FBI admits no major cases cracked with Patriot Act snooping powers

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/21/fbi-admits-patriot-act-snooping-powers-didnt-crack/

By Maggie Ybarra
The Washington Times
May 21, 2015

FBI agents can’t point to any major terrorism cases they’ve cracked thanks 
to the key snooping powers in the Patriot Act, the Justice Department’s 
inspector general said in a report Thursday that could complicate efforts 
to keep key parts of the law operating.

Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz said that between 2004 and 2009, the 
FBI tripled its use of bulk collection under Section 215 of the Patriot 
Act, which allows government agents to compel businesses to turn over 
records and documents, and increasingly scooped up records of Americans 
who had no ties to official terrorism investigations.

The FBI did finally come up with procedures to try to minimize the 
information it was gathering on nontargets, but it took far too long, Mr. 
Horowitz said in the 77-page report, which comes just as Congress is 
trying to decide whether to extend, rewrite or entirely nix Section 215.

[...]

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