Sen. Ron Wyden Exposes US Government Surveillance Campaign

In a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ), US Senator Ron Wyden expressed serious reservations about the Data Analytical Services (DAS) program, underscoring its potential for the violation of data privacy rights. This program allows federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to target and analyze the call details of US citizens suspected to be in direct communication with criminal suspects. However, despite recent evidence, such agencies continue to deny allegations regarding surveillance practices carried out against its citizens.

The DAS program, previously known as the Hemisphere Project, operates in collaboration with telecommunications giant AT&T, which captures and analyzes US call records for various law enforcement entities. According to a White House memo reviewed by WIRED, over the past ten years, the program has received more than US$6 million in funding to examine the records for any calls using AT&T's infrastructure across the country. 

In response to Wyden's allegations, AT&T asserted that it is obligated to comply with government subpoenas. However, there is no existing law mandating AT&T to retain decades' worth of call records for law enforcement purposes, according to WIRED. While AT&T's call records do not encompass recordings of actual conversations, they do contain identifying information, including the names of the caller and recipient, phone numbers, and call dates. 

Leaked information gathered by WIRED also revealed that law enforcement agencies leveraged the DAS program for purposes beyond its original scope, such as solving cases unrelated to drug trafficking. “The scale of the data available to and routinely searched for the benefit of law enforcement under the Hemisphere Project is stunning in its scope. One law enforcement official described the Hemisphere Project as ‘AT&T's Super Search Engine’ and ‘Google on Steroids,’ according to emails released by the Drug Enforcement Administration under the Freedom of Information Act,” reads Senator Wyden’s letter to the DOJ. 

To mitigate unjustified surveillance practices, a bipartisan group of US lawmakers has introduced a new legislation to the Senate known as the Government Surveillance Reform Act. The proposed law aims to limit the extensive surveillance powers of the FBI by eliminating the loopholes that enable officials to acquire US Americans' data without a warrant. "We [a]re introducing a bill that protects both [US] Americans' security and [] liberty," announced Wyden at a press conference last week. 

Despite funding to the DAS program being suspended by former President Barack Obama in 2013, the program was able to continue through direct contracts between individual law enforcement organizations and AT&T. Funding resumed in 2021 at the direction of President Biden, which raised privacy concerns among politicians. "When the FBI snoops on the American people without a warrant, it [i]s not a blunder, it [i]s a breach of trust and it [i]s a violation of the Constitution," Republican Senator Mike Lee told reporters.

Nonetheless, unjustified surveillance is not unique to the United States. According to fourteen legal files reviewed by The New York Times, the Mexico City Attorney General's office has directed Telcel to surrender the telecommunication records of more than a dozen prominent Mexican politicians for years. The targets of this surveillance included a presidential candidate, the head of the country's customs, and influential figures within the Mexican government.

The Attorney General’s office denied surveillance allegations and asserted that the information was sought in connection with ongoing investigations of kidnappings and disappearances. However, discrepancies quickly raised cybersecurity concerns among citizens, who argue that the Attorney General’s surveillance campaign violates basic human rights, including data privacy and free speech.