ international communications.”

The suit names the NSA, the Justice Department, the State Department and the CIA.