Two lawmakers in the House of Representatives are joining a Senate effort create a Office of Constitutional Advocate to push for civil liberties in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court. The new advocate would insure that the court heard arguments for protecting individual rights against the domestic spying of the National Security Agency. The Attorney General would also be required to reveal details of significant FISA court decisions while the advocate would report to Congress on its proceedings and help determine reforms for the court. (The Washington Post, October 1, 2013, by Andrea Peterson)
In Senate judicial committee hearings, several senators defended the NSA’s surveillance programs to collect massive telephone records as necessary to preventing another 9/11 attack. (Computerworld, October 2, 2013, by Grant Gross)
In the meantime, NSA director Gen. Keith Alexander said NSA does not spy on the social media of American citizens to construct diagrams of their online social networks. (Mashable, October 2, 2013, by Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai)