WASHINGTON, July 6 (UPI) -- Debate is simmering in the United States over the FBI's national security letters that allow the gathering of information on individuals without a warrant.
Created by Congress in 1986, the letters use has been enhanced and broadened under the USA Patriot Act of 2001 and its revisions since, USA Today reported Thursday.
The FBI is the only agency allowed to use the letters, which require no search warrant, grand jury subpoena or court order to collect personal information. Recipients who receive a letter requesting information are forbidden to tell anyone.
U.S. Justice Department figures show the agency served 9,254 national security letters concerning 3,501 individuals in 2005. The secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which authorizes search warrants and electronic surveillance in terrorism and spying cases, approved 2,072 warrants and wiretaps and 155 applications for business records in 2005.
Lawyer Anne Beeson of the American Civil Liberties Union called the letters "dangerous" and said giving the FBI authority to decide what's relevant to its own investigations "is an open invitation to perform fishing expeditions" that trample privacy rights, the report said.
