Electronic surveillance

NSA Inspector General Report Finds Intelligence Storage Process Poses ‘Significant Risks’ for Civil Liberties

A report from the National Security Agency Inspector General’s office released Thursday found that the agency’s current policies for storing intelligence derived from intercepted communications may pose a threat to civil liberties.

Current SIGINT collection policies allow the NSA to retain data for varying lengths of time depending on different laws governing collection. The OIG report found that in some cases the NSA retained collected data for a longer period of time than regulations allow.

“The OIG’s findings reflect significant risks of noncompliance with legal and policy requirements for retention of SIGINT data,” the report reads. “These requirements include established minimization procedures for NSA SIGINT authorities, meaning that the deficiencies we identified have the potential to impact civil liberties and individual privacy.”

The report recommended several steps the NSA could take to update their SIGINT retention policy, some of which have already been implemented.