FBI Use of National Security Letters Violated Citizen Privacy

Excerpts from Executive Summary :

In the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 (Patriot   Reauthorization Act), Congress directed the Department of Justice (Department)   Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to review “the effectiveness and use, including any improper or illegal use, of national security letters issued by the Department of Justice.” See Pub. L. No. 109-177, § 119. Four federal statutes   contain five specific provisions authorizing the Federal Bureau of Investigation   (FBI) to issue national security letters (NSLs) to obtain Information from third  parties, such as telephone companies, financial institutions, Internet service providers, and consumer credit agencies. In these letters, the FBI can direct third   parties to provide customer account information and transactional records, such as   telephone toll billing records.

Congress directed the OIG to review the use of NSLs for two time periods - calendar   years (CY) 2003 through 2004 and CY 2005 through 2006. The first report is due to   Congress on March 9. 2007; the second is due Ofl December 31, 2007.  …

…  as described above, we found that that the FBI used NSLs in violation of   applicable NSL statutes, Attorney General Guidelines. and internal FBI policies. In   addition, we found that the FBI circumvented the requirements of the ECPA NSL   statute when it issued at least 739 “exIgent letters” to obtain telephone toll   billing records and subscriber information from three telephone companies without first issuing NSLs. Moreover. in a few other instances, the FBI sought or obtained   information to which it was not entitled under the NSL authorities when it sought   educational records through issuance of an ECPA NSL, when it sought and obtained   telephone toll billing records in the absence of a national security investigation,   when it sought and obtained consumer full credit reports in a counterintelligence   investigation, and when it sought and obtained financial records and telephone toll billing records without first issuing NSLS. …

Link to full report , here .