President Biden's Candidate For Head Of NSA Values Individual Data Collection Is Important For Anticipation Of Threats

Illustration. (Unsplash/freestocks)

JAKARTA - A candidate for the Head of the National Security Agency (NSA) proposed by President Joe Biden's Administration said he would fight for the mass surveillance authority that had been used to collect data from foreigners and Americans, although it received new attention from lawmakers.

Attempts to renew the rule of spies, known as Article 702 of the FISA Law, face resistance from both sides before its scheduled expiration date ends at the end of this year.

Deputy Commander of the US Cyber Command Lieutenant General Timothy Haugh chosen by President Biden to replace the current NSA Chief, General Paul Nakasone, defended the law as an important authority that allows the intelligence community to gather information on a number of threats.

"In my experience, this is very important," he told lawmakers.

This program, which received widespread attention after the disclosure of former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden a decade ago, is usually framed by his defenders as an effort to gather information about non-American citizens living outside the United States.

That's how Haugh described it in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, saying he wanted to make sure "the American people understand that this is the authority to gather information from foreigners abroad."

However, most of the data swept away by the NSA's mass reconnaissance tools belongs to Americans living in the United States. In theory, exploiting data collected without this warrant is subject to certain protection.

However, in recent disclosures, the FBI should not have combed the database more than a quarter of a million times over the past few years, raising fears of civil liberties defenders and lawmakers about the potential abuse of Article 702.

However, Haugh is unlikely to face much resistance from the Senate Intelligence Committee on the matter.

"We really want 702 to be re-arrested," Committee Chairman Mark Warner told him when starting his testimony.