MISHANDLED INFORMATION

A long-standing concern with the USA Patriot Act has been that it infringed on personal privacy to investigate terrorism. Now a report by the FBI’s inspector general confirms those fears by finding that the agency misused its powers under the act to get information without the required approvals and sometimes to get information it was not entitled to. The FBI and other government agencies have been given more extensive powers to collect information about Americans and others. Congress must ensure they do so within the confines of the law and without unnecessarily infringing in personal privacy; otherwise they should consider taking away some of the powers granted by the Patriot Act.

The inspector general’s review, which was required by Congress when it re-authorized the Patriot Act last year but was opposed by the White House, focused on “national security letters.” These documents allow the FBI to obtain personal records without court approval as part of an ongoing investigation.

In 2000, the FBI issued approximately 8,500 national security letters. After passage of the Patriot Act, that jumped to 39,000 letters in 2003 and 56,000 in 2004 before decreasing to 47,000 in 2005, according to FBI data. The inspector general, however, said the post-Sept. 11 numbers were inaccurate because the agency data on national security letters was incomplete. The IG estimated that there were 22 percent more requests made than were recorded in the agency’s database.

After Sept. 11, the percentage of letters issued to obtain information about Americans grew substantially to 53 percent of requests in 2005.

Despite the flurry of activity, the inspector general said it was impossible to determine how often information obtained through national security letters was used by law enforcement agencies. FBI officials said the letters are indispensable.

The inspector general, Glenn Fine, found almost a quarter of the investigative files his office reviewed contained one or more violations. The violations were mistakes, not deliberate attempts to circumvent the law, the report said, but the violations were often belatedly and incompletely reported.

The FBI obtained telephone billing records and subscriber information from three telephone companies using more than 700 “exigent letters,” which are meant for emergency situation. The agency used the letters in nonemergency circumstances, sometimes without an ongoing investigation or subpoenas, as required under the Patriot Act.

In other instances, typographical errors allowed the agency to obtain information on the wrong individuals. In others, the recipient of the letters provided information on the wrong person or provided prohibited information, such as voice messages. The FBI kept this information.

The report said that no individuals or businesses had been harmed by the mistakes and the FBI has already pledged better training and monitoring. However, lawmakers should ensure that the agency institutes training and monitoring procedures to ensure that mistakes are minimized.