An independent board tasked with reviewing National Security Agency surveillance called Thursday for the government to end its mass data collection program and "purge" its files, declaring the program illegal in a major challenge to President Obama.
The president did not go nearly as far when he called last week for ending government control of phone data collected from hundreds of millions of Americans. In its report, obtained by Fox News and scheduled for release Thursday afternoon, The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) said the program ran afoul of the law on several fronts.
"The ... bulk telephone records program lacks a viable legal foundation," the board's report said, adding that it raises "serious threats to privacy and civil liberties" and has "only limited value."
"As a result, the Board recommends that the government end the program," the panel wrote.
It remains to be seen whether Obama will accept all or part of the recommendations, but the findings could nevertheless be used as leverage in federal lawsuits against NSA spying.
The report concluded that the NSA collection raises "constitutional concerns" with regard to U.S. citizens' rights of speech, association and privacy.
- Romanian authorities announced Wednesday the arrest of Marcel Lazar Lehel, 40, a hacker believed to work under the name 'Guccifer'.
- Guccifer became known in the U.S. a year ago after releasing personal Bush family pictures.
- In Romania his hacking dates as far back as 2010.
- He was found guilty in his home country of a dozen hacking-related charges in February 2012.
The hacker who goes by the alias Guccifer and is known for releasing pictures of former President George W Bush's paintings has been captured in Romania.
Romanian authorities announced Wednesday that they arrested 40-year-old Marcel Lazar Lehel in the town of Arad.
The raid was organized by Romania's Directorate of Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) who said that they were cooperating with U.S. authorities.
Guccifer became known in the U.S. last year when he released pictures of former President George H.W. Bush in the hospital along with other former president George W Bush's hobby paintings.
While Bush II's paintings turned out to be more of a lighthearted hack, Guccifer eventually went on to expose the more serious secrets of America's powerful.
Guccifer hacked into the website of Colin Powell, revealing an affair between the former secretary of state and Romanian European Parliament member Corina Cretu - an affair the married man continues to deny.
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