Court upholds NSA snooping

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California has issued a ruling in favor of the National Security Agency in a long-running case over the agency’s collection of Internet records.

The challenge against the controversial Upstream program was tossed out because additional defense from the government would have required “impermissible disclosure of state secret information,” Judge Jeffrey White wrote in his decision. Under the program -- details of which were revealed through leaks from Edward Snowden and others -- the NSA taps into the fiber cables that make up the backbone of the Internet and gathers information about people's online and phone communications. The agency then filters out communications of US citizens, whose data is protected with legal defenses not extended to foreigners, and searches for “selectors” tied to a terrorist or other target. In 2008, the Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the government over the program on behalf of five AT&T customers, who said that the collection violated the constitutional protections to privacy and free speech. But “substantial details” about the program still remain classified, Judge White, an appointee under former President George W. Bush, wrote in his decision. Moving forward with the merits of a trial would risk “exceptionally grave damage to national security,” he added.