The National Security Agency has utilized a “back door” in surveillance law to perform warrantless searches on Americans, according to US intelligence officials. The Guardian obtained a letter in which director of national intelligence James Clapper confirmed to Sen. Ron Wyden, who sits on the Senate’s intelligence committee, “There have been queries, using US person identifiers, of communications lawfully acquired to obtain foreign intelligence targeting non-US persons reasonably believed to be located outside the United States.” Wyden denounced the “backdoor search loophole” that allowed the NSA to collect data from Google, Apple, Yahoo, Facebook, and other big tech companies without a warrant.
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