US Senators Question Justice Dept. Over Surveillance Of Americans - Letter

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd March, 2019) The US Department of Justice should publicly disclose its policy of handling sensitive data collected from Americans using cellular location information, a group of four US Senators said in a letter to Attorney General William Barr on Thursday.

In their letter to the attorney general, the senators referenced the 2018 Supreme Court decision in Carpenter v. United States, which states that the government must get a warrant to obtain location information of Americans in most circumstances.

"In light of the Carpenter decision and the recognition of Americans' legitimate interest in privacy around [cellular location information], the American public deserves to know how the intelligence community treats these records and other sensitive metadata in national security cases," the senators said in their letter.

The bipartisan group of senators urges Barr to disclose the DOJ's procedures as it relates to the surveillance of Americans using location data and how policies have change in response to the Carpenter decision.

The senators asked a total of seven questions in their letter and gave Barr until March 30 to provide responses.

The letter was signed by Democrats Ron Wyden and Patrick Leahy along with their Republican colleagues Rand Paul and Steve Daines.